Graph-based Information Modeling for ICPS

Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems (ICPS) are regarded as the next-generation industrial control systems and as one of the core technologies of the ongoing fourth industrial revolution. Despite their advantages, ICPS present challenges that must be addressed to unleash their full potential. Among them is the standardization of information models. Today, various industry standards are used for information modeling; however, these efforts do not consider all aspects of an ICPS and mainly focus on describing the engineering and logic of the industrial process. This work proposes information modeling based on graphs that take into account the following aspects of an ICPS: engineering, production flow, and feedback control; trying to obtain an information model that integrates the relationships of the different devices in a process both vertically and horizontally. A concrete case study on a mineral processing plant is presented to illustrate the potential of the proposed modeling methodology.