Bringing Automated Intelligence to Cyber-Physical Production Systems in Factory Automation

Learning and intelligent algorithms are the basis for Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS). They enable flexibility through reconfiguration ease and fault tolerance by ensuring that the CPPS adapts to changing conditions. However, in order to exhibit such characteristics, CPPS require a proper support for reliably handling the real time behavior of the physical systems they are in control of. This paper presents and discusses basic requirements for control software, which enables flexible and adaptable automated Production Systems (aPS) modelled according to the CPPS concept. In doing so, the paper exposes the main architectural guidelines and rationale for where to place and operate intelligent algorithms in the context of industrial automation for continuous processes.