Evaluation of (De-)Centralized IT technologies in the fields of Cyber-Physical Production Systems

In the course of the digital transformation, organizations are not only facing increasing volatility of the markets, but also increasing customer requirements and thus an increasing complexity in production and logistics systems. Therefore, production plants need to become more flexible by transforming conventional production systems to Cyber-physical Production Systems (CPPS). CPPS allow organizations to dynamically react to fluctuations in demand and markets and to introduce new product lines quickly and effectively. The challenge in implementing CPPS is to handle and store relevant data streams between Cyber-physical objects in a secure but transparent way. As CPPS involve a high level of decentralization, the data storage can either be combined with centralized IT-solutions like a Cloud or utilize decentralized IT-technologies like Edge Computing or Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) like Blockchains. The paper addresses the suitability of centralized and decentralized technologies in terms of dealing with data streams in the fields of CPPS. For this purpose, based on a paper exploration, appropriate evaluation criteria are derived, followed by a comparison of exemplary centralized and decentralized technologies. The outcome is a qualitative evaluation of the supplement of each technology regarding its suitability of dealing with data streams

Developing cognitive advisor agents for operators in industry 4.0

Human cyber-physical systems (CPS) are an important component in the development of Industry 4.0. The paradigm shift of doing to thinking has allowed the emergence of cognition as a new perspective for intelligent systems. Currently, different platforms offer several cognitive solutions. Within this space, user assistance systems become increasingly necessary not as a tool but as a function that amplifies the capabilities of the operator in the work environment. There exist different perspectives of cognition. In this study cognition is introduced from the point of view of joint cognitive systems (JCSs); the synergistic combination of different technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT) and multi-agent systems (MAS) allows the operator and the process to provide the necessary conditions to do their work effectively and efficientlyPostprint (published version

Key directions for industrial agent based cyber-physical production systems

Rapid technology advances and increasing digitalization bring new opportunities but also put new challenges to modern production systems. Industrial agent concepts and technologies can be used to address the needs of modern Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS). To do so, their interplay, especially in industrial settings, needs to be better understood and assessed. Key directions for investigations that are relevant for industrial agent based CPPS are analyzed in this work, mainly the design patterns, interfaces between agents and CPPS, metrics to evaluate the quality of agent based CPPS, and distributed intelligence implemented in or by agents. Although efforts exist both in agent and CPPS domains, their amalgamation still has several aspects that are under-investigated, especially when considering large-scale systems of CPPS, and the proposed four directions discussed in this work, seem promising to address several of the key underlying challenges.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio