An OPC UA-based Crane Model Using Time-Sensitive Networking Technology

Current control processes in the material handling domain are generally not automated but require manual human intervention. However, the ongoing development towards the Industry 4.0 involves new models and concepts and hence more and more automated control functions will become necessary. That is, devices such as cranes in the material handling domain will become smarter and will also be networked to a larger extent. However, it will be required that control messages passed to the cranes through a network, possibly shared with other traffic, are guaranteed to arrive in time. In this paper, we present an OPC UA-based model of an overhead travelling crane as part of a material handling scenario. The crane can be controlled by a crane remote controller, which we model as well. We use time-sensitive networking technology to ensure deterministic communication between the crane remote controller and the crane. To demonstrate the crane movement, we illustrate it in a simulation before we prove the deterministic communication in a real testbed.