The infrastructure of the SmartFactory-KL partner consortium's Industry 4.0 production plant was given a new, star-shaped, scalable installation concept this year. The infrastructure nodes support independent production islands with several modules. "With this solution, we are taking the next step towards the practical introduction of a standardized module interface. This allows a production system to be reconfigured quickly and flexibly," says Prof. Dr. Martin Ruskowski, head of the Innovative Factory Systems research department at DFKI.

These nodes now provide computing power via edge computing for industrial intelligence applications. An exemplary application for edge computing in the infrastructure box is the display of consumption data from the individual modules directly on the box. This allows the production employee to quickly view the data and assign it to the connected modules. This simplifies the decentralized monitoring of the system function and enables malfunctions in the production modules to be analysed by evaluating the supply data and initiating the necessary maintenance steps.

Real-time capability: prioritization of data
A new feature is that the SmartFactory-KL uses real-time technology TSN (Time-Sensitive Networking) to transfer data between the infrastructure and server. With the help of TSN, data packets can be prioritized. This means that priority classes can be used to flexibly decide which data must be available immediately and for which a delay is acceptable. TSN guarantees, for example, that safety-critical data is sent with the highest priority and arrives even when the network is heavily loaded. In an overloaded network, this ensures that a module is process-safe, i.e. continues to work reliably.

"TSN makes an important contribution to both horizontal and vertical integration. Furthermore, OPC UA in combination with TSN enables manufacturer independence at the data transmission level. This means that any sensors and actuators can send and receive data in real time and existing systems can be flexibly retrofitted. The previous proprietary fieldbuses are no longer an obstacle," says Prof. Dr. Detlef Zühlke, CEO of SmartFactory-KL, summarizing the advantages for the industry.

The partners of the SmartFactory-KL Industry 4.0 demonstrator are B&R Automation, Bosch Rexroth, Eplan, Festo, Harting, Huawei, IBM, Kist, Mettler Toledo, Minitec, Phoenix Contact, Pilz, Proalpha, TÜV Süd and Weidmüller. as

Hall 8, Stand D18