Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Designing Strongly-decoupled Industry 4.0 Applications Across the Stack: A Use Case

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Digital Transformation

  • 1715 Accesses

Abstract

Loose coupling of system components on all levels of automated production systems enables vital systems-of-systems properties such as simplified composition, variability, testing, reuse, maintenance, and adaptation. All these are crucial aspects needed to realize highly flexible and adaptable production systems. Based on traditional software architecture concepts, we describe in this chapter a use case of how message-based communication and appropriate architectural styles can help to realize these properties. A building block is the capabilities that describe what production participants (machines, robots, humans, logistics) are able to do. Capabilities are applied at all levels in our use case: describing the production process, describing machines, transport logistics, down to capabilities of the various functional units within a machine or robot. Based on this use case, this chapter aims to show how such a system can be designed to achieve loosely coupling and what example technologies and methodologies can be applied on the different levels.

The research reported in this chapter has been funded in part by LIT-ARTI-2019-019, and the LIT Secure and Correct Systems Lab, and the FFG, Contract No. 881844: Pro\(^2\)Future is funded within the Austrian COMET Program Competence Centers for Excellent Technologies under the auspices of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, the Austrian Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs and of the Provinces of Upper Austria and Styria. COMET is managed by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

eBook
USD 12.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    OPC UA is short for Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture.

  2. 2.

    http://www.iec61499.de/.

  3. 3.

    The core meta-model uses the term Actor which we replace here with Participant to avoid confusing the term with the actor implementation approach outlined in Sect. 5.

  4. 4.

    An OPC UA node has a unique id, but potentially a non-unique browsename.

  5. 5.

    https://akka.io/.

  6. 6.

    https://actor-framework.org/.

  7. 7.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor_model#Actor_libraries_and_frameworks.

  8. 8.

    https://www.iso.org/standard/57308.html.

References

  1. Ahmad, A., Babar, M.A.: Software architectures for robotic systems: A systematic mapping study. Journal of Systems and Software 122, 16 – 39 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Ahmadi, A., Sodhro, A.H., Cherifi, C., Cheutet, V., Ouzrout, Y.: Evolution of 3C Cyber-Physical Systems Architecture for Industry 4.0. In: 8th Workshop on Service Orientation in Holonic and Multi-Agent Manufacturing. Bergamo, Italy (Jun 2018), https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01788468

  3. Atmojo, U.D., Vyatkin, V.: A review on programming approaches for dynamic industrial cyber physical systems. In: 2018 IEEE 16th International Conference on Industrial Informatics (INDIN). pp. 713–718 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Bagheri, B., Yang, S., Kao, H.A., Lee, J.: Cyber-physical systems architecture for self-aware machines in industry 4.0 environment. IFAC-PapersOnLine 48(3), 1622 – 1627 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2015.06.318, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405896315005571, 15th IFAC Symposium onInformation Control Problems inManufacturing

  5. Charousset, D., Hiesgen, R., Schmidt, T.C.: Caf-the c++ actor framework for scalable and resource-efficient applications. In: Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Programming based on Actors Agents & Decentralized Control. pp. 15–28 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Chen, D., Doumeingts, G., Vernadat, F.: Architectures for enterprise integration and interoperability: Past, present and future. Computers in industry 59(7), 647–659 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Chen, D., Youssef, J.R., Zacharewicz, G.: Towards an enterprise operating system - requirements for standardisation. In: Zelm, M. (ed.) Proc. 6th Workshop on Enterprise Interoperability (IWEI) (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Cruz, S.L.A., Vogel-Heuser, B.: Comparison of agent oriented software methodologies to apply in cyber physical production systems. In: 2017 IEEE 15th International Conference on Industrial Informatics (INDIN). pp. 65–71 (July 2017)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Dashofy, E.M.: The Myx Architectural Style. Tech. rep., University of California, Irvine, Institute for Software Research (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Dorofeev, K., Profanter, S., Cabral, J., Ferreira, P., Zoitl, A.: Agile operational behavior for the control-level devices in plug &produce production environments. In: 24th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation. pp. 49–56. IEEE (09 2019)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Hewitt, C., Bishop, P., Steiger, R.: A universal modular actor formalism for artificial intelligence. ijcai3. In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence. pp. 235–245 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Hussnain, A., Ferrer, B.R., Lastra, J.L.M.: Towards the deployment of cloud robotics at factory shop floors: A prototype for smart material handling. In: 2018 IEEE Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems (ICPS). pp. 44–50 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  13. IEC TC65/WG6: IEC 61499: Function blocks – Parts 1, 2, & 4. International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), Geneva, 2 edn. (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Ismail, A., Kastner, W.: A middleware architecture for vertical integration. In: 2016 1st International Workshop on Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS). pp. 1–4 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Jiang, J.R.: An improved cyber-physical systems architecture for industry 4.0 smart factories. Advances in Mechanical Engineering 10(6), 1687814018784192 (2018). 10.1177/1687814018784192, https://doi.org/10.1177/1687814018784192

  16. Mahnke, W., Leitner, S.H., Damm, M.: OPC unified architecture. Springer Science & Business Media (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Maier, M.W.: Architecting principles for systems-of-systems. Systems Engineering 1(4), 267–284 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Malavolta, I., Lago, P., Muccini, H., Pelliccione, P., Tang, A.: What Industry Needs from Architectural Languages: A Survey. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 39(6), 869–891 (2013). 10.1109/TSE.2012.74

    Google Scholar 

  19. Mayrhofer, M., Mayr-Dorn, C., Bishara, M., Weichhart, G., Egyed, A., Konnerth, M.: Capability-based process modeling and control. In: Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Industrial Technology (ICIT). IEEE (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Mayrhofer, M., Mayr-Dorn, C., Guiza, O., Weichhart, G., Egyed, A.: Capability-based process modeling and control. In: 25th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation, ETFA 2020, Vienna, Austria, September 8-11, 2020. pp. 45–52. IEEE (2020). 10.1109/ETFA46521.2020.9212013

    Google Scholar 

  21. Mayrhofer, M., Mayr-Dorn, C., Zoitl, A., Guiza, O., Weichhart, G., Egyed, A.: Assessing adaptability of software architectures for cyber physical production systems. In: Bures, T., Duchien, L., Inverardi, P. (eds.) Software Architecture - 13th European Conference, ECSA 2019, Paris, France, September 9-13, 2019, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 11681, pp. 143–158. Springer (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Medvidovic, N., Rosenblum, D.S., Taylor, R.N.: A language and environment for architecture-based software development and evolution. In: Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Software Engineering. pp. 44–53. ICSE ’99, ACM, New York, NY, USA (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Medvidovic, N., Taylor, R.: A Classification and Comparison Framework for Software Architecture Description Languages. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Oreizy, P., Medvidovic, N., Taylor, R.N.: Runtime software adaptation: framework, approaches, and styles. In: Companion of the 30th international conference on Software engineering. pp. 899–910. ACM (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Pauker, F., Mangler, J., Rinderle-Ma, S., Pollak, C.: centurio.work - modular secure manufacturing orchestration. In: 16th International Conference on Business Process Management 2018. pp. 164–171 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Pirvu, B.C., Zamfirescu, C.B., Gorecky, D.: Engineering insights from an anthropocentric cyber-physical system: A case study for an assembly station. Mechatronics 34, 147–159 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechatronics.2015.08.010, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095741581500152X, system-Integrated Intelligence: New Challenges for Product and Production Engineering

  27. Pisching, M.A., Junqueira, F., d. S. Filho, D.J., Miyagi, P.E.: An architecture based on iot and cps to organize and locate services. In: 2016 IEEE 21st International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA). pp. 1–4 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Shen, W., Wang, L., Hao, Q.: Agent-based distributed manufacturing process planning and scheduling: a state-of-the-art survey. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part C (Applications and Reviews) 36(4), 563–577 (July 2006)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Spinelli, S., Cataldo, A., Pallucca, G., Brusaferri, A.: A distributed control architecture for a reconfigurable manufacturing plant. In: 2018 IEEE Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems (ICPS). pp. 673–678 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Strasser, T., Rooker, M., Ebenhofer, G., Zoitl, A., Sunder, C., Valentini, A., Martel, A.: Framework for distributed industrial automation and control (4diac). In: 2008 6th IEEE International Conference on Industrial Informatics. pp. 283–288 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Taylor, R.N., Medvidovic, N., Anderson, K.M., Jr., E.J.W., Robbins, J.E., Nies, K.A., Oreizy, P., Dubrow, D.L.: A component- and message-based architectural style for GUI software. IEEE Trans. Software Eng. 22(6), 390–406 (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Thramboulidis, K., Vachtsevanou, D.C., Solanos, A.: Cyber-physical microservices: An iot-based framework for manufacturing systems. In: 2018 IEEE Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems (ICPS). pp. 232–239 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Vernadat, F.B.: Interoperable enterprise systems: Principles, concepts, and methods. Annual reviews in Control 31(1), 137–145 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Vogel-Heuser, B., Sardá-Espinosa, A.: Current status of software development in industrial practice: Key results of a large-scale questionnaire. In: 2017 IEEE 15th International Conference on Industrial Informatics (INDIN). pp. 595–600 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  35. Wachholder, D., Stary, C.: Enabling emergent behavior in systems-of-systems through bigraph-based modeling. In: 10th System of Systems Engineering Conference (SoSE) (5 2015)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Wan, K., Hughes, D., Man, K.L., Krilavicius, T., Zou, S.: Investigation on composition mechanisms for cyber physical systems. International Journal of Design, Analysis and Tools for Circuits and Systems (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  37. Weichhart, G., Guédria, W., Naudet, Y.: Supporting interoperability in complex adaptive enterprise systems: A domain specific language approach. Data and Knowledge Engineering 105, 90–106 (9 2016)

    Google Scholar 

  38. Weichhart, G., Hämmerle, A.: Lagrangian relaxation realised in the ngmpps multi actor architecture. In: Berndt, J.O., Petta, P., Unland, R. (eds.) 15th German Conference on Multiagent System Technologies, MATES 2017. Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, Springer (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  39. Wiesmayr, B., Sonnleithner, L., Zoitl, A.: Structuring distributed control applications for adaptability. In: ICPS 2020, Tampere. In Press. (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  40. Zheng, Y., Cu, C., Taylor, R.N.: Maintaining architecture-implementation conformance to support architecture centrality: From single system to product line development. ACM Trans. Softw. Eng. Methodol. 27(2), 8:1–8:52 (2018). 10.1145/3229048

    Google Scholar 

  41. Zheng, Y., Taylor, R.N.: A classification and rationalization of model-based software development. Softw. Syst. Model. 12(4), 669–678 (2013). 10.1007/s10270-013-0355-3

    Google Scholar 

  42. Zoitl, A., Prähofer, H.: Guidelines and patterns for building hierarchical automation solutions in the iec 61499 modeling language. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics 9(4), 2387–2396 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Software Systems Engineering, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria

    Christoph Mayr-Dorn & Alexander Egyed

  2. LIT CPS Lab, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria

    Alois Zoitl

  3. Flexible Production Systems, PROFACTOR GmbH, Steyr-Gleink, Austria

    Georg Weichhart

  4. Cognitive Robotics and Shopfloors, Pro2Future GmbH, Linz, Austria

    Michael Mayrhofer

Authors
  1. Christoph Mayr-Dorn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alois Zoitl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Georg Weichhart
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Michael Mayrhofer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Alexander Egyed
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christoph Mayr-Dorn .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technische Universität München, Garching b. München, Bayern, Germany

    Birgit Vogel-Heuser

  2. Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Oberösterreich, Austria

    Manuel Wimmer

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Mayr-Dorn, C., Zoitl, A., Weichhart, G., Mayrhofer, M., Egyed, A. (2023). Designing Strongly-decoupled Industry 4.0 Applications Across the Stack: A Use Case. In: Vogel-Heuser, B., Wimmer, M. (eds) Digital Transformation. Springer Vieweg, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-65004-2_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-65004-2_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer Vieweg, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-65003-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-65004-2

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics