Towards Meaningful Interoperability for Heterogeneous Engineering Tools via AutomationML

This paper presents an extension of the previous work on AutomationML-based mappings for semantic interoperability between heterogeneous engineering tools without semantic standardization [1][2]. While the former method is limited to 1:1 semantic mappings, the present paper addresses the more general concept of meaningful interoperability described in [3]. It includes complex semantic transformations and provides means for enabling pragmatic interoperability. An AutomationML-based Reference Class Library is introduced as an evolving knowledge base of interoperability information for a heterogeneous tool landscape. It is accessed via the Interoperability Bridge, a middleware developed for publishing and retrieving this information. The proposed method is applied to a collaborative engineering application for feedback-based improvement of Drive type selections in ABB DriveSize tool. Topics for further extension are also mentioned.