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IIoT has proven to be a driving force in not only IT and OT collaboration, but also collaboration between various standards bodies as well as a multitude of both automation and enterprise suppliers. It seems that there is an endless flow of announcements of jointly developed testbeds and organizations who have historically never worked together now joining forces for the greater IIoT good. Recent examples include TE Connectivity, SAP, ifm and the OPC Foundation announcing a new Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) testbed on sensor-to-the-cloud connectivity, as well as automation standards bodies OMAC, OPC Foundation and PLCopen working together to advance the IIoT.
The Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) has approved an IIC testbed on sensor-to-the-cloud connectivity called the “Smart Manufacturing Connectivity for Brownfield Sensors Testbed”. This testbed is being carried out with fellow IIC members TE Connectivity (TE), a global provider of connectivity solutions and sensors, SAP, ifm, and the OPC Foundation.
The objective of sensor-to-the-cloud connectivity is to make sensor data available to information technology (IT) systems in near real-time, enabling advanced analytics. This is of particular interest to operators of existing manufacturing facilities, as it provides them with opportunities to increase efficiencies through reductions in energy consumption. Unlike new deployments, where the appropriate connectivity may be designed in from the beginning, smart solutions are required for these brownfield installations in order to enable easier integration at both the operational technology (OT) and the IT level to help reduce downtime and save costs.
The Smart Manufacturing Connectivity for Brownfield Sensors Testbed will introduce a retrofit hardware solution (the "Y-Gateway") that makes use of existing physical connectivity, extract sensor data from the automation system without impacting operations, deliver the sensor data to SAP's IT platform through a secure OT/IT communication based on OPC UA (IEC 62541), and define and implement a common device model based on an available open standard to allow for the easier integration of an IO-Link sensor with IT, enabling the remote configuration of the sensor.
In addition to this IIC announcement, the Organization for Machine Automation and Control (OMAC), OPC Foundation, and PLCopen announced that they are working together to help further advance the communications protocols necessary for IIoT. The three organizations are developing and promoting common standards to help improve manufacturing efficiency, but until now had been working in parallel on different aspects of automation standardization.
Interoperability between devices and machines that use different protocols is a significant challenge in realizing the full potential offered by IIoT. By collaborating on companion specifications to the standards and protocols they have already developed, OMAC, OPC Foundation, and PLCopen can help advance the quality and efficiency of data sharing and communication at the machine and production line and up through the enterprise. Collaborative efforts by these standards organizations align with the IIC’s goal to ultimately identify and define building blocks for interoperability that help make smart factories and IIoT possible.
Here is how the three automation standards organizations are bringing their efforts together. One of OMAC's major initiatives has been promotion of the ISA-TR88.00.02 automation standard commonly known as PackML. The second generation was released last year. Manufacturers and machine builders worldwide have implemented ISA-TR88 on various control platforms to help increase speed to production, ease packaging line integration, and improve reliability. While PackML defines machine modes, states and tag naming conventions, it does not specify a communications protocol.
The OPC Foundation's Unified Architecture (OPC UA) is an industrial interoperability framework. It delivers information modeling with integrated security, access rights, and all communication layers to provide plug and play machine-to-machine (M2M) communication inside factories. It is scalable across the plant floor and from sensor to IT enterprise and cloud scenarios. OPC and PLCopen recently worked together to define a set of function blocks to map the IEC 61131-3 global standard for industrial controls programming to the OPC UA information communication model. The latest version was released earlier this year. IEC 61131-3 is a global standard for industrial control programming and is recommended by OMAC in its Packaging Guidelines document.
To take their efforts to the next level, OMAC and the OPC Foundation have established a taskforce to develop a companion specification for ISA-TR88/PackML and OPC UA by the end of 2016. The task force, led by Sari Germanos, open automation manager for B&R Industrial Automation, includes members of OMAC and OPC Foundation from around the world. Participation is open to interested members of either organization.
We will continue to blog about these announcements of collaboration as they occur, as these alliances will have a critical effect on the speed of adoption of IIoT among manufacturers.
The Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) has approved an IIC testbed on sensor-to-the-cloud connectivity called the “Smart Manufacturing Connectivity for Brownfield Sensors Testbed”. This testbed is being carried out with fellow IIC members TE Connectivity (TE), a global provider of connectivity solutions and sensors, SAP, ifm, and the OPC Foundation.
The objective of sensor-to-the-cloud connectivity is to make sensor data available to information technology (IT) systems in near real-time, enabling advanced analytics. This is of particular interest to operators of existing manufacturing facilities, as it provides them with opportunities to increase efficiencies through reductions in energy consumption. Unlike new deployments, where the appropriate connectivity may be designed in from the beginning, smart solutions are required for these brownfield installations in order to enable easier integration at both the operational technology (OT) and the IT level to help reduce downtime and save costs.
The Smart Manufacturing Connectivity for Brownfield Sensors Testbed will introduce a retrofit hardware solution (the "Y-Gateway") that makes use of existing physical connectivity, extract sensor data from the automation system without impacting operations, deliver the sensor data to SAP's IT platform through a secure OT/IT communication based on OPC UA (IEC 62541), and define and implement a common device model based on an available open standard to allow for the easier integration of an IO-Link sensor with IT, enabling the remote configuration of the sensor.
In addition to this IIC announcement, the Organization for Machine Automation and Control (OMAC), OPC Foundation, and PLCopen announced that they are working together to help further advance the communications protocols necessary for IIoT. The three organizations are developing and promoting common standards to help improve manufacturing efficiency, but until now had been working in parallel on different aspects of automation standardization.
Interoperability between devices and machines that use different protocols is a significant challenge in realizing the full potential offered by IIoT. By collaborating on companion specifications to the standards and protocols they have already developed, OMAC, OPC Foundation, and PLCopen can help advance the quality and efficiency of data sharing and communication at the machine and production line and up through the enterprise. Collaborative efforts by these standards organizations align with the IIC’s goal to ultimately identify and define building blocks for interoperability that help make smart factories and IIoT possible.
Here is how the three automation standards organizations are bringing their efforts together. One of OMAC's major initiatives has been promotion of the ISA-TR88.00.02 automation standard commonly known as PackML. The second generation was released last year. Manufacturers and machine builders worldwide have implemented ISA-TR88 on various control platforms to help increase speed to production, ease packaging line integration, and improve reliability. While PackML defines machine modes, states and tag naming conventions, it does not specify a communications protocol.
The OPC Foundation's Unified Architecture (OPC UA) is an industrial interoperability framework. It delivers information modeling with integrated security, access rights, and all communication layers to provide plug and play machine-to-machine (M2M) communication inside factories. It is scalable across the plant floor and from sensor to IT enterprise and cloud scenarios. OPC and PLCopen recently worked together to define a set of function blocks to map the IEC 61131-3 global standard for industrial controls programming to the OPC UA information communication model. The latest version was released earlier this year. IEC 61131-3 is a global standard for industrial control programming and is recommended by OMAC in its Packaging Guidelines document.
To take their efforts to the next level, OMAC and the OPC Foundation have established a taskforce to develop a companion specification for ISA-TR88/PackML and OPC UA by the end of 2016. The task force, led by Sari Germanos, open automation manager for B&R Industrial Automation, includes members of OMAC and OPC Foundation from around the world. Participation is open to interested members of either organization.
We will continue to blog about these announcements of collaboration as they occur, as these alliances will have a critical effect on the speed of adoption of IIoT among manufacturers.