The aim of the JR Centre for Intelligent and Secure Industrial Automation is to investigate a digital assistant for industrial machines that uses artificial intelligence methods to monitor and control these machines and thinks security by design. For this we need adequate system architectures in which these concepts can be embedded. Together with our corporate partners we are starting to set up a joint testbed for the three research fields OT architecture, OT intelligence and OT security. These three areas are on the one hand interdependent - but also mutually beneficial - and together these form the framework for a digital assistant.
OT Architecture
In the field of OT architecture we start by focusing on the testbed from the perspective of industrial automation as well as the required architecture and integrate suitable industrial machines after evaluation. We design an information engine that prepares the foundation for data processing for the other two research fields and investigate methods for the machine-agnostic generation of digital twins. Ultimately the base for the architecture of the digital assistant is created here.
OT Intelligence
In the field of OT intelligence we first deal with OPC UA from the perspective of machine learning and with the so-called small data challenge, for example with regard to structure-preserving dimension reduction for state space trajectories. Building on this we deal with the topics of anomaly detection and process control and finally integrate these into the digital assistant.
OT Security
In the field of OT security we are initially concentrating on threat modelling and the evaluation of OPC UA security mechanisms in current industrial automation components. We continue with the conception of transport security for the digital assistant, for example with regard to PKI infrastructure for industrial use. Afterwards we intertwine the field of OT security and OT intelligence in respect of OT-capable intrusion detection systems and behaviour-based anomaly detection and honey pots.