| Objectives and Achievements of the Project |
|
VAN project has contributed to the European research and development efforts in automation by means of an open platform that integrates heterogeneous networks within the EC priority for the fast and flexible manufacturing enterprise. This platform, based on Web Services, allows the communication among industrial applications and devices in a transparent, flexible and fast-to-configure way, through the Application Service Elements (ASEs), which provide the needed configuration and functionality for heterogeneous networking.
Through the use of the platform features, industrial remotely distributed applications can discover each other by using VAN name addressing and routing, and establish secure, safe and real-time capable VPN tunnels over heterogeneous public and private networks (wired and wireless) to communicate as if they were in the very same Local Area Network (LAN) regarding their needed Quality of Service level. On the other hand, the introduction and modification of originally office-oriented networks (Ethernet, WLAN) in order to fit within automation requirements, allows integration of both office and automation domains within a company (vertical integration), along with remote communication in industrial distributed environments (horizontal integration). This last feature allows engineering tasks (design, control, supervise, modify,... industrial plants) to be performed remotely allowing engineers to configure automation devices and systems without knowing the technology that is being used. |
| Project Technologies, State-of-the-Art and Application trends |
|
The VAN project has implemented technologies that are meant to become standard in the future of automation communications. From a system architectural point of view, Web Services and OPC-UA (OLE for process Control Unified Architecture) have proved to be the most suitable technologies in order to bring the Service Oriented Architecture widely used in other domains into the automation one. Both of them allow integrating IT technologies into industrial communication systems for embedded, networked and distribution functionalities within devices that can be accessed by means of standardized interfaces.
On the other hand, IEC61158 (PROFINET), and wireless solutions such as W-LAN, Bluetooth and ZigBee have proved to be the best option in order to adapt and enhance Ethernet and wireless to the needs of automation, allowing for real-time capabilities, robustness and security features demanded by automation processes. Also the adoption of PROFISafe as the safety technology for PROFINET adds the necessary functionalities for allowing safe environments within both wired and wireless industrial networks. Secure communications are achieved by communicating applications through tunnels created by means of OpenVPN, being this open source VPN solution the most flexible and adaptable software available for VAN secure transmissions over public networks, standing this as one of the main objectives of the project. Security is also achieved at web services level by means of Access Control Layer implemented on VAN devices. Another technology adopted in VAN is FDT/DTM, which allows configuration and parameterisation of field devices independently from communication protocols, and software environment, which makes it suitable for supporting engineering tasks within VAN. |
| VAN showcases |
|
Main (visible) achievements of the VAN project are the prototypes for Factory Automation (FA) and Process Automation (PA). Each one represents a different kind of industrial environment with specific requirements and features, showing this way how VAN results can be applied and adopted into a wide bunch of industrial facilities and domains.
Regarding the PA showcase, the VAN solution consists of a central control and maintenance system, and the communications of the central and geographically distributed control agents inside each process plant. Tests have reached higher-than-required percentages concerning stability, reliability and availability of the control and monitoring system. The FA showcase implemented VAN solution is intended for higher real-time constraints along with safety and security issues, integrating both wired and wireless VAN technologies for communicating geographically distributed field devices and controllers. Related information can be found in the excerpt taken from deliverable: D01.3-1 V5
|
