The open standards AutomationML / OPC UA and available tools

Our projects focus on:

AutomationML as a description format for the characteristics of products, processes and resources
OPC UA as a standard protocol for communication in the factory

The two organizations have established a Companion Standard joint working group, which has developped a companion standard. Currently this standard is transferred into a DIN Spec. Both documents describe how an AutomationML description can be mapped to an OPC UA information model, providing one consistent standard for equipment descriptions and communication for Industrie 4.0

Here you will find a web-based system to convert AutomationML models into an OPC UA information model.

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AutomationML

Originally designed as an exchange format for engineering data, AutomationML™ was enhanced by the partners of the AutomationML Association from science and industry. It is now a powerful description format and has been standardized internationally (IEC 62714). AutomationML is an open standard, which means that it is immediately available to any organization free of charge.

We use AutomationML for the self-description of devices, machinery and equipment and of controls and network components, broken down into products, processes and resources. This includes the geometry and kinematics of the objects in a factory, their logic and behavior as well as logical and physical interfaces. A higher-level AutomationML model integrates the individual models. It visualizes the interaction between factory, lines, equipment, topology and the integration in the plant network.

Ask our experts for sample models or join us in creating your own sample – taken from your organization.

Currently, we provide the following tools, which your developers can use themselves:

Our CAEX Importer allows you to create AutomationML models on the basis of data from any engineering tool.
Our CAEX Mapping consolidates various individual models of devices and machines to form an overall AutomationML model.
The access to libraries of existing (partial) models facilitates the work of planners; to this end, they use the CAEX Editor.
Our AutomationML Modeller simplifies the navigation and visualization of comprehensive and highly interconnected AutomationML models for your engineers.
In the Automation TestCenter, a web system we operate on behalf of the AutomationML Association, you can find out if the created models comply with the AutomationML specifications.

OPC UA

OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) presents a modern and powerful communication standard, which is becoming more and more widespread in the manufacturing industry around the globe. Standardized as IEC 62541, it provides interconnected information models end enables event-driven communication between servers and clients of industrial information technology. OPC UA includes future-oriented IT security mechanisms, ensuring that your data can be shared between multiple sites. Models created for planning purposes, e. g. AutomationML, can be converted into an OPC UA information model on the basis of the joint “companion specification” of the AutomationML Association and the OPC Foundation. The fact that OPC UA is scalable down to the chip level and thus applicable in embedded system has been proved at our Centrum Industrial IT (CIIT), where a tiger chip has been developed. The Internet of Things thus appears to be within reach.

If you wish to equip your own components or equipment with OPC UA servers or clients, just contact us. We help you in a targeted way because we have performed a lot of projects so we know the tricks of the trade.

In addition, we support your engineers and software developers by providing various IOSB development tools:

First of all, our work has resulted in the OPC UA Modeller, which allows information models to be visualized and edited. AutomationML models can be converted into an OPC UA information model using this tool.
Our aggregating OPC UA Server consolidates the data spaces of individual OPC UA servers, ensuring the consistency of configuration and online data.
Our know-how enables you to generate process control imagesfor various visualization and SCADA systems and the integration of the visual elementsfrom within OPC UA. This results in a faster and safer start-up of your machinery and equipment.
Using IOSB’s software development kits (SDK) for JAVA (client) and C++ (server) plus a .net DLL for the integration with your source code, you can create your own OPC UA serves and clients, quickly and cost-efficiently.

AutoInspect

Inspection of complex objects - multisensory, modular, fully digitalized. Technical infrastructure and digital twin for quality inspection/optimization and comprehensive evaluation according to Industrie 4.0 standards

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Open62541: Open source OPC UA stack

The open source implementation of OPC UA, developed under the leadership of Fraunhofer IOSB, is programmed entirely in C, is resource-efficient and is also suitable for embedded systems.

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Plug and Work

One use case for the OPC UA and AutomationML standards is “Plug and Work” – learn more about it here.

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Publications/Downloads

(in German language only)