An Industrie 4.0 compliant and self-managing OPC UA Aggregation Server

Abstract

Gaining value out of data provided in industrial application in a standardized Industrie 4.0 compliant way is a challenging and time-extensive task. Not only does the data need to be integrated into a data platform, it also needs to be described and integrated in an appropriate way, that allows a standardized processing for its value-added services. One way to achieve this, lies in the use of OPC UA and the asset administration shell. Together they can implement an Industrie 4.0 Component as the standardized service for tailored data integration and usage. Data in OPC UA is available in different levels of abstraction, both in terms of the data and its description. Rarely is the asset administration shell (AAS) considered in this context. This paper will introduce a first approach to harmonize OPC UA and the AAS in an I4.0 compliant Aggregation Server. The server is able to aggregate information models based on the current meta model mapping of the AAS, regardless of whether the base servers implement this or not. Moreover the aggregated server can route OPC UA services down to the base servers and is managing itself in case of discovery and information aggregation. This approach can be used as the standalone interface for data integration in respective data platforms.