Identification of resources and parts in a Plug and Produce system using OPC UA

• This paper describes a method together with an implementation for automating the detection, identification and configuration of newly added resources and parts in a Plug and Produce system using OPC UA. In a Plug and Produce system, resources and parts are usually controlled by agents, forming a multi-agent system of collaborating resources. Hence, when a resource or part is connected to the system, a corresponding agent must be instantiated and associated with that specific device. In order to automate this, the system needs information about newly connected devices. This information could, for example, be positional data describing where the device is connected. Some devices like tools and parts to be processed have no own network connection, but still, they should get an agent with correct configuration instantiated. In this work, OPC UA is used for communication between devices and the corresponding agents. All agents and their communication are handled by an Agent Handling System, consisting of an OPC UA HUB together with functions for device detection and agent instantiation. The HUB is used for transferring data between devices and their agents in the network by OPC UA protocols. When a device is connected to the network, it is detected, and a connection is automatically created to the HUB that becomes configured for transmitting data between the device and its corresponding agent. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Datavetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Computer Sciences (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Elektroteknik och elektronik -- Annan elektroteknik och elektronik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering -- Other Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Elektroteknik och elektronik -- Reglerteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering -- Control Engineering (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

OPC UA

Multi-agent

Industry 4.0

Smart Factory

Plug

Produce

Datateknik

Computer engineering

Production Technology

Produktionsteknik

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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