Generating Industry 4.0 Asset Administration Shells with Data from Engineering Data Logistics

Advanced production systems, for example in the European automotive or steel industries, incorporate Industry 4.0 defined structures based on Industry 4.0 components and their asset administration shells. Several development and standardization initiatives define structures, behavior patterns, meta models, etc. These initiatives assume the Industry 4.0 asset administration shell (I4.0AAS) as a digital twin of the Industry 4.0 component to contain all relevant engineering and runtime data. However, there is only limited discussion on how to collect and represent these data effectively and efficiently. In this paper, we discuss the collection and representation of engineering data as part of the I4.0AAS. We introduce the I4.0AAS completion method to facilitate the collection of the I4.0AAS engineering data set and its export to an I4.0AAS serialization. In the multi-disciplinary engineering of production systems, the I4.0AAS completion method builds on the AutomationML standard and on the data logistics between engineering workgroups. We evaluate the I4.0AAS completion method in a feasibility study with an I4.0 measurement cell.