Smart Manufacturing Connectivity for Brown-field Sensors Testbed
Application Use Case
detailed explanation of IO-Link/OPC UA
conversion technologies and how they are
internally structured. The conclusory intends
to recount these aspects at a higher level,
and factor the remaining Phase I information
yet to be reported. Real industry
deployments will generate additional
technical reports.
The Testbed is applied to a manufacturing
use case with the objectives to monitor and
optimize the amount of consumed
compressed air per produced part. This
usage scenario is implemented primarily for
validation purposes, however it addresses a
common manufacturing challenge at the
same time. The setup includes two sensors:
An IO-Link compressed air meter to precisely
measure the air flow, the consumption and
the current temperature, and an IO-Link
laser distance sensor to count the produced
pieces and thus, to determine the produced
volumes.
Diagrams with
consumed
compressed air per produced part and over
time give indications on potential problems
with the supply of compressed air or on
potential process improvements, e.g., in
terms of process speed vs. pressure.
IIC I NTERACTIONS
Between the Individual Members
At the inception of the Testbed, the
companies seeking to collaborate put a
testbed proposal together and presented it
to the IIC. Interaction with IIC members
commenced
immediately
after
the
introduction of the Testbed. It was
interesting to witness the amount of
contacts that were established during the
first two or three quarters of the Testbed’s
existence. Individuals from all over the world
scheduled meetings just to understand the
Testbed and offer how they might
contribute. People offered to assist with the
analytics and connectivity side of the
Testbed so they could provide additional
connectors other than OPC UA towards
common cloud systems. On the security side,
companies were interested in increasing the
Testbed’s communication and endpoint
security features. There was a multitude of
opportunities that were presented to the
team following the introduction of the
Testbed.
There will be additional usage scenarios
specified by sensor and machine
manufacturers with expertise to define
applications that bring benefits to their
customers and the data needed to be made
available for their implementation.
Deliverables
Phase I’s scope addresses the development
of the Y-Gateway and the OT/IT
communication, ensuring
insignificant
latencies from the additional data
processing on the device, a consistent
conversion from IO-Link to OPC UA and
appropriate security mechanisms being in
place. After Phase I is completed, the
Testbed team has decided to author a
conclusory white paper. Other detailed
technical reports internal to the IIC
ecosystem have been delivered, e.g., a
The cooperation of companies from
different areas (such as OT and IT) and the
discussions on the Testbed with people with
various backgrounds also deliver a better
picture of the overall business environment,
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IIC Journal of Innovation