Open Access

The development of protype applications with sensors and actuators in the automation industry requires tools that are independent of manufacturer, and are flexible enough to be modified or extended for any specific requirements. Currently, developing prototypes with industrial sensors and actuators is not straightforward. First of all, the exchange of information depends on the industrial protocol that these devices have. Second, a specific configuration and installation is done based on the hardware that is used, such as automation controllers or industrial gateways. This means that the development for a specific industrial protocol, highly depends on the hardware and the software that vendors provide. In this work we propose a rapid-prototyping framework based on Arduino to solve this problem. For this project we have focused to work with the IO-Link protocol. The framework consists of an Arduino shield that acts as the physical layer, and a software that implements the IO-Link Master protocol. The main advantage of such framework is that an application with industrial devices can be rapid-prototyped with ease as its vendor independent, open-source and can be ported easily to other Arduino compatible boards. In comparison, a typical approach requires proprietary hardware, is not easy to port to another system and is closed-source.

This paper presents a proof of concept for automatically generating and orchestrating active asset administration shells (AAS) with IO-Link. AAS are software-based representations of physical assets that enable interoperability and standardised communication across different industrial systems. IO-Link is a widely adopted communication protocol for sensors and actuators in industrial automation. Our method uses an approach to generate AASs based on the IO-Link device description files. The generated AASs can then be orchestrated to form a distributed system that provides dynamic information about the status and performance of the connected assets. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our method through a proof of concept that involves the automatic generation and orchestration of AASs for a fluid processing unit equipped with pressure and flow sensors and a pump. The results show that our approach reduces the time and effort required to create and maintain active AASs.

Interoperability at the field level is dependent on the specific technology implementation and its semantics. Integrating field devices with different communication protocols is not a simple process, as there is no direct semantic mapping between them. In recent years, standards such as the OPC UA Field eXchange and the Asset Administration Shell have proposed neutral data models to reduce the heterogeneity of field device semantics. However, to integrate different field device standards, a formal mapping between the semantic terms of these standards and the neutral data models must still be defined. A research topic that remains open is how different standards can be automatically mapped to a neutral interface independent of their implementation. In this paper we present a novel approach that generalizes the semantics of field devices at the communication level, enabling the use of inference rules that are independent of specific standards. Our method, based on the Industry 4.0 Field Device ontology, identifies the generic type of any field device and provides an interoperable capability description adaptable to various protocols. The framework includes a semantic broker that automates the creation of device instances, executes inference requests, and generates a generic semantic model for field devices. The objective of this work is to simplify the integration of field device semantics, with a generalization of the application layer and facilitate their mapping to other higher-level data models.

Industrial field devices exchange information through standardized communication interfaces and data models, encompassing process data, communication properties, and vendor details. Despite enhancing interoperability within a specific protocol, integrating these devices with diverse systems poses challenges due to data model fragmentation and custom interfaces. The absence of a universal semantic model for categorizing field device process data independently of standards necessitates engineers to repetitively devise custom exchange data models for different sensors and actuators, relying on standards like OPC-UA. In response, this work proposes an ontology-based architecture to tackle information data model fragmentation, aiming for seamless data interoperability across a universal interface. By focusing on two open-access field device standards, IO-Link and CANOpen, we compare their information data models, identify existing limitations, and put forth a semantic information model. The objective is to offer an interoperable interface for Industry 4.0 applications, showcasing the potential of an ontology-based approach in streamlining data exchange and reducing heterogeneity among field devices.

The implementation of IO-Link in the automation industry has increased over the years. Its main advantage is it offers a digital point-to-point plugand-play interface for any type of device or application. This simplifies the communication between devices and increases productivity with its different features like self-parametrization and maintenance. However, its complete potential is not always used. The aim of this paper is to create an Arduino based framework for the development of generic IO-Link devices and increase its implementation for rapid prototyping. By generating the IO device description file (IODD) from a graphical user interface, and further customizable options for the device application, the end-user can intuitively develop generic IO-Link devices. The peculiarity of this framework relies on its simplicity and abstraction which allows to implement any sensor functionality and virtually connect any type of device to an IO-Link master. This work consists of the general overview of the framework, the technical background of its development and a proof of concept which demonstrates the workflow for its implementation.