Designing a Blockchain-Based Digital Twin for Cyber-Physical Production Systems

Abstract

Trust in all processes on the shopfloor is crucial for the success of a production process, especially in cross company scenarios such as shared manufacturing, in which independent parties interact with each other. A cyber-physical production system (CPPS) contributes to the vision of a decentralized, self-configuring and flexible production. Digital twins (DTs) can visualize the material, information and financial flows in real time and improve the process transparency of such production systems. The efficiency of digital twins depends on the integrity of the provided data, especially if data is shared across company borders. Due to its characteristics such as immutability and transparency, blockchain technology (BCT) provides a basis for establishing the desired trust in the systems on the shopfloor. This paper proposes the design of a BCT-based DT in CPPS. The design is demonstrated by a prototype including smart contracts attached to a CPPS simulation model visualizing the information and material flow. Tasks are decentrally allocated, deployed and safely documented via blockchain. The demonstrator is revealing supplementary benefits in terms of transparency provided by the BCT. This paper further examines whether BCT can enrich existing solutions and provide a reliable information basis for profound data and process analysis.