IIC Journal of Innovation 16th Edition | Page 31

Open Source Drives Digital Twin Adoption
The IDTA 22 was founded in September 2020 23 by Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau 24 ( VDMA ) 25 – the largest network organization in the European mechanical engineering industry – and Zentralverband Elektrotechnik- und Elektronikindustrie 26 ( ZVEI ) 27 – the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers ’ Association - together with Bitkom 28 – Germany ’ s digital association - and 20 companies : ABB , Asentics , Bitkom , Bosch , Bosch Rexroth , Danfoss , Endress Hauser , Festo , Homag , KUKA , Lenze , Pepperl Fuchs , Phoenix Contact , SAP , Schneider Electric , Schunk , Siemens , Trumpf , Turck , Volkswagen and Wittenstein .
The goal of the IDTA is to bring the Digital Twin to the next level , make is enterprise ready by utilizing Open Source development model and to provide a one-stop-shop for the industrial Digital Twin , known as the Asset Administration Shell in Industrie 4.0 . Five areas of focus were identified : Open Technology , Integration , Quality Management , Training and Marketing .
Besides specifications of Digital Twins 29 , with focus on cross-company interoperability (“ Open Technology ”), the IDTA will also push the further standardization of so-called submodel templates (“ Integration ”), i . e ., standardized ( domain ) knowledge needed for different use cases and data-driven business models that can be shared via the standardized API of the Asset Administration Shell . In addition to genuine submodel templates for Asset Administration Shells , existing and future OPC UA Information Models 30 will also be considered as a basis .
Existing Open Source activities in the context of the Asset Administration Shell will be supported under the umbrella of IDTA . There are already several Open Source projects in place that implement the Asset Administration Shell ( AAS ):
• admin-shell-io ( https :// github . com / admin-shell-io ): This project hosts an open editor with a graphical user interface for Asset Administration Shells ( AASX Package Explorer ),
22 www . industrialdigitaltwin . org
23 https :// www . zvei . org / en / press-media / pressarea / user-organization-industrial-digital-twinassociation-founded
24
German : Mechanical Engineering Industry Association
25 http :// www . vdma . org /
26
German : electrical and electronic manufacturers ' association
27 https :// www . zvei . org /
28 https :// www . bitkom . org / EN / EN
29 https :// www . plattform-i40 . de / PI40 / Redaktion / EN / Standardartikel / specificationadministrationshell . html
30 https :// opcfoundation . org / developer-tools / specifications-opc-ua-information-models
- 26 - March 2021