Asset Administration Shell

The Asset Administration Shell (AAS) is the Industry 4.0 data sheet of a component: manufacturer, product designation, technical properties and documents such as operating instructions. Manufacturers ship it as an AASX file. realvirtual WEB reads these files and shows their content next to the part they belong to: a hover shows the product, the detail panel lists the technical properties and opens the manuals.

How a part finds its AASX

A part carries an AAS Link component. Its AAS ID is the identification written inside the AASX file, for example http://smart.festo.com/aas/99920200623113326000013225. The link names the shell, not the file, so you can rename or replace a file without touching the model.

The files themselves live in your project, in a folder called aasx next to the models:

my-project/
├── project.json
├── models/
└── aasx/
    ├── index.json          ← written by realvirtual WEB
    ├── 23_Festo.aasx
    └── 24_Festo.aasx

When you open the project, the viewer scans the aasx folder and writes index.json, the table that maps every AAS ID to its file. You never edit this file by hand. Only changed files are read again, and only the small part of each archive that holds the identification is read, so even AASX files of a hundred megabytes are scanned in a moment.

Linking a part

1. Select the part in the Editor and add the AAS Link component.
2. Open the AAS ID field. It lists every shell in your project with its product name and file.
3. Pick the matching entry. To bring in a new file, use Import AASX…: the file is copied into the aasx folder and the link is set to its shell. If the file contains several shells, you choose which one.

A link to a shell that is not in the project stays visible in the field with a hint, so a missing file is easy to spot.

Sharing and delivery

The aasx folder is ordinary project content:

• Project export: the AASX files and the index travel inside the .rvproject file.
• Hosted delivery: a hosted project ships the folder as well. When the delivery is password-protected, the AASX files and the index are encrypted like the models, so the documents cannot be downloaded without the password.

Tips

• One file, several products: an AASX may hold more than one shell. Each one appears separately in the AAS ID list.
• Duplicate IDs: if two files contain the same AAS ID, the first file by name is used and a warning appears in the Problems panel.
• Built-in demo data: links to the realvirtual demo shells keep working without copying anything into your project.

See also

• Machine Information System overview
• Editor