Design and Implementation of the Reactive Asset Administration Shell using JSON-based Database

Abstract

In 2021, the document Details of the Asset Administration Shell - Part 2 was released, which forms the standard for the REST API interface of the reactive AAS (Asset Administration Shell) technology. The standard contains a prescription of functions and their parameters for working with AAS of the reactive part in a standardized way. Design and implementation of the passive part, or the use of OPC UA is still the subject of discussions and solutions can be found to partial problems. In this article, we designed and implemented AAS using an internal database as a model provider and a basic set of REST API functions according to the standard. The implementation took place in the Python environment, building on the open source Python BasyxSDK. The proposal enables work with standard AAS data types in the form of the format used by JSON technology; the assumption is that AAS could be serialized in the form of JSON file. The result is a standalone piece of AAS that can be deployed on an dedicated device complying the principles of Industry 4.0.