Dr.-Ing.

Kuhn, Thomas

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  • Publication
    A Quality 4.0 Model for architecting industry 4.0 systems
    ( 2022)
    Oliveira Antonino, Pablo
    ;
    Capilla, Rafael
    ;
    Pelliccione, Patrizio
    ;
    Schnicke, Frank
    ;
    Espen, Daniel
    ;
    Kuhn, Thomas
    ;
    Schmid, Klaus
    The increasing importance of automation and smart capabilities for factories and other industrial systems has led to the concept of Industry 4.0 (I4.0). This concept aims at creating systems that improve the vertical and horizontal integration of production through (i) comprehensive and intelligent automation of industrial processes, (ii) informed and decentralized real-time decision making, and (iii) stringent quality requirements that can be monitored at any time. The I4.0 infrastructure, supported in many cases by robots, sensors, and algorithms, demands highly skilled workers able to continuously monitor the quality of both the items to be produced and the underlying production processes. While the first attempts to develop smart factories and enhance the digital transformation of companies are under way, we need adequate methods to support the identification and specification of quality attributes that are relevant to I4.0 systems. Our main contribution is to provide a refined version of the ISO 25010 quality model specifically tailored to those qualities demanded by I4.0 needs. This model aims to provide actionable support for I4.0 software engineers that are concerned with quality issues. We developed our model based on an exhaustive analysis of similar proposals using the design science method as well as expertise from seasoned engineers in the domain. We further evaluate our model by applying it to two important I4.0 reference architectures further clarifying its application.
  • Publication
    Architecture Blueprints to Enable Scalable Vertical Integration of Assets with Digital Twins
    ( 2022)
    Schnicke, Frank
    ;
    Haque, Ashfaqul
    ;
    Kuhn, Thomas
    ;
    Espen, Daniel
    ;
    Oliveira Antonino, Pablo
    Many Industry 4.0 use cases require the integration of live data, e.g., from sensors and devices. However, the large number of legacy fieldbus protocols and proprietary data formats turns this integration into an effort-consuming task. As the number of digital twins in a factory increases rapidly, data source integration has to scale well. Until now, little guidance is available on how to implement this integration in a scalable and reusable manner for Industry 4.0. To close this gap, we define five architecture blueprints based on our experience in various Industry 4.0 projects. These blueprints detail various integration scenarios differentiated by key attributes like frequency of data consumption and data production. In these architecture blueprints, two core components, the Updater and the Delegator, are identified. By providing and evaluating our open-source implementation of these two components, we show the feasibility of the defined blueprints. Utilizing the provided open-source components and the defined architecture blueprints will benefit practitioners as well as researchers when it comes to data integration with digital twins.
  • Publication
    Continuous engineering for Industry 4.0 architectures and systems
    ( 2022)
    Oliveira Antonino, Pablo
    ;
    Capilla, Rafael
    ;
    Kazman, R.
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    Kuhn, Thomas
    ;
    Schnicke, Frank
    ;
    Treichel, Tagline
    ;
    Bachorek, Adam
    ;
    Müller-Zhang, Zai
    ;
    Salamanca, V.
    Traditionally, the quality of a software or system architecture has been evaluated in the early stages of the development process using architecture quality evaluation methods. Emergent approaches like Industry 4.0 require continuous monitoring of both run-time and development-time quality properties, in contrast to traditional systems where quality is evaluated at specific milestones using techniques such as project reviews. Considering the dynamics and minimum down-time imposed by the industrial production domain, it must also be ensured that Industry 4.0 system evaluations are continuously performed with high confidence and with as much automation as possible, using simulations, for instance. In this regard, there is a need to develop new methods for continuously monitoring and evaluating the quality properties of software-based systems for Industry 4.0, which must be supported by automated quality evaluation techniques. In this research we analyze traditional architecture evaluation methods and Industry 4.0 scenarios, and propose an approach based on Digital Twins and simulations to continuously evaluate runtime quality aspects of the architecture and systems of industrial production plants. The evaluation is based on the instantiation of our approach for a concrete demand of an automation plant in the automotive domain.
  • Publication
    Industry 4.0 reference architectures: State of the art and future trends
    ( 2021)
    Nakagawa, Elisa Yumi
    ;
    Antonino, Pablo Oliveira
    ;
    Schnicke, Frank
    ;
    Capilla, Rafael
    ;
    Kuhn, Thomas
    ;
    Liggesmeyer, Peter
    Industry 4.0 has led to a dramatic shift in manufacturing processes, which must be accomplished by interacting end-to-end industrial systems. While Industry 4.0 is still a big challenge for many manufacturing companies, reference architectures have been increasingly adopted in different domains to guide engineers on how their systems should interoperate and be structured. Companies have made different experiences with reference architectures for Industry 4.0. However, depending on the use cases addressed, a reference architecture may be more or less suited to support the transformation of a particular company. Besides, a complete understanding of existing representative architectures does not exist. The main goal of this work is to review existing reference architectures for Industry 4.0 and analyze them concerning their suitability for supporting Industry 4.0 processes and solutions. For this, we systematically researched these architectures and thoroughly analyzed and characterized them. We also address their use and technologies/tools that could support their implementation. As a result, we found that existing architectures still have a long way to go; hence, we present the most urgent steps for the near future. We conclude that the Industry 4.0 community is right in investing in reference architectures considering the future of Industry 4.0.
  • Publication
    Continuous Systems and Software Engineering for Industry 4.0: A disruptive view
    ( 2021)
    Nakagawa, Elisa Yumi
    ;
    Antonino, Pablo Oliveira
    ;
    Schnicke, Frank
    ;
    Kuhn, Thomas
    ;
    Liggesmeyer, Peter
    Context: Industry 4.0 has substantially changed the manufacturing processes, leading to smart factories with full digitalization, intelligence, and dynamic production. The need for rigorous and continuous development of highly networked software-intensive Industry 4.0 systems entails great challenges. Hence, Industry 4.0 requires new ways to develop, operate, and evolve these systems accordingly. Objective: We introduce the view of Continuous Systems and Software Engineering for Industry 4.0 (CSSE I4.0). Method: Based on our research and industrial projects, we propose this novel view and its core elements, including continuous twinning, which is also introduced first in this paper. We also discuss the existing industrial engagement and research that could leverage this view for practical application. Results: There are still several open issues, so we highlight the most urgent perspectives for future work. Conclusions: A disruptive view on how to engineer Industry 4.0 systems must be established to pave the way for the realization of the fourth industrial revolution.
  • Publication
    Architecture Blueprint Enabling Distributed Digital Twins
    ( 2021)
    Schnicke, Frank
    ;
    Espen, Daniel
    ;
    Antonino, Pablo Oliveira
    ;
    Kuhn, Thomas
    Mass production today is optimized for large lot sizes, and changes to industrial production lines are effort-intense, time-consuming, and costly. The fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0 (I4.0), aims at reducing the effort needed for changes in industrial production lines. The key benefits of next-generation manufacturing systems are less downtimes and the production of small lot sizes down to lot size 1. I4.0 does not introduce a silver bullet technology, but requires a transformation of the system architecture of production systems. In the literature, however, there systematic guidance for designing manufacturing systems that address central I4.0 use cases like plug'n'produce and end-to-end communication is still missing, as are details on the infrastructure needed to enable I4.0 technologies such as Digital Twins. To contribute to filling this gap, this paper presents (i) a Digital Twin architecture blueprint driven by central I4.0 use cases and (ii) a prototypical open-source implementation of the architecture using the concept of the Asset Administration Shell.
  • Publication
    Blueprints for architecture drivers and architecture solutions for Industry 4.0 shopfloor applications
    ( 2019)
    Antonino, Pablo Oliveira
    ;
    Schnicke, Frank
    ;
    Zhang, Zai
    ;
    Kuhn, Thomas
    Industry 4.0 aims at evolving the current industrial processes towards directly connecting shopfloor machines to systems from different layers of the automation pyramid, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES). There are key functional and quality requirements that apply to most Industry 4.0 systems independent of the application domain, e.g., requirements related to interoperability, recoverability, security, and modifiability. Despite their importance, there is still a lack of understanding of (i) architecture drivers that focus on these quality aspects and (ii) architecture solutions for these architecture drivers that are adequate for a wide range of Industry 4.0 contexts. To contribute to filling this gap, we present in this paper (i) quality-centered architecture drivers derived from industrial cases, and (ii) architecture solutions based on the concepts of Digital Twins, Service-Oriented Architecture, and Virtual Automation Bus for four recurrent production plant scenarios. The architecture drivers and solutions presented in this paper were instantiated in different Industry 4.0 contexts, such as BaSys 4.0 (the German national reference project for Industry 4.0), and by the BaSys industry project partners.