Towards Mastering Variability in Software-Intensive Cyber-Physical Production Systems

Software-intensive Cyber-Physical Production Systems (SiCPPS), like metallurgical plants or manufacturing plants, are highly variable systems of systems that frequently evolve. They typically involve a large number of heterogeneous components (mechanical, electrical, mechatronic, software) that can be configured and combined in different ways. Variability results not only from hardware and software components but also development processes, disciplines (mechanical, electrical, software engineering), methods, and tools. Dealing with variability in industry currently depends too much on mostly tacit domain expert knowledge and custom-built tools focusing on very specific artifacts and software and hardware platforms. Existing research in the area of SiCPPS does not explicitly and systematically deal with variability. Promising software engineering methods and tools, e.g., from the area of Software Product Lines, need to be adapted for the particular challenges in SiCPPS. In this research preview paper, we discuss open research issues and research goals and propose a research agenda towards mastering variability in SiCPPS.