Digitalization of Electroplating Process based on XML Model

ShuJie Shen

, Jingcheng Xiao

†b

and Ye He

‡c

School of Digital Engineering, Chongqing College of Architecture and Technology, Chongqing, China

Keywords: XML Model, Abstraction, Information Architecture, Electroplating Production Process, Digitization.

Abstract: With the advent of the data era, the digitalization trend of electroplating production industry is irreversible.

Aiming at the problem of insufficient digitization of electroplating production process, this paper

comprehensively utilizes network technology, fieldbus technology, control technology and big data

technology, and establishes an XML model. The parameters involved are digitized, the data model of the

parameters involved in the electroplating production process is established, and the electroplating process is

abstractly described, the data structure is simplified, and the digital operation process of the electroplating

production process is realized. As a result, the electroplating production process in the electroplating industry

has been digitalized, modularized, intelligent and automated.

1 INTRODUCTION

With the advent of the data era, all walks of life are

in the digital transformation, the general trend of

enterprise digitalization, production digitalization

transformation is irreversible. The electroplating

industry is also becoming more and more popular due

to the application of digital automation, but the

automation in the electroplating production process is

mainly reflected in the automation of individual

functions, and the process parameters involved in the

process are still controlled by manual method,

without real digitalization, resulting in the process

data cannot be shared. Therefore, the electroplating

production process is in urgent need of digitization.

This paper makes comprehensive use of network

technology, fieldbus technology, control technology

and big data technology, and establishes XML model

to realize digitalization, modularization, intelligence

and automation of electroplating production process

in electroplating industry.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3111-4994

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5648-4628

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9742-8980

2 DIGITAL INFORMATION

ARCHITECTURE OF

ELECTROPLATING

PRODUCTION PROCESS

In order to empower the electroplating production

process with digitalization, all the values involved in

the electroplating production process need to be

digitized first, and then the data information is

transmitted to the upper layer for use. The amount of

data in electroplating production process is large and

complicated, so it is necessary to allocate the data

information reasonably. Based on the actual process

of electroplating production process, the following

digital information architecture of electroplating

production process is designed.

In the digital information architecture of digital

electroplating production process, we divide it into

three layers: data acquisition layer, XML model

layer, and application layer (as shown in Figure 1).

The bottom layer is the data acquisition layer, which

is used to collect all the parameters involved in the

electroplating production and save it in the SQL

database for the XML model layer to call. The second

layer is the XML model layer, which transmits the

data stored in the SQL database at the bottom layer to

Shen, S., Xiao, J. and He, Y.

Digitalization of Electroplating Process based on XML Model.

DOI: 10.5220/0011179800003440

In Proceedings of the International Conference on Big Data Economy and Digital Management (BDEDM 2022), pages 389-393

ISBN: 978-989-758-593-7

389

the upper layer application layer in the form of XML

data, determines and maintains the mapping

relationship according to the requirements, and

exchanges data through the ADO interface for the

parameters that require XML description. . The top

layer is the application layer, which can directly

display the data required by the user through the

interface, and can also connect with the ERP system

according to the requirements.

Figure 1: Digital electroplating production process

information architecture.

3 DIGITIZATION OF

ELECTROPLATING PROCESS

PARAMETERS

According to the characteristics of electroplating

production process, all parameters in electroplating

production process are described in digital form. We

abstracted the electroplating process. All complex

process flows can be abstracted into three layers:

process layer, process layer and parameter layer (as

shown in Figure 2). The bottom layer is the process

layer, and different processes can be developed

according to the requirements of different plating

parts. The middle layer is the process layer, and each

process can be completed by multiple processes

according to the process characteristics of different

coatings, that is, this is a process chain list; The top

layer is the process parameter layer, that is, all digital

parameters in the process can be adjusted according

to the actual situation, because each process maps

different process parameters.

Figure 2: Schematic diagram of abstract structure of

electroplating process.

4 XML MODEL LAYER

FUNCTION CLASS MODELING

In order to improve the efficiency of electroplating

production, the electroplating production process is

abstracted, the repetitive operation is realized by

applying XML code, and the predetermined

production operation can be completed only by

calling the specified method to establish XML model.

According to the schematic diagram of the

abstract structure of the electroplating process in FIG.

2 , the parameters involved in the electroplating

production process are described using an XML data

model, and the electroplating process is described in

detail using an XML document. In the XML root

element tag <CarftInfo>, the tag <CarftID> is used to

refer to the process number, the tag <Procedure> is

used to describe the process content, the tag

<StepID> in the tag <Procedure> is used to describe

the process number, and its child elements refer to the

process involved. parameters and values, and make

corresponding adjustments to the data and structure

in the program according to the properties and

behavior of the object. In use, the XML data model

needs to be parsed, but because the electroplating

process changes less, we can use the tree-based

JDOM for parsing, the output operation is more

intuitive, and the XML document model can be better

parsed, generated, Serialization and various

operations.

UML diagram is a unified standard modeling

language, which is used for visual modeling of

software-intensive system. Its best application is

engineering practice. Therefore, XML model is most

suitable to display UML model diagram. In the XML

model layer, the electroplating production process is

abstracted, and according to the data characteristics

involved in the electroplating production process, the

electroplating process parameters, plating tank

parameters, plating bath parameters and

BDEDM 2022 - The International Conference on Big Data Economy and Digital Management

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electroplating production process monitoring

parameters are abstracted and stored in the XML data

model, and then the UML function model diagram of

XML layer function class is constructed. As shown in

Figure 3, the XML_Base class has the ability to create

XML, add node parameters, and query node

parameters. In the figure, class XML_Craft refers to

electroplating process parameter, XML_Trough

parameter, XML_Bath parameter and XML_Monit

parameter refer to electroplating production process

monitoring parameter. All of these XML data classes

are derived from the XML_Base class. The blocks

and arrows in the diagram show the relationships and

extensions in UML rules.

Figure 3: UML Diagram of XML layer functional class.

5 DATA COLLECTION OF

ELECTROPLATING

PRODUCTION PROCESS

The OPC server is used for data exchange, and the

OPC server uses the Siemens CP5621

communication card, because CP5621 supports many

types of fieldbus protocols, which can be used to

collect various protocol data. It contains the

corresponding communication program and data

storage program, and provides standard OPC

interface for communication. The schematic diagram

of the hardware structure of the data acquisition layer

is shown in Figure 4. According to the three types of

objects of the OPC server, OPC is divided into three

layers: OPC Server, OPC Grop and OPC Item: the

top-level OPC Server has all the information of the

server, and the OPC Grop group is set under it. Grop

group provides a way for users to organize data, users

can read and write it, and can also set the data update

rate of the client, and when the data in the server

buffer changes, OPC will send a notification to the

user, and the user will be notified Then do the

necessary processing without wasting a lot of time

querying. There is also an OPC Item group under

OPC Grop, which points to a register unit of the

device. By defining data items, the special

information of the device is hidden in the OPC

specification to enhance the versatility of the OPC

server. Since OPC Item does not define external

interface, it is accessed through OPC group. OPC

Item contains attributes such as value, quality,

timestamp, etc. The data value is expressed in the

form of VARIANT, which simply describes the data

address. In order to greatly simplify the data structure

and improve the transmission efficiency, the protocol

specified by OPC is used for data interaction with the

upper layer, so that switching between multiple

protocols can be eliminated. And due to the large

amount of data involved in the electroplating

production process, the use of synchronous

communication will cause delays, so asynchronous

communication is selected to complete the data

exchange.

Figure 4: Schematic diagram of hardware structure of data

acquisition layer.

5.1 Write Plating Process Parameters

How to write the electroplating process parameters

into the electroplating production process is the key

to realizing the digitization of the electroplating

production process. Different process parameters

need to be configured in the application layer

according to different process conditions, such as

production process control parameters and coating

quality control parameters need to be configured

separately. It also needs to go through various

operation processes such as conversion, parsing,

storage, and transmission, and finally complete the

parameter writing.

Digitalization of Electroplating Process based on XML Model

391

After the process parameters are converted into an

XML model according to the XML layer, they need

to be parsed through the data layer, and then

configured to the corresponding storage area in the

relevant controller. Different electroplating processes

correspond to independent OPC Group storage areas,

and independent functional items in the storage area

correspond to independent OPC Items. The FLAG bit

indicates whether the storage area is occupied

(FLAG=0, indicating that the electroplating process

is terminated; FLAG=1, indicating that the

electroplating process is in progress). The data item

Item is an object defined on the OPC Server side,

which usually points to a register unit of the device.

The operation of the device register by the OPC user

is completed through its data item Item, but cannot be

directly operated on the OPC Item. All operations are

Via the OPC Group object. When writing the

electroplating process parameters, the XML model

needs to be stored in the corresponding storage area,

and then the value is passed to the corresponding data

item. According to the writing procedure of the

electroplating process parameters shown in Figure 5,

firstly read the numerical value in the corresponding

OPC Group to determine the position of the data area,

then use the analytical function provided by the XML

Craft class to read the XML file describing the

electroplating process parameters, and finally set the

numerical value Write the corresponding data storage

area to realize the writing of the electroplating

process parameters.

Figure 5: Writing Program of electroplating process

parameters.

5.2 Upload Data of Electroplating

Production Process

After the electroplating process parameters are

written, they need to be uploaded to the server, and

OPC is used as a data access tool to provide means to

read and write specific data from the data source. An

OPC server object OPCServer has an OPC group

collection object OPCGroups as a sub-object. In this

OPC group collection object, multiple OPC group

objects OPC-Group can be added, and each OPC

group object has an OPC item collection as a sub-

object. Object OPCItems, multiple OPC item objects

can be added to this OPC item collection object, and

OPCItem is also used as an optional function.

First, the data is read by the upper-layer software

OPC and then converted into XML data format to

save, and then parsed by the application-layer

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software OPC as a numerical value, and the data is

stored in a NoSQL database for preservation. When

uploading real-time data in the electroplating

production process, the item address under the

corresponding OPC Group is the PLC address of the

required data. The OPC specification specifies two

communication modes: synchronous communication

and asynchronous communication. Since the refresh

frequency of real-time data is relatively fast, the

synchronous reading method is adopted, and the

function UploadXML(int[] val_p) is used to convert

the array object into XML format. Return to complete

the upload of electroplating production process data.

6 CONCLUSIONS

The digital transformation of the electroplating

industry is irreversible in this era of big data, but the

current digital automation of the electroplating

industry is mainly reflected in the automation of

individual functions. The data involved in the

electroplating production process cannot be shared,

and the control of process parameters is still manual.

. In view of this situation, this paper comprehensively

utilizes network technology, fieldbus technology,

control technology and big data technology.

According to the characteristics of electroplating

process, the digital information architecture of

electroplating production process is designed, the

parameters involved in electroplating process are

digitized, and the electroplating production process is

established. The data model of the parameters

involved in the process, and the electroplating

process is abstractly described, the data structure is

simplified, and the digital operation process of the

electroplating production process is realized by using

the XML model. As a result, the electroplating

production process in the electroplating industry has

been digitalized, modularized, intelligent and

automated.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Chongqing Plastic Electroplating Factory

for providing us with a practical base, the model can

be realized and the paper has a soul. And thanks to

Mr. He and Mr. Wang who provided technical

support during the practice process, as well as several

teachers who wrote and fought side by side with me

during the completion of the thesis, the thesis was

successfully completed.

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