A Middleware Platform for Intelligent Automation: An Industrial Prototype Implementation

Abstract

The development of dynamic data-based Decision Support Systems (DSSs) along with the increasing availability of data in the industry, makes real-time data acquisition and management a challenge. Intelligent automation appears as a holistic combination of automation with analytics and decisions made by artificial intelligence, delivering smart manufacturing and mass customization while improving resource efficiency. However, challenges towards the development of intelligent automation architectures include the lack of interoperability between systems, complex data preparation steps, and the inability to deal with both high-frequency and high-volume data in a timely fashion. This paper contributes to industrial frameworks focused on the development of standardized system architectures for Industry 4.0, closing the gap between generic architectures and physical realizations. It proposes a platform for intelligent automation relying on a gateway or middleware between field devices, enterprise databases, and DSSs in real-time scenarios. This is achieved by providing the middleware interoperability, determinism, and automatic data structuring over an industrial communication infrastructure such as the OPC UA Standard over Time Sensitive Networks (TSN). Cloud services and database warehousing used to address some of the challenges are handled using fog computing and a multi-workload database. This paper presents an implementation of the platform in the pharmaceutical industry, providing interoperability and real-time reaction capability to changes to an industrial prototype using dynamic scheduling algorithms.