The way toward autonomy in industry - taxonomy, process framework, enablers, and implications

Autonomy is today a widely discussed topic. Despite the already impressive technical possibilities, autonomy will still happen stepwise in industry. When it comes to paving the way toward autonomy in industry, it is important to define an appropriate taxonomy of autonomy levels from an industry perspective. Based on such a basic taxonomy, this paper suggests a process how to apply it to specific industrial systems. Exemplarily, an application to autonomous plants is sketched. Besides, enabling technologies required toward autonomy are discussed, as well as some implications of autonomy in industry.