Leading to accurate ID in factory environments
A new solution called SmartID Edge enables real-time object and process transparency leading to accurate identification in factory environments
Digitisation and networking are central topics of our time. In the industrial environment, they shape concepts such as Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Networking plays a particularly crucial role in today’s automation systems in production and logistics. The goal here is to be able to call up the production processes’ exact status at any time and to keep a complete overview of the production-relevant data at field level.
Key questions need to be asked to enable this including: How can users efficiently achieve maximum transparency in their production processes? And how secure is the communication between the network participants? A networking model that answers these questions can be designed efficiently and securely using the SmartID-Edge concept from Leuze. The product offers intelligent identification by linking barcodes with virtual RFID tags to ensure secure, real-time data access at the end.
Modern automation
Modern identification systems typically need to be able to handle variable amounts of data and different code systems, depending on the object to be identified. With classic 1D/2D codes, however, these possibilities are limited because standardised bar codes such as a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) only provide a defined, unchangeable and rather small amount of data.
Furthermore, a bar code always requires access to a higher level IT system such as MES or ERP, where the complete data record that the bar code represents is stored. RFID benefits from the flexibility of the data carriers (‘tags’) used, in addition to the physical principle’s other advantages. These usually have a freely programmable electronic memory meaning that product and process data required for specific situations can be stored directly on the object. For economic or technical reasons, however, it is not always practical or possible to use RFID. Frequent changes of media from bar code to RFID are also undesirable in continuous production processes because they result in increased effort in automation processes and data handling.
Standardised RFID mechanisms
This is where the SmartID-Edge concept from Leuze comes in. It uses standardised RFID mechanisms to process and store identification data while retaining the classic optical bar code technology. This is achieved by linking RFID data structures and command sets with standard bar code scanners and camera-based scanners using OPC UA as the data exchange standard and a fully integrated AutoID Companion specification. Each physical bar code is assigned a virtual RFID tag, which is stored in a database on an edge server. Data is exchanged at field level exclusively between the bar code devices and the edge server. The system’s control system, for example a PLC, has no access to the edge server and the PLC can only access the bar code identification systems, although these behave like RFID systems.
The system offers several integrated security mechanisms, including integrated end-to-end encryption via OPC UA. This opens up unprecedented possibilities for enriching data when identifying objects in the production process: In addition to the unique object ID, status information about the identification system as well as reading quality and other process and status data can be stored in a data record. This data record can be accessed directly in real time at field level.
Queries to MES and ERP systems are no longer necessary, which relieves data traffic in the networks and frees up system resources at the IT level. Multiple local sensor and AutoID networks can be synchronised via distributed edge servers meaning all identification events are available throughout the network at all times
For more information visit: www.leuze.com
