Thesis Projects at BU Anybus

HMS was founded following a thesis project from the University of Halmstad and we haven't forgotten our roots. For spring 2024, we offer the following thesis projects within Industrial Information and Communication Technology.

INDUSTRIAL WI-FI REDUNDANCY METHODS

Investigate methods to create a redundant Wi-Fi network to eliminate drop-outs.

Department: HMS Anybus Development
Size: 2 students
Level: Bachelor
Scope: Wireless networks, IEE 802.11

Description:
In the industrial environment reliability and up-time is key. Wi-Fi technology specifically and radio technology in general has some inherent characteristics that can lead to drop-outs in the communication that are unacceptable.
The goal of this project is to investigate and find methods to improve the robustness of Wi-Fi communication in an industrial environment, in order to eliminate drop-outs in communication. Specific challenges are packet loss when roaming between access points or when encountering interference.
The project and scope can be adjusted in dialog with the assigned students and their university supervisor.

Prerequisites:
Bachelor program within computer science or electrical engineering. Experience in a Linux programming environment. An understanding of Wi-Fi concepts is a distinct advantage.

QoS LATENCY & EMC TEST TOOL FOR ETHERNET EQUIPMENT 

Department: HMS Anybus Development
Size: 2-3 students
Level: Bachelor
Scope: Windows software development, Ethernet, Quality of service, Real-time communication, Electromagnetic compliance

Description: 
Industrial Ethernet devices must comply with high reliability requirements. To that end, it is necessary to be able to test products. To streamline this testing, a software tool is needed.

The goal of this project is to create a software tool to streamline testing of industrial ethernet equipment and perform comparative testing of several products. The tool should support two types of tests: QoS latency and EMC.

QoS latency testing:

• Generate traffic bursts with a configurable interval. Each burst consisting of a configurable number of low priority frames immediately followed by a high priority frame.
• Measure the latency of the high priority Ethernet frames through an Ethernet infrastructure component such as an Ethernet switch or a wireless link.
• Plot the latency on a live graph.
• Record max/min/mean values.

EMC testing:

• Send continuous bidirectional 100% traffic load through some Ethernet infrastructure such as an Ethernet switch, while an engineer applies electromagnetic disturbances to one of the Ethernet cables.
• Plot on a live graph how many frames are lost.
• Plot on a live graph if the Ethernet link goes up/down.
• Record number of lost frames in each direction as a total value and percentage, as well as the number of times the link went down.

The tool should then be used to perform comparative testing of several existing products of different brands and report the result.

Other:
The software tool shall run on Windows, have a graphical user interface, and ideally work stand-alone with no software dependencies. Students can use a programming language of their choice, but the language must be performant enough to handle 400% traffic load on Ethernet in real-time.
The software tool will talk with an existing hardware device capable of Ethernet frame scheduling and timestamping with nanosecond resolution.

The project and scope can be adjusted in dialog with the assigned students and their university supervisor.

Prerequisites: Bachelor program within computer science or similar. Knowledge in Ethernet communication. Experience in a suitable programming language.

OPC-UA PROFILE MAPPING

Department: HMS Anybus Development
Size: 2 students
Level: Bachelor
Scope: Automation, Industrial networks, OPC-UA, IIOT, web software development (Angular, TypeScript)

Description:
How do you move information from the factory floor to the business level and back to realize the benefits of smart manufacturing?

In this thesis you will investigate what information models are available through OPC-UA and how these models can be populated with data from industrial networks. Then you will make a case study and implement a design that allow users to map data in the web-based user interface of the Anybus Communicator. You will also use Design Thinking (human-centered design) to ensure that it is intuitive for users.

There is a need to interact between the production level and the business level in a company. Both collecting KPIs or operation data for maintenance/planning (data from production to business) and be able to input commands (data from business to production). The trend is a growing demand towards “big data”, be able to have up-to-date status available on business level for each device in the factory.

The leading technology to transfer data between the production level and the business level is OPC-UA. Different branches/business areas have defined their own data models standards for devices used in the field. To connect existing devices, the available data in the devices need to be mapped into standard data models to be represented as a standard device on OPC-UA.

OPC-UA standard models:

• Investigate and learn about available OPC-UA standard profiles.
• Learn about how data is represented on an industrial network compared to OPC-UA on a standard “office” network.
• Define a design concept how to bi-directionally map relevant data between the industrial network and an OPC-UA standard model for use on the business level network.

WEB based user interface:

• Develop an Angular-based web component to test and evaluate the design concept.

Other information:

The web component is intended to be tested in an already fully operational solution, which makes it possible to focus on the map design, and not to get the environment operational.

The project and scope can be adjusted in dialog with the assigned students and their university supervisor.

Prerequisites: Bachelor program within computer science or similar. Knowledge in Ethernet communication. Experience in TypeScript programming language is good, but not necessary.

USER INTERFACE DASHBOARD

Department: HMS Anybus Development
Size: 2 students
Level: Bachelor
Scope: Web software development (Angular, TypeScript)

Description:
A picture is worth a thousand words! This is very true when you integrate new equipment or connect legacy equipment on a factory floor.

In this thesis you will investigate how to visualize information from devices on the factory floor and present it to factory operators, based on Design Thinking (human-centered design) concepts. You will also perform a case study and implement a design in the web-based user interface of the HMS Anybus Communicator.

Usability and HMI (human machine interaction) is getting more and more important when everything gets digitalized. An operator using a panel or an operator station in a modern automated factory or plant navigates the system by shifting between different views with simplified models of the factory or the plant. Each view presents several values and allows the user to set input values to adjust the operation.

Example of an operator station view.

To make it easy for an operator to understand information from other sources than the local control system, e.g. historically collected data, a gateway between two control systems etc., it is valuable to be able to present the data in a similar way.

User defined dashboard in Angular:

• Investigate and define a concept:
  • How to import an image as background the component.
  • Learn about data models and how to link sources of live data to objects.
    • How a user can create and place N number of objects on top of the image.
    • Each object shall be able to present live data from a data source.
    • How to map and if needed convert the data to be visualized.
  • Develop an Angular-based web component to test and evaluate the design concept.

Other information:
The web component is intended to be tested in an already fully operational solution, which makes it possible to focus on the map design, and not to get the environment operational.

The project and scope can be adjusted in dialog with the assigned students and their university supervisor.

Prerequisites: Bachelor program within computer science or similar. Experience in web programming (primarily Angular-based) and TypeScript programming language.     

FUZZING TOOL FOR INDUSTRIAL COMMUNICATION 

Department: HMS Anybus Development
Size: 2 students
Level: Bachelor
Scope: Security, Fuzz testing, Python, Automation, Industrial networks, IIOT, CI.

Description:
Are you interested in security, do you have some experience in programming and looking to collaborate with a partner for an exciting project at the forefront of industrial communication and cybersecurity? We have the perfect opportunity for you! We are looking for passionate and dedicated individuals or a pair to create a security fuzzer in Python, tailored for EtherNet/IP.

The objective of this thesis is to investigate established fuzzing frameworks, undertake fuzzing of the EtherNet/IP protocol, and incorporate the resulting tool into the continuous integration testing system at HMS. This tool shall possess the capability to assess products within the portfolio of Anybus.

Fuzz testing:
Fuzz testing, or fuzzing, is a software testing technique used to discover vulnerabilities and defects in software applications, particularly in the context of security testing. Fuzz testing involves providing unexpected, random, or malformed input data to a program to see how it behaves under these conditions. The primary goal of fuzz testing is to identify and expose vulnerabilities such as crashes, security flaws, and unexpected behaviors that could be exploited by malicious actors.

EtherNet/IP:
EtherNet/IP (Ethernet Industrial Protocol) is a communication protocol commonly used in industrial automation and control systems. It's part of the Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) and is built on standard Ethernet technology. Ethernet/IP enables devices such as programmable logic controllers (PLCs), sensors, and other industrial equipment to communicate with one another over Ethernet networks.

Other information:
The project and scope can be adjusted in dialog with the assigned students and their university supervisor.

Prerequisites:
Bachelor program within computer science/forensics/security or similar. Knowledge in security, fuzzing and ethernet communication. Experience in Python is good, but not necessary.

ABOUT US

At HMS, we believe that connecting matters in everything from making machines talk to engaging with our customers. Our state-of-the-art technology provides a fast and easy way to network millions of industrial devices all over the world. From factory automation to connected buildings, remote solutions, and future technologies, we provide innovative solutions that save you time and money creating a more productive and sustainable world. HMS stands for Hardware Meets Software ™.

HMS is a truly international company, and we like to think that we share a common culture. Heart, Mind and Soul is a summary of how we do things (makes for a pretty good abbreviation too).

Welcome to HMS, this is HMS!

ABOUT THE EMPLOYMENT AND THE APPLICATION

 If you want to know more about the recruitment process, please contact HR Andrea Wagner, anwa@hms.se.

Welcome with your application!