Asset Administration Shell (AAS) Thing Python SDK

A Python toolkit for building Industry 4.0-compliant Things using Asset Administration Shell (AAS), with seamless integration into the Smart Systems Service Infrastructure (S³I). Please refer to the whitepaper for details:

Hoppen M., Chen, J., Roßmann, J. (2025) Smart Systems Service Infrastructure (S3I) — Design and deployment of the Smart Systems Service Infrastructure (S3I) for decentralized networking in Forestry 4.0. KWH4.0 Position Paper. DOI: 10.18154/RWTH-2025-03168

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Features
  • Core Functionality
  • Roadmap
• Technical Structure
• Installation
• Documentation
• Contributing
• License

Overview

The AAS Thing Python SDK helps you:

• Instantiate and manipulate AAS and submodels using the Eclipse BaSyx Python SDK
• Exchange standardized I4.0 messages (VDI 2193-1) over AMQP (store-and-forward) or (in future) HTTP
• Authenticate, manage and discover services, exchange information via the S³I core (IdentityProvider, Directory, Repository, Broker)

By following the AAS specification, your Things become members in Industry 4.0 ecosystems, interoperating securely and reliably.

Features

Core Functionality

• AAS management
  Load and parse .json, .xml, or .aasx AAS on disk using BaSyx Python SDK.

• Message-based communication
  Create, send and receive I4.0 messages (I40Message) combined with the AAS API specification defined in Specification of the Asset Administration Shell Part 2, over AMQP (store-and-forward) or (in future) HTTP.

• S³I integration

  • IdentityProvider: OpenID Connect authentication via Keycloak
  • Broker: AMQP 0.9 messaging with RabbitMQ
  • Directory & Repository: Endpoint discovery and cloud storage

Global instance of S³I

We provide a global instance of the S³I, which runs in a server located at MMI, RWTH Aachen University and can be used for testing. It includes:

Roadmap of the SDK

In the near future, we will provide the supports to:

• Postbox API: REST-based alternative to AMQP for sending and receiving I4.0 messages
• Discovery Service: Endpoint discovery using query parameters
• Authorization: XACML-based access control framework
• Events: Support for AAS- and AMQP-based events
• Server Infrastructure: The open-source server infrastructure for the Smart Systems Service Infrastructure (S³I) and its configuration for docker and kubernetes

Technical Structure

Installation

Install from PyPI:

$ python -m pip install aas-thing

Or build & install from source:

$ git clone git@git.rwth-aachen.de:co2for-it/s3i/aas-thing-python-sdk.git
$ cd aas-thing-python-sdk
$ python -m pip install .

Documentation

Full API reference, tutorials, and demos are available in the documentation.

Contributing

Contributions, bug reports, and feature requests are welcome!

Please:

• Fork the repository
• Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/XYZ)
• Commit your changes (git commit -m "Add XYZ")
• Push to your fork (git push origin feature/XYZ)
• Open a Merge Request

See CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed guidelines.

License

This project is licensed under the LGPL v3 License. See the LICENSE file for details.