Cyber-physical Industry 4.0 laboratory test field to simulate self-optimizing intralogistics

This paper presents a cyber-physical Industry 4.0 laboratory test field, test field for short, for the investigation of self-optimizing intralogistics and production planning. The test field allows strategies and functions to be evaluated and tested under reproducible real-time conditions. This closes the gap between simulation and real production application in the development process for intelligent functions of the Industry 4.0. We will introduce a detailed concept of the test field as well as a brief overview of the design. Core of the test field are automated guided vehicles (AGVs) for intralogistics, which interact autonomously with other participants in an Internet of Things (IoT) network. The concept of an AGV will be presented in the course of this paper. Also, the independent guideline-free navigation will be integrated into Software-in-the-Loop simulations of the test field.