Ubiquitous Control of a CNC Machine: Proof of Concept for Industrial IoT Applications

Abstract

In this paper, an integrated system to control and manage a state-of-the-art industrial computer numerical control (CNC) machine (Studer S33) using a commercially available tablet (Samsung Galaxy Tablet S2) is presented as a proof of concept (PoC) for the ubiquitous control of industrial machines. As a PoC, the proposed system provides useful insights to support the further development of full-fledged systems for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications. The proposed system allows for the quasi-decentralisation of the control architecture of conventional programmable logic controller (PLC)-based industrial control systems (ICSs) through data and information exchange over the transmission control protocol and the internet protocol (TCP/IP) suite using multiple agents. Based on the TCP/IP suite, a network device (Samsung Galaxy Tablet S2) and a process field net (PROFINET) device (Siemens Simatic S7-1200) are interfaced using a single-board computer (Raspberry Pi 4). An override system mainly comprising emergency stop and acknowledge buttons is also configured using the single-board computer. The input signals from the override system are transmitted to the PROFINET device (i.e., the industrial control unit (ICU)) over TCP/IP. A fully functional working prototype is realised as a PoC for an integrated system designated for the wireless and ubiquitous control of the CNC machine. The working prototype as an entity mainly comprises a mobile (handheld) touch-sensitive human-machine interface (HMI), a shielded single-board computer, and an override system, all fitted into a compact case with physical dimensions of 300 mm by 180 mm by 175 mm. To avert potential cyber attacks or threats to a reasonable extent and to guarantee the security of the PoC, a multi-factor authentication (MFA) including an administrative password and an IP address is implemented to control the access to the web-based ubiquitous HMI proffered by the PoC.