Mapping Heterogeneous Engineering Data with taraXchange and AutomationML

Modern plant engineering relies on specialized tools for layout planning, mechanical and electrical design, simulation, automation and commissioning. Each tool provides valuable domain-specific functionality, but also maintains its own structures, terminology and data model. Connecting these heterogeneous information models becomes increasingly challenging when engineering data must be reused across more than one bilateral interface.

Within the DIAMOND project, this challenge was addressed through a cross-domain Common Data Model that provides a shared reference for engineering information across the plant development process. From the perspective of tarakos, the contribution focuses on the practical mapping required to connect existing engineering tools to such a common representation.

Using taraXchange, heterogeneous engineering structures, attributes and relationships can be transformed through configurable mapping rules and exchanged using AutomationML. The presentation discusses this mapping layer as an enabler for integrating existing tools without requiring them to adopt identical internal data models. It thereby illustrates the transition from individual tool-to-tool interfaces towards scalable, model-based interoperability across a broader engineering landscape.