Trace-Driven Verification Framework for Interoperable Digital Twins in Distributed Control Systems

Digital twins offer significant potential for advancing smart manufacturing and production. However, their application within distributed control systems, as well as efforts to enhance their interoperability and data verification, has been minimally explored in the existing literature. This results in a lack of comprehensive guidelines for automation engineers. Therefore, there is a critical need to develop graphical, interoperable digital twins based on available standards and a verification framework to improve data exchange for IEC 61499-based systems. This paper proposes a design approach for interoperable digital twins using the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) within IEC 61499-based distributed control systems, coupled with a data verification method based on execution traces. By integrating AAS with IEC 61499, this approach combines real-time monitoring and control of distributed systems using sensor and actuator data with a flexible, standardized method for representing and validating information, as well as managing these systems, thereby enhancing interoperability.