Factory-X · Remote Operator Panel

What is this?

A research prototype for the
factory of tomorrow.

The Remote Operator Panel serves as the central interface and integration platform for remote operations within the AOaaS concept. It is being developed in close collaboration with all consortium partners, each of whom is contributing their respective areas of expertise. inovex is contributing expertise in custom software, data integration, and artificial intelligence.

Digital Twin

Every machine has a standardised digital representation via the Asset Administration Shell (IEC 61360 / Industrie 4.0). Submodels describe identity, capabilities, and live state in a vendor-neutral format.

Real-time Telemetry

Machines stream live status, events, and operational metrics over MQTT (TLS-secured). The operator panel subscribes and reflects state changes in real time — no polling, no delay.

Remote Operations

Operators control and monitor machines from anywhere via the Remote Operator Panel — a web dashboard that unifies machine state, event logs, camera feeds, and digital twin data in one place.

AI Assistance

When machines fail, AI helps. The FX-Agent connects operators to specialised knowledge bases (error codes, technical docs) via the Model Context Protocol — closing the gap between data and expertise.

Funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and the European Union · NextGenerationEU as part of the Catena-X / Manufacturing-X initiative.

System Design

Architecture

%%{init: {'theme': 'dark', 'themeVariables': {'primaryColor': '#1d71b8', 'primaryTextColor': '#fff', 'primaryBorderColor': '#c1d100', 'lineColor': '#a0c4e8', 'secondaryColor': '#0f4f87', 'tertiaryColor': '#071e33', 'background': '#071e33', 'mainBkg': '#0d2a45', 'nodeBorder': '#1d71b8', 'clusterBkg': '#0d2a45', 'titleColor': '#c1d100', 'edgeLabelBackground': '#0d2a45', 'fontSize': '18px'}}}%% graph LR OPS([Operator\nBrowser]):::user subgraph SIM_GROUP[" Simulators "] SIM1["Simulator 1\nsim1.fx-rop.com"]:::sim SIM2["Simulator 2\nsim2.fx-rop.com"]:::sim end subgraph BROKER_GROUP[" Broker "] MQ["Mosquitto\nmqtt.fx-rop.com:8883"]:::mqtt end subgraph PLATFORM_GROUP[" Platform "] ROP["Remote Operator Panel\nfx-rop.com"]:::rop MCP["FX Conductor\nmcp.fx-rop.com"]:::mcp AAS["BaSyx AAS\naas.fx-rop.com"]:::aas MONGO[("MongoDB")]:::db DB[("SQL DB")]:::db end subgraph EXT_GROUP[" External Systems "] PROALPHA["proAlpha\nERP"]:::ext PRENODE["Prenode\nVideo Streams"]:::ext EMPOLIS["Empolis\nKnowledge Portal"]:::ext end subgraph LLM[" LLM "] EMPOLISB["Empolis\nBuddy"]:::ext WITTENSTEIN["Wittenstein"]:::ext GEMINI["Gemini"]:::ext end OPS -->|Browser| SIM1 OPS -->|Browser| SIM2 OPS -->|Browser| ROP OPS -->|AI Chat| MCP SIM1 -->|MQTT publish| MQ SIM2 -->|MQTT publish| MQ MQ -->|subscribe| ROP ROP <-->|REST API| AAS AAS --- MONGO ROP --- DB ROP --> EMPOLIS ROP --> MCP PROALPHA -->|ERP| ROP PRENODE -->|Video| ROP MCP --> EMPOLISB MCP --> WITTENSTEIN MCP --> GEMINI classDef user fill:#c1d100,stroke:#a0b000,color:#1a1a1a classDef sim fill:#0f4f87,stroke:#1d71b8,color:#fff classDef mqtt fill:#0d2a45,stroke:#c1d100,color:#c1d100 classDef rop fill:#1d71b8,stroke:#a0c4e8,color:#fff classDef aas fill:#0f4f87,stroke:#1d71b8,color:#fff classDef db fill:#071e33,stroke:#1d71b8,color:#a8d8ff classDef ext fill:#1a3a1a,stroke:#4a8c4a,color:#a8d8a8 classDef mcp fill:#2d1a4a,stroke:#8b5cf6,color:#c4b5fd

Remote Operator Panel

Simulators / BaSyx

Operator / MQTT

External Systems

AI / MCP

Databases