Concept for Improved Automation of Distributed Systems with a Declarative Control based on OPC UA and REST

Abstract

The main difference between conventional automation and current approaches of digitized industrial processes is the use of the Internet. The Internet enables the development of distributed systems consisting of loosely coupled and interacting components such as robots, plants and control software. The components are not permanently tied to each other, but rather dynamically combined according to the specific requirements of the target system. This results in highly flexible systems that are distributed globally and across company boundaries. The development, maintenance and modification of various components is decentralized and can therefore lead to incompatibilities that can impair their interoperability. This paper describes an approach for the interaction of control software, which ensures interoperability of components in distributed systems. The underlying principles of REST are used to automatically identify properties in the structural models of OPC UA and use them to determine the required processes for further invocation. This enables extensive modifications of the individual components without creating incompatibilities.