Designing a Blockchain-Based Digital Twin for Cyber-Physical Production Systems

Trust in all processes on the shopfloor is crucial for the success of a production process, especially in cross company scenarios such as shared manufacturing, in which independent parties interact with each other. A cyber-physical production system (CPPS) contributes to the vision of a decentralized, self-configuring and flexible production. Digital twins (DTs) can visualize the material, information and financial flows in real time and improve the process transparency of such production systems. The efficiency of digital twins depends on the integrity of the provided data, especially if data is shared across company borders. Due to its characteristics such as immutability and transparency, blockchain technology (BCT) provides a basis for establishing the desired trust in the systems on the shopfloor. This paper proposes the design of a BCT-based DT in CPPS. The design is demonstrated by a prototype including smart contracts attached to a CPPS simulation model visualizing the information and material flow. Tasks are decentrally allocated, deployed and safely documented via blockchain. The demonstrator is revealing supplementary benefits in terms of transparency provided by the BCT. This paper further examines whether BCT can enrich existing solutions and provide a reliable information basis for profound data and process analysis

Ein Konzept für ein blockchain-basiertes Cyber-Physisches Produktionssystem

This contribution evaluates the feasibility of blockchain technology for processes of a cyber-physical production system (CPPS) using a decision framework. The evaluation is based on an implemented CPPS use case. Opportunities for the use of smart contracts are identified and two exemplary smart contracts are designed. To integrate the heterogeneous and resource-constrained IoT devices of a CPPS, three levels of connection to the blockchain are identified and applied to the use case. This work contributes to the implementation of an extensive blockchain-based CPPS.Dieser Beitrag evaluiert den Einsatz der Blockchain-Technologie für Prozesse eines cyber-physischen Produktionssystems (CPPS) anhand eines Entscheidungsrahmens. Die Evaluation basiert auf einem bestehenden CPPS Anwendungsfall. Es werden Möglichkeiten für den Einsatz von Smart Contracts identifiziert und zwei beispielhafte Smart Contracts entworfen. Um die heterogenen und ressourcen-beschränkten IoT-Geräte eines CPPS zu integrieren, werden drei Ebenen der Anbindung an die Blockchain identifiziert und auf den Anwendungsfall angewendet. Diese Arbeit trägt zur Implementierung eines umfangreichen blockchain-basierten CPPS bei