Interchange format for the generation of functional elements for industrie 4.0 components

Industrie 4.0 components should offer flexible functionality for modern production systems. In order to achieve this flexibility, they provide functions that shall be described and implemented in an easy way. The term “functional element” is known from device profile specifications. Originally designed to be implemented in field devices, these specifications can also be used in Industrie 4.0 components. Until today, the functionality of field devices and Industrie 4.0 components is developed in a manual way. With a universal interchange format for device profiles, they can be used for automatic generation and deployment of functionality. This paper presents an analysis of requirements for the generation of functional elements. It discusses existing interchange formats, describes necessary adaptations, and evaluates the developed interchange format with different device profiles.