On the applicability of model based software development to cyber physical production systems

The efficient handling of complex production systems and the implementation of more flexible and adaptable production lies at the heart of cyber-physical production systems and its german equivalent Industry 4.0. Such scenarios currently face one main difficulty: the creation, configuration and maintenance of the corresponding automation software is time-consuming and error-prone. Two main solutions exist for this problem: (i) model-based software development and (ii) intelligent automation, i.e. the usage of new knowledge-based solution approaches. This article compares these different solutions by applying them to three phases of the life-cycle: the planning phase, the operation phase and the plant modification phase.