Adapter

Adapters allow to connect flowcean with real CPS. While similar to environments they are not the same. Adapters are used during the deployment phase of a model while environments are used during the training and evaluation process of a model. Adapters allow flowcean to make observation from a CPS as well as passing actions or predictions back to it. The key difference between adapters and environments is the fact, that adapters only provide the input observations from a CPS without the necessary outputs for training and evaluation. With the ability to make observations and pass data back to a CPS, adapters allow to create a closed loop between the CPS and flowcean and are an important part in the tool loop.

In general, adapters need to be adjusted to a specific CPS to ensure seamless communication between the two. Some generic adapters are provided by flowcean which can serve as a starting point for a CPS specific adapter.