Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
  • G05B—CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS
  • G05B15/00—Systems controlled by a computer
  • G05B15/02—Systems controlled by a computer electric
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
  • G05B—CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS
  • G05B17/00—Systems involving the use of models or simulators of said systems
  • G05B17/02—Systems involving the use of models or simulators of said systems electric
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
  • H04L67/01—Protocols
  • H04L67/02—Protocols based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
  • G05B—CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS
  • G05B2219/00—Program-control systems
  • G05B2219/30—Nc systems
  • G05B2219/31—From computer integrated manufacturing till monitoring
  • G05B2219/31196—SOAP, describes available services and how to call them remotely

Definitions

• the invention relates to an automation system with service-oriented architecture and decentralized, distributed components and / or devices in a flexible and reconfigurable production environment, with at least one host computer, which via a data transmission means such as Ethernet with the service-oriented components and / or devices and an engineering tool for, in particular, holistically supporting the lifecycle of service-oriented architectures of distributed, distributed components and / or devices in flexible and reconfigurable production environments.
• a data transmission means such as Ethernet
• SOA Service-Oriented Architecture
• the invention is based on the object to further develop a system of the type mentioned in that allows the creation of service-oriented systems of devices whose execution in a virtual network and their synchronization with real, physically existential components.
• the object is fiction, u. a. is achieved by implementing in the at least one host computer a virtual simulation-based engineering environment with a virtual service-oriented communication platform for exchanging messages and interactions based on web services between virtual models of components and / or real components.
• the virtual components implemented in the host computer are preferably addressable and autonomous as service instances in the virtual network.
• a preferred embodiment is characterized in that the virtual service instances from outside the virtual network are visible and addressable and that this is realized by assigning a physical endpoint address.
• Another preferred embodiment is characterized in that the virtual service-oriented communication platform is realized by the standard network and process function of the operating system of the host computer.
• the service-based components are implemented on the same host machine in separate processes or threads and have their own endpoint addresses.
• communication between host-internal services as well as between host-internal services and external services of a component is transparent.
• both real components and virtual components are described by a mechatronic module, a control module and a communication module
• the mechatronic module having visual and physical properties is represented by machine and electronic parts
• the control module maps control logic of the components
• the communication module is realized in the form of a web service.
• a particular embodiment is characterized in that service-oriented systems of components can be executed on the virtual simulation-based engineering platform.
• the subject of this invention is further a modular virtual engineering tool for, in particular, holistically supporting the life cycle of service-oriented architectures of distributed, distributed components and / or devices in flexible and reconfigurable production environments using an integrated, simulation-based engineering platform ,
• the component functionality is available as a service to other components in a network, based on web service technology.
• component is a mechatronic element of automation and process automation technology, which consists of a mechanical, sensory component, which consists of control functionality and has the ability to communicate.It is in principle able to independently realize their elementary functions Communication and integrated control, the functionality can be published as a web service for other networked components called "life cycle", all phases of a component and the production plant, which can be traversed referred to. These include development, programming, compilation, commissioning, monitoring, runtime diagnostics, simulation, reconfiguration, recycling and much more. This enables the 2D / 3D simulation-based design of component architectures. According to its own inventive feature, the engineering environment allows the creation of service-oriented systems of devices, their execution in a virtual network and their synchronization with real, physically existing components, for example, to allow supervision.
• FIG. 1 shows a system architecture of an automation system comprising a host computer with implemented engineering environment and virtual SO communication platform, which is connected via Ethernet with real components,
• FIG. 3 shows a structure of the virtual service-oriented communication platform in an automation system according to FIG. 1, FIG.
• Fig. 5 shows an application example "diagnosis at runtime" integrated in a single environment or in physically separate environments and
• Fig. 6 shows an application example "test and supervision" integrated in a single environment or physically separate environments.
• Fig. 1 shows a system architecture of an automation system AS, which is constructed in a service-oriented architecture.
• the automation system AS comprises at least one host computer HR and distributed components and / or devices PDL ... PDN in a flexible and reconfigurable production environment, which are connected to each other and to the host computer HR via a communication means KM such as Ethernet.
• a communication means KM such as Ethernet.
• an engineering environment EU is implemented, which provides an integrated, virtual service-oriented communication platform KP.
• virtual components VD1... VDN are implemented, which exchange messages and interactions via the virtual service-oriented communication platform KP.
• the virtual components VD1... VDN essentially have the same structure as the real components PD1... PDN.
• the nature of the virtual and real components VD, PD are considered as a unit of the following modules.
• a component VD, PD consists of the mechanical, mechanical and electronic parts, whose visual and physical properties are represented sufficiently virtually (graphic model, moving parts). Based on the granularity of the system, a component VD, PD such as a sensor / actuator, a machine or a subsystem can be.
• the engineering tool EU can be used for small mechatronic components VD, PD as well as for aggregated components or complex mechatronic structures.
• not essential processes, such as moving machine parts may be represented by separate logic, which simulate, for example, the time or collision behavior of the real component in the virtual model.
• Communication module WS
• the device functionality described under control is made available exclusively via service interfaces for other network nodes as so-called service WS.
• the infrastructure is based on SOAP-based web service technology.
• the use of a device function in a higher context must therefore take place via the service interface.
• there are different approaches for establishing / coordinating a production process with services eg. Eg business process engine with central coordination, or distributed, event-based coordination. These types of coordination are known from orchestration and choreography. These approaches can also be used in the intelligent agent system for control and communication.
• the aim of the engineering tool EU is to deliver the integrated virtual service-oriented communication platform KP, which apart from the modeling of components VD, PD (including 2D / 3D modeling, service modeling, control development) also their simulation and maintenance in the virtual environment EU, KP allows.
• Engineering Environment EU is a generic term for a toolkit that allows the graphical modeling of components and aggregates VD, PD and the development of control logic.
• the code is developed offline, emulated and loaded in compiled form on the end platform and executed.
• FIG. 2 of a simulation-based engineering platform KP extends the engineering environment EU with simulation functionality, which allows the simulation of the modeled system in purely virtual or heterogeneous production environments with real hardware.
• the device and component functions are encapsulated as services WS, so that a further abstraction layer or infrastructure in the form of the session / presentation layer SPL shown in FIG. 3, transport / network layer TNL and data link / phys.
• Layer DPL is necessary, which is the exchange of messages and interactions Basis of Web Services - also referred to as a service-oriented communication platform KP.
• the virtual service-oriented communication platform KP is characterized in that no physical network is necessary for the realization of a system of services and nevertheless all functions of the real platform are present.
• the service instances are addressable as unique service endpoints in the virtual network (transport address) and act autonomously, ie uninfluenced by the coexistence of other services.
• the virtual service entities SI must also be visible and addressable outside the virtual network.
• the virtual service-oriented communication platform KP can already be achieved by the standard network and process functions of the host operating system, if, for example, the service-based components VD1, VD2 are started on the same host computer HR in separate processes (threads) and with their own Endpoint address are available, as shown in Fig. 3.
• the communication between services is transparent, whether between host-internal services or between host-internal service and external service of a component.
• the virtual components VD1... VDN can communicate with exactly the same mechanisms as the real components PD1... PDN.
• the engineering environment EU offers the ability to both map and develop the real components PD1... PDN as virtual components VD1... VDN with the above-mentioned properties of mechatronics, control, communication.
• the aspect of reusability of components VD, PD is very much in the foreground in the service-oriented or component-based development of systems.
• One use case is the creation or extension of reusable component libraries.
• a component VD, PD can be either a composite of other components / services, or an atomic component consisting of control logic and mechatronics.
• the EU engineering environment allows the development of the physical behavior (kinematics) of the geometry (3D model), the service functions, the service interfaces and the actuator / sensor connection.
• the service logic must work in the real and virtual environment. That is, the logic necessary for driving the IO and physical behavior emulation must be strictly separated from the service implementation and interfaced to real and virtual services.
• the engineering platform EU offers the ability to connect the virtual communication platform KP to the production system network via a host Ethernet interface NI, so that transparent data exchange between the engineering system and real components PD1... PDN, as well as between virtual and real components is possible ,
• VD1 shows the structure of a simulation and analysis of virtual components VD1... VDn.
• the virtual components VDx and their practical interaction can be tested completely separately from the outside world in the EU virtual environment.
• the process of the application and the status of the components are visualized and analyzed in the engineering tool.
• the virtual component VD1, VD2 can also run on physically separate computers.
• FIG. 5 shows the structure of a diagnosis at runtime.
• reality is modeled as either 1: 1 or only partially limited to a subset. That is, for each real component PD1 ... PDN for which diagnostic information is to be displayed, a corresponding counterpart as virtual component VDl ... VDN must be present.
• the application now runs on real components which send status information / commands to the engineering environment via a diagnostic service interface. There, the information is prepared and suitably displayed in the model (movement, alarm, messages).
• Fig. 6 shows a test and supervision structure.
• the control is perceived by the virtual components VD1 ... VDN.
• the difference now is not to send the service request (only) to a virtual component VD2, but to the corresponding real component PD2, which executes the service operation and to synchronize the associated virtual component VD2 via the diagnostic interface.

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• 2008
  • 2008-01-25 CN CN2008800030974A patent/CN101632051B/zh active Active
  • 2008-01-25 JP JP2009546768A patent/JP2010517155A/ja active Pending
  • 2008-01-25 US US12/524,376 patent/US20100049336A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2008-01-25 EP EP08708211A patent/EP2111570A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2008-01-25 WO PCT/EP2008/050885 patent/WO2008090216A1/de active Application Filing

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