Reference architecture and maturity levels for cyber-physical systems in the mechanical engineering industry

Abstract

Nowadays mechanical engineering products change from mechatronic systems to Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). CPS are connected, embedded systems which directly record physical data using sensors and affect physical processes using actuators. They evaluate and save recorded data, use globally available services and interact with operators via multimodal human-machine-interfaces. In context of industrial production CPS change production processes radically. Due to the change of technical systems, equipment suppliers, especially companies of the mechanical engineering industry, face the challenges of a rising complexity and a nearly unmanageable amount of new solutions based on information and communication technology. The contribution at hand provides a reference architecture and maturity levels for CPS. The reference architecture serves as an universal blueprint to structure CPS and to visualize all components and relationships. Two sets of CPS maturity levels help companies to assess the status quo, to determine the target state and to define concrete actions for improving their systems.