5G-Based Multi-Sensor Platform for Monitoring of Workpieces and Machines: Prototype Hardware Design and Firmware

In this paper, we introduce a 5G-based multi-sensor platform for monitoring workpieces and machines. The prototype is realized within the EU-funded 5G-SMART project, which aims to enable smart manufacturing through 5G, demonstrating and validating new generation network technology in industrial processes. There are already state-of-the-art solutions, but with drawbacks such as limited flexibility, brief real-time capability, and sensors aimed at single applications. The 5G-SMART multi-sensor platform is designed to overcome these points and meet the requirements of Industry 4.0. The device is equipped with different sensors to acquire multiple data from workpieces and machines of the shop floor, wirelessly connected by 5G to the factory cloud. A hardware design description of the prototype is provided, focusing on the electronic components and their interaction with the microcontroller. Verification of the correct functioning of the board is given, with a basic library for the main peripherals used as a basis for the final firmware

An Experimental Framework for 5G Wireless System Integration into Industry 4.0 Applications

The fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0 (I4.0), makes use of wireless technologies together with other industrial Internet-of-Things (IIoT) technologies, cyber–physical systems (CPS), and edge computing to enable the optimization and the faster re-configuration of industrial production processes. As I4.0 deployments are ramping up, the practical integration of 5G wireless systems with existing industrial applications is being explored in both Industry and Academia, in order to find optimized strategies and to develop guidelines oriented towards ensuring the success of the industrial wireless digitalization process. This paper explores the challenges arisen from such integration between industrial systems and 5G wireless, and presents a framework applicable to achieve a structured and successful integration. The paper aims at describing the different aspects of the framework such as the application operational flow and its associated tools, developed based on analytical and experimental applied research methodologies. The applicability of the framework is illustrated by addressing the integration of 5G technology into a specific industrial use case: the control of autonomous mobile robots. The results indicate that 5G technology can be used for reliable fleet management control of autonomous mobile robots in industrial scenarios, and that 5G can support the migration of the on-board path planning intelligence to the edge-cloud

Market fields structure & dynamics in industrial automation

There is a research tradition in the economics of standards which addresses standards wars, antitrust concerns or positive externalities from standards. Recent research has also dealt with the process characteristics of standardisation, de facto standard-setting consortia and intellectual property concerns in the technology specification or implementation phase. Nonetheless, there are no studies which analyse capabilities, comparative industry dynamics or incentive structures sufficiently in the context of standard-setting. In my study, I address the characteristics of collaborative research and standard-setting as a new mode of deploying assets beyond motivations well-known from R&D consortia or market alliances. On the basis of a case study of a leading user organisation in the market for industrial automation technology, but also a descriptive network analysis of cross-community affiliations, I demonstrate that there must be a paradoxical relationship between cooperation and competition. More precisely, I explain how there can be a dual relationship between value creation and value capture respecting exploration and exploitation. My case study emphasises the dynamics between knowledge stocks (knowledge alignment, narrowing and deepening) produced by collaborative standard setting and innovation; it also sheds light on an evolutional relationship between the exploration of assets and use cases and each firm's exploitation activities in the market. I derive standard-setting capabilities from an empirical analysis of membership structures, policies and incumbent firm characteristics in selected, but leading, user organisations. The results are as follows: the market for industrial automation technology is characterised by collaboration on standards, high technology influences of other industries and network effects on standards. Further, system integrators play a decisive role in value creation in the customer-specific business case. Standard-setting activities appear to be loosely coupled to the products offered on the market. Core leaders in world standards in industrial automation own a variety of assets and they are affiliated to many standard-setting communities rather than exclusively committed to a few standards. Furthermore, their R&D ratios outperform those of peripheral members and experience in standard-setting processes can be assumed. Standard-setting communities specify common core concepts as the basis for the development of each member's proprietary products, complementary technologies and industrial services. From a knowledge-based perspective, the targeted disclosure of certain knowledge can be used to achieve high innovation returns through systemic products which add proprietary features to open standards. Finally, the interplay between exploitation and exploration respecting the deployment of standard-setting capabilities linked to cooperative, pre-competitive processes leads to an evolution in common technology owned and exploited by the standard-setting community as a particular kind of innovation ecosystem. --standard-setting,innovation,industry dynamics and context,industrial automation

Practical Encryption Gateways to Integrate Legacy Industrial Machinery

Future industrial networks will consist of a mixture of old and new components, due to the very long life-cycles of industrial machines on the one hand and the need to change in the face of trends like Industry 4.0 or the industrial Internet of things on the other. These networks will be very heterogeneous and will serve legacy as well as new use cases in parallel. This will result in an increased demand for network security and precisely within this domain, this thesis tries to answer one specific question: how to make it possible for legacy industrial machines to run securely in those future heterogeneous industrial networks. The need for such a solution arises from the fact, that legacy machines are very outdated and hence vulnerable systems, when assessing them from an IT security standpoint. For various reasons, they cannot be easily replaced or upgraded and with the opening up of industrial networks to the Internet, they become prime attack targets. The only way to provide security for them, is by protecting their network traffic. The concept of encryption gateways forms the basis of our solution. These are special network devices, that are put between the legacy machine and the network. The gateways encrypt data traffic from the machine before it is put on the network and decrypt traffic coming from the network accordingly. This results in a separation of the machine from the network by virtue of only decrypting and passing through traffic from other authenticated gateways. In effect, they protect communication data in transit and shield the legacy machines from potential attackers within the rest of the network, while at the same time retaining their functionality. Additionally, through the specific placement of gateways inside the network, fine-grained security policies become possible. This approach can reduce the attack surface of the industrial network as a whole considerably. As a concept, this idea is straight forward and not new. Yet, the devil is in the details and no solution specifically tailored to the needs of the industrial environment and its legacy components existed prior to this work. Therefore, we present in this thesis concrete building blocks in the direction of a generally applicable encryption gateway solution that allows to securely integrate legacy industrial machinery and respects industrial requirements. This not only entails works in the direction of network security, but also includes works in the direction of guaranteeing the availability of the communication links that are protected by the gateways, works to simplify the usability of the gateways as well as the management of industrial data flows by the gateways

Teknoekonominen toteutettavuusanalyysi etäylläpidon liitettävyydestä tehtaissa

Maintenance activities play a major role in factory operations, as they prevent breakdowns and extend machine life. With the advances in sensor, computing and communications technology, sensor data can be increasingly exploited for real-time supervision of machine condition. However, the acquisition of the data is challenging due to proprietary technologies and interfaces applied in Industrial Networks. Therefore, sensor data is rarely utilized in other processes than automation. As the industry is heading towards a new industrial era, also referred to as Industrial Internet or Industrie 4.0, there is growing need to improve data availability for applications that can realize its potential value. In this research, the focus is on the feasibility of remote maintenance deployment in factories. The topic is approached from the connectivity viewpoint. The research is conducted by reviewing the literature, and by interviewing numerous industry experts regarding the connectivity and data exploitation in factories. These form the basis for the value network analysis, in which Value Network Configuration (VNC) method is applied, to analyze the value distribution among different actors in alternative remote connection cases. As a result of the VNC analysis, three alternative value network configurations are formed. They provide a high-level technical architecture of the remote connection implementation and discuss the accumulated value of each actor concerning remote maintenance service. The insights gained from the VNCs and literature are then employed to propose a future technical architecture for remote maintenance connectivity in factories.Huoltotoimet ovat suuressa roolissa tehtaan toiminnassa, sillä ne ehkäisevät konerikkoja ja pidentävät koneen käyttöikää. Sensori-, laskenta- ja tietoliikenneteknologian kehittymisen johdosta sensoridataa voidaan hyödyntää yhä enemmän koneen kunnon reaaliaikaiseen valvontaan. Datan saanti on kuitenkin haastavaa teollisissa verkoissa käytettyjen sovelluskohtaisten teknologioiden ja liitäntöjen takia. Sen vuoksi sensoridataa hyödynnetään harvoin muissa prosesseissa kuin automaatiossa. Teollisuuden suunnatessa kohti uutta teollista aikakautta, joka tunnetaan myös nimillä Teollinen Internet ja Teollisuus 4.0, on datan saatavuutta parannettava sovelluskohteille, jotka voivat realisoida sen potentiaalisen arvon. Tämä tutkimus tarkastelee etäylläpidon käyttöönoton toteutettavuutta tehtaissa. Aihetta lähestytään liitettävyyden näkökulmasta. Tutkimus suoritetaan tarkastelemalla kirjallisuutta sekä haastattelemalla lukuisia teollisuuden asiantuntijoita koskien liitettävyyttä ja datan hyödyntämistä tehtaissa. Nämä muodostavat perustan arvoverkkoanalyysille, jossa sovelletaan arvoverkkokonfiguraatio-menetelmää, jolla analysoidaan arvon jakautumista eri toimijoiden kesken vaihtoehtoisissa etäyhteystapauksissa. Arvoverkkokonfiguraatioanalyysin tuloksena muodostetaan kolme vaihtoehtoista arvoverkkokonfiguraatiota. Ne tarjoavat korkean tason teknisen arkkitehtuurin etäyhteyden implementaatiosta ja tarkastelevat toimijoiden kerryttämää arvoa etäylläpitopalvelun osalta. Arvoverkkokonfiguraatioista ja kirjallisuudesta saatujen näkemysten pohjalta esitellään lisäksi tulevaisuuden tekninen arkkitehtuuri etäylläpidon liitettävyydelle tehtaissa

Industrial networks and IIoT: Now and future trends

Connectivity is the one word summary for Industry 4.0 revolution. The importance of Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial IoT (IIoT) have been increased dramatically with the rise of industrialization and industry 4.0. As new opportunities bring their own challenges, with the massive interconnected devices of the IIoT, cyber security of those networks and privacy of their users have become an important aspect. Specifically, intrusion detection for industrial networks (IIoT) has great importance. For instance, it is a key factor in improving the safe operation of the smart grid systems yet protecting the privacy of the consumers at the same time. In the same manner, data streaming is a valid option when the analysis is to be pushed from the cloud to the fog for industrial networks to provide agile response, since it brings the advantage of fast action on intrusion detection and also can buy time for intrusion mitigation. In order to dive deep in industrial networks, basic ground needs to be settled. Hence, this chapter serves in this manner, by presenting basic and emerging technologies along with ideas and discussions: First, an introduction of semiconductor evolution is provided along with the up-to-date hi-tech wired/wireless communication solutions for industrial networks. This is followed by a thorough representation of future trends in industrial environments. More importantly, enabling technologies for industrial networks is also presented. Finally, the chapter is concluded with a summary of the presentations along with future projections of IIoT networks

Industrial robotics for ERP controlled smart factories

At product manufacturing the time-to-market factor, the profitability and the delivered value define the success of an enterprise. The increasing number of modules in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) programs is a facing problem, when there is a margin between the manufacturing cells and the ERP. Nowadays, the connection between the industrial machines and the ERP is an important requirement especially at automated warehouses and smart factories. Other concerns at manufacturing are the maintenance schedules of the machines, and flexible and easy reconfiguration of the production lines or the production cells. Information technology provides solutions and software environments to implement complex production supervisor ERPs at smart factories. At a production line or an automated warehouse several technical parameters and information can influence the planning of the resources at the enterprise, like maintenance, machine error, stockpile, product ID, defective product ratios, etc. When there is machine maintenance, the company needs to order the service parts, as well as schedule the service time and the stop of the production line. In case of a machine error, the system can estimate the length of the service time from error messages, and reorganize orders, transportation, or even maintenance schedules of other machines. Our plug and play type robot and industrial automation controller project gives a solution for these hardware demanding needs