Generation of the Orchestrator Code for Skill-Based Automation Systems

IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA), pp. 1–8

Abstract

Engineering distributed control systems is a complex task, where the complexity and, thus, costs of the software development are growing rapidly. To keep the software complexity at an acceptable level and save time for development and subsequent maintenance, new solutions are sorely needed. In this paper, we investigate the advantages of using skills - universal control device interfaces - for generating complex logic in distributed control environments. By enriching a skill interface with the information about the dynamic behavior of a component under control, we compose the functionalities of individual control devices. The logic, required for such composition, is automatically derived from the interface description and the production plan, identifying the required skill sequence. The evaluation, executed using two industrial demonstrators, shows that the approach successfully handles different behavioral models and is capable of generating fault-tolerant orchestrators, including error handling scenarios. Overall, for developing a complex logic in a distributed skill-based automation system, the proposed approach shows significant savings in development time allowing to automate the skill composition task.

Authors 5

1. Kirill Dorofeev

   Fortiss

   Affiliation as printed

   fortiss - Research Institute of the Free State of Bavaria,Munich,Germany

   fortiss - Research Institute of the Free State of Bavaria, Munich, Germany

2. Sebastian Bergemann

   Fortiss

   Affiliation as printed

   fortiss - Research Institute of the Free State of Bavaria,Munich,Germany

   fortiss - Research Institute of the Free State of Bavaria, Munich, Germany

3. Tarik Terzimehić

   Fortiss

   Affiliation as printed

   fortiss - Research Institute of the Free State of Bavaria,Munich,Germany

   fortiss - Research Institute of the Free State of Bavaria, Munich, Germany

4. Julian Grothoff Aachen Chair of Process Control Engineering

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   PLT, Chair of Process Control Engineering, RWTH Aachen University,Germany

   PLT, Chair of Process Control Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Germany

5. Alois Zoitl

   Johannes Kepler University of Linz

   Affiliation as printed

   Johannes Kepler University Linz,CDL VaSiCS, LIT CPS Lab,Austria

   CDL VaSiCS, LIT CPS Lab, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria