Toward Data Interoperability of Enterprise and Control Applications via the Industry 4.0 Asset Administration Shell

In a cyber-physical system, enterprise applications, control functions, and physical manufacturing assets are interconnected to seamlessly exchange information. However, the software and hardware often differ in terms of their data interfaces, data formats and semantics. Conventional enterprise applications usually employ file-based interfaces (e.g., Excel); control applications always support Ethernet-based protocols (e.g., OPC UA). Thus, data interoperability is currently lacking. The asset administration shell (AAS) is a new approach for achieving data interoperability across the automation pyramid as the AASX data format represents AAS information and supports data communication via OPC UA. In this study, we first provide insights into the AASX format and give exemplary applications on AASX; we then present an AASX-based solution for bidirectional data exchange between enterprise and control applications. In this solution, the conversion between AASX and Excel spreadsheets is completed to enable interoperable data exchange. Finally, a data exchange scenario for motor control is constructed to validate the effectiveness of the solution. The result shows no data were lost during the two-way conversions.