Semantic integration of multi-agent systems using an OPC UA information modeling approach

In terms of current industrial manufacturing sites, a major challenge is to deal with growing complexity by enabling intelligence on the shop floor of existing production processes. A possible solution to reach this goal consists in an integration of smart cyber-physical production systems into the automation systems of a production. One promising approach to do so is based on the agent paradigm. By deploying Multi-Agent Systems into the manufacturing components, each production step is able to gain a self-representation and to achieve intelligent behavior of the entire system. One problem though is the formalization of agent based systems and their communication among each other, which is currently rather hard-coded or application-specific. In this research paper, we propose an architectural approach for a Multi-Agent System that is based on OPC UA as modeling interface and as semantic approach for the integration of agent-based systems into existing manufacturing sites. For this purpose, we define a domain ontology for the representation of intelligent software agents and for the mapping of an agent-based communication by making use of the OPC UA meta model. Due to this conceptual approach, the integration of intelligent entities such as agents into grown manufacturing systems can be performed in a structured and well-defined way as well as by using existing interfaces and semantic standards. The according agent representation intends to upgrade all production resources that can be linked through OPC UA with intelligent behavioral skills. We evaluate the proposed concept by means of an Industry 4.0 demonstrator implementing agents for the representation actual manufacturing machinery based on Raspberry Pi devices.