Cloud-enabled Drive-Motor-Load Simulation Platform using Asset Administration Shell and Functional Mockup Units

Composite asset or systems engineering requires integration and verification of the constituent asset models at the system level. It requires integrating relevant asset data and dynamical models of the individual assets which may be developed using diverse design and simulation tools by multiple vendors. Key integration challenges of lack of interoperability among corresponding data and simulation models, and separated, inflexible application deployments are addressed in this paper via application to a drive-motor-load system. A novel cloud-enabled drive-motor-load simulation platform based on the usage of Asset Administration Shells (AASs) for automatic data exchange and Functional Mockup Units (FMUs) for interoperable simulation is presented, together with an initial application of containerization for securing components. The solution enables higher quality and efficiency of engineering through simulation-based asset dimensioning, what-if scenario simulations, and simulation-based calibration and optimization as well as flexible, user-friendly, and more secure application deployment. An AAS-based model integration for linking various domain models and their parameters across design, configuration, and virtual commissioning, including application-side load FMUs via AAS Simulation Submodels at the composite system level, enables data interoperability while also serving as a building block of the future drive-motor-load system’s digital twin. The solution enables various applications across different product lifecycle phases such as pre-sales (drive) customer engagement, simulation-based calibration and design optimization during engineering, advanced system validations and testing in virtual commissioning, and continuous customer and OEM trainings during commissioning and operations.