From science into practice: Industry 4.0 middleware in use at companies The BaSys überProd research project strengthens cross-company production support

In the new research project "Basic system for cross-company production support" (in short: BaSys überProd), 21 partners from science and industry - including Sensitec GmbH - have been working since the beginning of this year on solutions for the transformation to digitalised, flexible Industry 4.0 production. The open source middleware Eclipse BaSyx is being used in particular. The goal is to implement representative use cases in commercial enterprises and to work out the reuse potential of the solutions for other contexts. The research project, led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE in Kaiserslautern, builds on the successful work and results of the two previous funded projects BaSys 4.0 and BaSys 4.2 - and develops them further. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding the new project for two years with a sum of 8.3 million euros.

At the project launch, Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek explains: "We also need uniform corporate standards in the digital realm, as they have long been part of everyday life in the physical machine world. The standardisation of production and process data, which are currently still handled differently from company to company, is a prerequisite for cooperative production at the highest level and contributes to the technological sovereignty of Germany and Europe. With the new research project, we will therefore now test software that will help to make flexible and cross-company production processes simple and efficient."

Open-source middleware BaSyx as enabler of changeable production

Just in time for the start of the project, the upcoming 1.0 release of the Eclipse BaSyx middleware marks an important milestone for the feasibility of Industry 4.0. The software development kits made available as open source enable users to dive directly into the world of management shells. Off-the-shelf components make it possible to digital twin environments without programming experience - and in conformity with the standards.

Prof. Dr. Peter Liggesmeyer, Director of Fraunhofer IESE, explains what advantages this will bring for industry: "BaSyx relies on standards such as the management shell, which is already the basis of numerous industrial applications today. The research project 'BaSys überProd' will support the implementation of flexible cross-company supply chains, the efficient production of small batches, and revolutionary data-driven business models in numerous industrial application contexts. We will make resulting digital interfaces and models freely available via our Eclipse reference implementation BaSyx, thereby decisively advancing the fourth industrial revolution."

Sensitec involved in BaSys viaProd

Within the project, Sensitec will work closely with TU Kaiserslautern and Fraunhofer IESE on the development of software to perform pre-analysis when integrating new sensors into existing manufacturing facilities. This task addresses not only the virtual design of sensors, but also the development of AI-based algorithms for the evaluation of sensor data. These tasks are subject to the importance of sensor technology in a changeable production.

The BaSys überProd research consortium is made up of four scientific institutions and 18 commercial enterprises:

Science: Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE (consortium leader), Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA, Fraunhofer Institute for Mechatronics Design IEM, Technical University of Kaiserslautern.

Industry: EWM Group, Fujitsu EST, Hegla Gmbh & Co KG, HÖRMANN Automotive, logicline GmbH (Lenze Group), Levicron GmbH, META-Level Software AG, Muckenhirn Automation GmbH, Murrelektronik GmbH, NetApp Deutschland GmbH, Objective Partner AG, PSI Automotive & Industry GmbH, Sartorius Lab Instruments GmbH & Co. KG, Sensitec GmbH, Siemens AG, Trustsec IT solutions GmbH, ZF Friedrichshafen AG