Industry hackathon drives forward IIoT solutions

The first-ever hackathon featuring umati, the connectivity initiative of the mechanical and plant engineering industry, MindSphere, the Siemens IoT-as-a-Service solution, and the Digital Industries World e.V. IIoT community was held recently in Mindelheim, Germany. Thirty-two digitalization experts from 10 engineering and startup companies were hosted by Grob-Werke GmbH & Co. KG. Under the banner of IoTize the Industry, they worked together to develop the free exchange of data between machine and software systems.

For Dr. Alexander Broos, head of research and technology at the VDW (German Machine Tool Builders' Association), Frankfurt am Main, and umati project manager, the event was a complete success: "It was great to see so many creative minds gathered in one place and working together on real-world challenges. If we are serious about connecting machines in an intelligent way, our top priority is to bring the relevant people together." Ulf Könekamp, chairman of Digital Industries World, agrees: "Only together are we strong – and can initiate important changes for the future. We are delighted that the hackathon was able to help produce solutions across different companies and departments."

In five teams, participants learned from each other and compared notes. The focus was on exchanging actual data (such as GPS or vibration data from machines connected to the umati demonstrator via OPC UA) between different systems, for example, via MindSphere. The aim was to generate initial added value from this data to optimize availability or capacity utilization in production, for example.

The result was a wide variety of different solutions. One important realization was that cross-company collaboration is to everyone's advantage. In addition, participants reported a very steep learning curve during the two days, meaning that the time was used even more productively and efficiently than usual. One of the most remarkable achievements was the fact that several first prototype applications – including remote access to machine status lights, GPS tracking, and multisensor evaluation of vibrations – were generated almost out of nowhere. A further important aspect was the organizers obtained useful feedback on the technologies used.

The general feedback to the organizers was extremely favorable in terms of the substantive possibilities and the organizational framework. "The hackathon was an extremely rewarding and well-planned event based on intensive and effective teamwork. We are glad that we could be part of it. We warmly recommend all other companies to take advantage of this outstanding opportunity for dialogue and networking," emphasizes participant Dr. Donatus Weber, Director of Digital Services at Kampf Schneid- und Wickeltechnik GmbH und Co. KG in Wiehl. umati and Digital Industries World are planning to promote this by organizing a number of hackathons at different locations in the coming year – including at EMO Hannover 2023 next September.

umati (universal machine technology interface), supported by the VDW and VDMA, is the international community for the dissemination and implementation of OPC UA standards in machine and plant engineering. The goal of umati is to implement different OPC UA specifications in a uniform manner, thereby allowing the manufacturers of machines, components, and software to offer plug-and-play solutions to their engineering customers and users. Manufacturers and users are joining forces to promote the use of open interfaces in the production environment. This facilitates the communication of machines and systems with each other and allows them to be integrated into customer- and user-specific IT ecosystems – simply, seamlessly, and securely.

MindSphere is an industrial IoT-as-a-Service solution that makes use of advanced analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to implement internet of things (IoT) solutions from edge to cloud. Built on Mendix's application platform, MindSphere enables its users to develop and integrate customized IoT applications in a short space of time.

Digital Industries World e.V. is a global IIoT community of multidisciplinary players whose goal it is to accelerate the digital transformation of the industry together with its members.

At the core of the community’s work are events like this hackathon aimed at bringing together IoT technologies, people, and businesses in the pursuit of innovation and growth. An integrated view of digitalization and the entire IoT stack, cultural change, working in ecosystems and thinking in terms of new business models are all core characteristics of the expert network.