RoboPlanner: Towards an Autonomous Robotic Action Planning Framework for Industry 4.0

Autonomous robots are being increasingly integrated into manufacturing, supply chain and retail industries due to the twin advantages of improved throughput and adaptivity. In order to handle complex Industry 4.0 tasks, the autonomous robots require robust action plans, that can self-adapt to runtime changes. A further requirement is efficient implementation of knowledge bases, that may be queried during planning and execution. In this paper, we propose RoboPlanner, a framework to generate action plans in autonomous robots. In RoboPlanner, we model the knowledge of world models, robotic capabilities and task templates using knowledge property graphs and graph databases. Design time queries and robotic perception are used to enable intelligent action planning. At runtime, integrity constraints on world model observations are used to update knowledge bases. We demonstrate these solutions on autonomous picker robots deployed in Industry 4.0 warehouses

Model-Based Engineering of Collaborative Embedded Systems

This Open Access book presents the results of the "Collaborative Embedded Systems" (CrESt) project, aimed at adapting and complementing the methodology underlying modeling techniques developed to cope with the challenges of the dynamic structures of collaborative embedded systems (CESs) based on the SPES development methodology. In order to manage the high complexity of the individual systems and the dynamically formed interaction structures at runtime, advanced and powerful development methods are required that extend the current state of the art in the development of embedded systems and cyber-physical systems. The methodological contributions of the project support the effective and efficient development of CESs in dynamic and uncertain contexts, with special emphasis on the reliability and variability of individual systems and the creation of networks of such systems at runtime. The project was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and the case studies are therefore selected from areas that are highly relevant for Germany’s economy (automotive, industrial production, power generation, and robotics). It also supports the digitalization of complex and transformable industrial plants in the context of the German government's "Industry 4.0" initiative, and the project results provide a solid foundation for implementing the German government's high-tech strategy "Innovations for Germany" in the coming years

Agile manufacturing: General challenges and an IoT@Work perspective

This paper describes the potential impact of the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and architecture on factory automation. Whereas, IoT use cases range from intelligent infrastructure and smart cities to health care and shopping assistants, it is important to note that factory automation could benefit as well from an IoT approach. In this paper, we argue that there will not be one IoT but many IoTs that could differ in the type of infrastructure they are running or applications they support. In IoT@Work we focus on the potential of making manufacturing environments more agile and flexible. We explain how the IoT-centric architecture for manufacturing also needs a deep understanding of the manufacturing system and its state today. We, therefore, do a reverse engineering based on the requirements and the description of the agility expected in the automation system itself

The cyber-physical e-machine manufacturing system : virtual engineering for complete lifecycle support

Electric machines (e-machines) will form a fundamental part of the powertrain of the future. Automotive manufacturers are keen to develop emachine manufacturing and assembly knowledge in-house. An on-going project, which aims to deliver an e-machine pilot assembly line, is being supported by a set of virtual engineering tools developed by the Automation Systems Group at the University of Warwick. Although digital models are a useful design aid providing visualization and simulation, the opportunity being exploited in this research paper is to have a common model throughout the lifecycle of both the manufacturing system and the product. The vision is to have a digital twin that is consistent with the real system and not just used in the early design and deployment phases. This concept, commonly referred to as Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), is key to realizing efficient system reconfigurability to support alternative product volumes and mixes. These tools produce modular digital models that can be rapidly modified preventing the simulation, test, and modification processes forming a bottleneck to the development lifecycles. In addition, they add value at more mature phases when, for example, a high volume line based on the pilot is created as the same models can be reused and modified as required. This research paper therefore demonstrates how the application of the virtual engineering tools support the development of a CPS using an e-machine assembly station as a case study. The main contribution of the work is to further validate the CPS philosophy by extending the concept into practical applications in pilot production systems with prototype products

Dynamic Access Control in Industry 4.0 Systems

Industry 4.0 enacts ad-hoc cooperation between machines, humans, and organizations in supply and production chains. The cooperation goes beyond rigid hierarchical process structures and increases the levels of efficiency, customization, and individualisation of end-products. Efficient processing and cooperation requires exploiting various sensor and process data and sharing them across various entities including computer systems, machines, mobile devices, humans, and organisations. Access control is a common security mechanism to control data sharing between involved parties. However, access control to virtual resources is not sufficient in presence of Industry 4.0 because physical access has a considerable effect on the protection of information and systems. In addition, access control mechanisms have to become capable of handling dynamically changing situations arising from ad-hoc horizontal cooperation or changes in the environment of Industry 4.0 systems. Established access control mechanisms do not consider dynamic changes and the combination with physical access control yet. Approaches trying to address these shortcomings exist but often do not consider how to get information such as the sensitivity of exchanged information. This chapter proposes a novel approach to control physical and virtual access tied to the dynamics of custom product engineering, hence, establishing confidentiality in ad-hoc horizontal processes. The approach combines static design-time analyses to discover data properties with a dynamic runtime access control approach that evaluates policies protecting virtual and physical assets. The runtime part uses data properties derived from the static design-time analysis, as well as the environment or system status to decide about access

D7.5 FIRST consolidated project results

The FIRST project commenced in January 2017 and concluded in December 2022, including a 24-month suspension period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the project, we successfully delivered seven technical reports, conducted three workshops on Key Enabling Technologies for Digital Factories in conjunction with CAiSE (in 2019, 2020, and 2022), produced a number of PhD theses, and published over 56 papers (and numbers of summitted journal papers). The purpose of this deliverable is to provide an updated account of the findings from our previous deliverables and publications. It involves compiling the original deliverables with necessary revisions to accurately reflect the final scientific outcomes of the project

Forum Session at the First International Conference on Service Oriented Computing (ICSOC03)

The First International Conference on Service Oriented Computing (ICSOC) was held in Trento, December 15-18, 2003. The focus of the conference ---Service Oriented Computing (SOC)--- is the new emerging paradigm for distributed computing and e-business processing that has evolved from object-oriented and component computing to enable building agile networks of collaborating business applications distributed within and across organizational boundaries. Of the 181 papers submitted to the ICSOC conference, 10 were selected for the forum session which took place on December the 16th, 2003. The papers were chosen based on their technical quality, originality, relevance to SOC and for their nature of being best suited for a poster presentation or a demonstration. This technical report contains the 10 papers presented during the forum session at the ICSOC conference. In particular, the last two papers in the report ere submitted as industrial papers