When completely new to the topic of I4.0 and the AAS we highly recommend visiting the website of the Plattform Industrie 4.0 [1]. Then start with the Two-Pager [2] and the presentation slides [3]. The first few slides of the Presentation [4] cover general AAS topics, later slides introduce some advanced topics. All these should provide a brief and quick introduction into the topic in general. For a deep dive [5] gives a comprehensive overview of recent and current activities of the Plattform I4.0.

I4.0 has undergone a long journey, but [6] shows on a single page how things developed and how it all fits together. [7] gives a condensed overview of the AAS concepts and serves in many ways as a leading picture. [8] summarizes the major technical aspects and different shapes of the AAS. [9] is recommended, because it covers all major aspects of I4.0 (including finding use cases, creating semantic models, and operation) by using a drive as an example. The described concepts can easily be transferred to sensors and actors in general. https://fluidtechnik40.de/en/ is an initiative of the VDMA with an overview, use cases and examples.

[10] includes a detailed list of technical criteria that need to be fulfilled for an I4.0 component. It also includes a technology roadmap and lists several examples of commercially available products that fulfil these criteria. [16] introduces an initiative to utilize the AAS to provide a Digital Product Passport including the Product Carbon Footprint with the aim to fulfil future requirements of the EU Green Deal.

The analysis in [21] aims at giving companies orientation when designing their digital business models using 22 practical examples. Initiatives like https://catena-x.net/en and Manufacturing-X are applying the AAS as one of their core technologies.

The most important documents are the AAS Specifications found on [12]. They are divided into multiple parts and specify all aspects of the metamodel, the API, AASX file format, etc. Based on thse speciications, a starter guide called "AAS Quick Start Guide" has been published to help in implementing a basic AAS for an asset. Supporting the same starter guide, a screencast series is available on YoutTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFaEHfth1aI&list=PLCO0zeX96Ia0oUr_3_P7CJNtD8LCSi63R.

[13] describes the possible workflows and necessary working steps to create a Submodel template. For implementations the open source projects on https://github.com/admin-shell-io and others (see below) are highly recommended. Because the recent release of the specification has introduced some significant changes, we recommend taking a look at the tutorial [23]. As an overview [8] describes the different shapes of the AAS from a technical perspective including security. The first part of the international standard IEC 63278 "Asset Administration Shell for industrial applications" has been published. Further parts are in progress. [11] creates an understanding of how the three elements capabilities, skills and services can be used for new production concepts.

If you are interested in using or creating AAS we recommend starting by looking into the software tool AASX package explorer (see below) and the screencasts at http://admin-shell-io.com/screencasts/. New Submodel templates are continuously being released and are available on the website of the IDTA https://industrialdigitaltwin.org/en/content-hub/submodels. Documents [11] and [15] might also be of interest. [13] describes how to create a new Submodel template. [14] shows best practice patterns for the implementation of AAS. It provides practical guidance on how to model the AAS (including AAS for assets composed of multiple assets) and how to use it in applications.

AAS Specification Part 4 Security (IDTA 01004) defines the security concept of the Asset Administration Shell, focusing on the Access Rule Model based on Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC). It describes how authentication and authorization interact to protect registries, repositories, and AAS elements using mechanisms such as OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect.

[17] describes requirements and implementations of a secure communication in the engineering process. [18] explains different secure data access architectures and looks at questions regarding at implementation and applicability. [19] focusses on the application of AI in industrial production and analyses different use cases for potential impact and questions. [11] and [22] discuss the means of capabilities, skills and services to provide standardized information about and access to asset functionalities.