VDMA Robotics + Automation has published OPC UA for Tightening Systems

Published on : 26 November 2021

The Tightening Systems group is part of a larger initiative called Industrial Joining Technologies that aims to describe common information.

Frankfurt, November 25, 2021 – In an effort to advance interoperable communication in the Integrated Assembly Solutions industry, the VDMA Robotics + Automation association has published the first OPC UA specification for this application area.

 
"With Part 1 of the OPC 40451-1 UA CS for Tightening Systems now available, we have laid the foundation for seamless integration of Tightening Systems into digital production in the shape of the Industrial Internet of Things," says Mohit Agarwal, a member of the working group. "More parts will follow to enable additional use cases via OPC UA and enable a long-term vision to make interoperable, harmonised models across joining technologies and other domains."
 

"With this, another important chapter of the world language of production is published and even cross-industry interoperability is realised by using the basic specification "OPC UA for Machinery", praises Andreas Faath, head of VDMA Machine Information Interoperability.

 
On behalf of the OPC Foundation, Stefan Hoppe, President and CEO of the OPC Foundation, praises the success of the working group: "The publication of the Tightening Systems Companion Specification marks another important contribution by VDMA to the global language of production: Standardised information paired with OPC UA-based technology are combined to deliver semantic interoperability as the basis for digitisation".

The use cases were developed in cooperation with the customers. Here, it was particularly important to take into account the requirements and needs of the users to ensure wide acceptance of the standard.

 
Part 1 of the Companion Specification deals mainly with the three important use cases, asset management, and condition monitoring and result management. The information model enables vendor-independent access to asset information of the entire Tightening System, i.e., including components such as the Tool, Controller, and Feeding Unit, etc.

 
A real milestone is the standardised Tightening Systems Result, which can be accessed, independent of the manufacturer, for example, to enable the traceability of safety-critical joints.

 
The Tightening Systems group is part of a larger initiative called Industrial Joining Technologies that aims to describe common information models which are reusable for the joining domain which includes Gluing, Riveting, Flow Drill Fastening, etc.

 
OPC UA communication technology is based on a service-oriented architecture. The added value lies in the development of an industry-specific information model for Tightening Technologies, which is also referred to as the "Companion Specification". Access and data management were identified as the basis for future business models. Prior to this specification, there was no uniform and open interface standard. Users want a common standard for vendor-independent access to information, and more data should be usable in cloud applications as well as in other IT systems at the user site. About 10 companies were involved in the overall working group which includes both data providers and data consumers.

Source - Industrial Automation Magazine