Choreographies in Microservice-Based Automation Architectures : Next Level of Flexibility for Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems

Modularization is seen as one core building block for highly flexible production systems to ensure profitability in process as well as manufacturing industries in their increasing volatile markets. Production modules encapsulate local control algorithms and thus, form Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems (ICPS). They, as pre-automated modular units fulfill the characteristics of micro-service architectures. These architectures use orchestration and choreographies as complementary association methods. In this contribution, the applicability and the advantages of service choreographies are analyzed from a more practical perspective. It is shown that choreographies have their strengths in the decentral association of (sub-)elementary services to new and independent automation functions. Thus, the services of production modules can be combined more flexibly through decentralized control. Two simplified examples and a first experiment closes the practical insight to choreographies in industrial automation systems.