Ad hoc field device integration using device profiles, concepts for automated configuration and web service technologies: Plug&Play field device integration concepts for industrial production processes

Manufacturing companies are permanently striving to improve their own production processes. So, effective engineering and set up actions are of major importance. This article focuses on concepts to automatically detect, configure and integrate field devices into the application of a superordinate logic controller. In this paper we will propose a concept for this Plug&Play field device integration based on the example scenario of the replacement of an RFID-read-write device. Starting with the formulation of fundamental requirements for Plug&Play field device integration, we are presenting a procedure for setting up field device profiles. Applying this procedure, device profiles for RFID devices are defined and implemented using the web service technology DPWS. The experimental evaluation is carried out in the testing facility of the technology initiative SmartFactory^KL. The results show that the developed concept can significantly improve the setup time for manufacturing equipment.