Abstract: The experiment aims to jointly develop the PROSIM platform, a currently available HUBCAP technology asset, as state-of-the-art modelling and simulation environment for industrial automation application development and training. The project will integrate, adapt and further develop the PROSIM technology for model-based simulation of industrial PLC applications in the process industries in accordance to the end-user requirements and target market adoption for a broad range of EU and non-EU customers. The focus will be on the control of industrial steam installations in healthcare and food/drinks manufacturing as main application areas and provable expertise of the end-user (Energeia Technologies). The main challenges lay in the hybrid: discrete and continuous, nature of such applications and the complexity deriving from translating the application specific p&id diagrams and control narratives to reusable simulation modules for realistic and immersive training experience. These challenges will be addressed through two proposed iterative sprints. The experiment will first develop accurate and realistic customer-specific process simulation packages and it will integrate discretized continuous process models as reusable blocks for building of control engineering digital twins (Interactive development). Finally a fully virtualized simulation environment for plc control applications will be validated on the market (Integration). This will include the PROSIM environment with user selectable simulations, simulated PLC (using both Siemens PLCSIM and B&R ARSim technologies), linked together by OPC UA communication implemented through readily available open source components. The solution will integrate the latest advances in automation technology, virtual automation and digital twins, real time simulations, along with the specific domain knowledge and expertise of the end user. The outcome of the experiment will drive collaboration and cross-industry adoption.

PRO-CPS Conceptual Diagram (Green: existing modules; Yellow: modules under development)

Objectives:

• Development of a specialized add-on package of simulations for process automation;
• Development of a continuous control simulation model for the PROSIM platform;
• Fully virtualized simulation platform for PLC development and training;
• Integration with the HUBCAP ecosystem for model-based design (MBD) and cyber-physical systems (CPS).

“These MBD CPS technologies project has indirectly received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation action programme, via an Open Call #2.1 EXPERIMENT issued and executed under project HUBCAP (grant agreement No 872698)”