Digital Twin Code Simulation for Secure Industrial Asset Servicing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Service technicians in industrial automation systems often lack secure access to necessary code and firmware, and existing systems fail to provide sufficient context for diagnosing errors, hindering effective maintenance and troubleshooting.
Innovation Solution
A system that utilizes Digital Twins and simulations to enable secure access to asset-related code, allowing technicians to analyze and modify code, perform simulations, and update firmware remotely, while ensuring data security through a common data pipeline and microservices architecture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If service technicians are granted access to asset code and firmware, then diagnostic and maintenance capabilities are improved, but system security and data protection are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a digital twin - a virtual copy of the physical asset - that contains identical code and firmware. Technicians can access and modify code in the digital twin environment without directly accessing the physical asset, thereby maintaining security while enabling diagnostic capabilities. The digital twin serves as a safe sandbox for code exploration and modification.
Solution Approach 2:
The digital twin acts as an intermediary between technicians and the physical asset. Instead of technicians directly accessing the physical asset's code, they interact with the digital twin's code, which then can be selectively applied to the physical asset if changes are validated. This intermediary layer protects the physical asset while enabling code access.
2Loss of time
If technicians access and modify asset code directly, then error resolution speed is improved, but risk of introducing new errors or system instability increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by allowing technicians to modify code in the digital twin environment before applying changes to the physical asset. Simulations and validations can be run on the modified code in the digital twin to ensure correctness before deployment, preventing erroneous code from reaching the physical asset and causing instability.
Solution Approach 2:
By working with a copy of the code in the digital twin rather than the original code in the physical asset, technicians can experiment with modifications without risking the stability of the actual system. The copy provides a safe environment for error-prone activities while the original remains protected until validated changes are deliberately applied.
3Productivity
If comprehensive asset information is made available to external service providers, then maintenance effectiveness is improved, but data privacy and intellectual property protection are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides external service providers with access to a copy of the asset information through the digital twin rather than the actual asset data. This allows providers to perform comprehensive diagnostics and maintenance planning using the copied information while the original proprietary data remains protected within the enterprise network.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments information access by creating separate environments: the digital twin contains a subset of information suitable for external access, while the physical asset retains full information. This segmentation allows external providers to receive necessary maintenance data without gaining access to sensitive proprietary information held in the physical asset.
Data Source
AI summary
A non-transitory computer-readable medium includes instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform operations. The operations include receiving a first request to access a digital representation that is assigned to an asset of an industrial automation system and includes code specific to operating, maintaining, or diagnosing the asset. The operations also include verifying a security access for the first request, providing the computing device access to the digital representation, receiving an input to modify the code from the computing device and, performing one or more simulations based on the modified code by utilizing the digital representation. Additionally, the operations include sending one or more simulation results to the computing device, receiving, from the computing device, a second request for pushing the modified code to the asset, and in response to receiving the second request, causing the modified code to be sent to the asset.