Some manufacturers of assembly systems have decided to develop an OPC UA Companion Specification (CS) for joining technologies with the VDMA Robotics + Automation Association. The initiative "Industrial Joining Technologies (IJT)" describes all joining technologies used for manufacturing processes such as riveting, welding, gluing and tightening. The scope of the specification was developed with the help of DIN 8580 and shows which joining processes can be classified under Industrial Joining Technologies (see figure). The goal of VDMA Robotics + Automation is to develop a consistent specification for the field of End of Arm Tools (EoAT) and robotics. EoAT describes a variety of end effectors that are connected to a robot but can also be used as stand-alone applications.
In addition to grippers, the first step is to describe tightening systems with OPC UA to enable use cases like asset management, condition monitoring and basic results. Here, the manufacturers agree on a generic information model that digitally represents a tightening system - independent of the manufacturer. Further joining technologies will follow. The working group asks all users of joining technologies for their support by providing input through the following online survey. Support the standardization effort: Survey
