Intelligent environment for mechatronic, cross-discipline plant engineering

The plant planning process is a complex process with many different disciplines involved. It consists of multiple process steps which are executed sequentially. All the different disciplines work on the common planning object - the plant - consisting of complex mechatronic objects and parts. Nevertheless, the disciplines work spatially and technically separated from each other within their isolated planning steps. Cooperation is only practiced at specific points of the plant planning process. The Digital Engineering Table (DigET) enables the necessary interpersonal and interdisciplinary cooperation in an interactive environment and uses therefore the integrated data exchange format AutomationML. This contribution describes the requirements and decisions for the necessary middleware as coordinating infrastructure.