Microservice Oriented Plug-and-Produce Architecture for Industry 4.0 Applications

• Grant number: 24/21954-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: April 01, 2025
• End date: March 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Eduardo Paciência Godoy
• Grantee: Eduardo Paciência Godoy
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciência e Tecnologia. Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Sorocaba. Sorocaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Jeferson André Bigheti

Abstract

Industry 4.0 (I4.0) has guided the evolution of control and automation architectures for service orientation, Edge Computing, and Industrial Internet of Things-based communication to provide greater modularity, vertical integration, and connectivity. The concept of adaptive production in I4.0 defines modular industrial assets and systems that are interoperable and can be easily (re)configured and (re)composed according to production needs. In this theme, the vanguard of knowledge and research is related to the challenges of development and standardization of information models, management of industrial assets and the creation (composition) and management of different industrial applications based on services. The objective of this research is the development of a microservices-oriented Plug-and-Produce (PnPr) architecture for I4.0 applications systematized in two processes. The Plug process focused on commissioning and modeling asset information and the Produce process focused on asset composition and application management. The Plug part is based on asset information modeling using the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) standard and deploying the assets as a microservice using container technology. The Produce part is based on the orchestration of applications through the composition of assets using standardized communication via OPC UA and microservices. The experimental development of the architecture is done in an industrial pilot plant based on microservices, describing the steps of the Plug and Produce processes in control, automation, and Digital Twin applications. This PnPr architecture, which represents an evolution of the microservices architecture developed in a previous project, will enable the integration and universalization of access to industrial assets, in addition to facilitating and standardizing the creation of different I4.0 applications. (AU)