Recommendation of Best Practices for Industrial Agent Systems based on the IEEE 2660.1 Standard

Abstract

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) is a key concept in Industry 4.0, acting as a backbone to develop smart processes, machines and products. Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) is a suitable paradigm for the realization of such industrial CPS systems, supporting the distribution of intelligence and decision-making capabilities among a network of autonomous and cooperative agents. Standardization is a key factor for the acceptance of industrial CPS and agent-based systems, assuming a critical role in establishing specifications for the hardware integration, which is an important requirement for industrial agents. This paper focuses on the recently established IEEE 2660.1-2020 standard that defines a recommended practice to solve the interface problem when applying industrial agents, namely integrating intelligent software agents with low-level automation devices in the CPS context. The paper illustrates the applicability of the standard in three different application scenarios related to power and energy systems, factory automation and building automation, and discusses future directions in terms of standardization in the field of industrial agents, that are required for its wider adoption in the realization of industrial CPS solutions.