TY - BOOK
T1 - Next generation of industrial automation
T2 - Concepts and architecture of a component-based control system
AU - Tommila, Teemu
AU - Hirvonen, Juhani
AU - Jaakkola, Lauri
AU - Peltoniemi, Jyrki
AU - Peltola, Jukka
AU - Sierla, Seppo
AU - Koskinen, Kari
PY - 2005
Y1 - 2005
N2 - Recent trends in automation are characterised by
geographical distribution and functional integration. On
the technical level, the goal is to easily connect
devices and software components from different vendors.
Functionally, there is a need for interoperability of
control functions on different hierarchical levels
ranging from field equipment to process control,
operations management and various Internet-based service
applications.
This research report discusses current technological
trends and outlines a new, component-based control system
platform that supports the reuse of both system and
application software. The working hypothesis is that next
generation control systems will be a combination of new
information technology and the domain-specific concepts
found in process automation. The application area is
industrial automation, including both process industries
(continuous and batch) and discrete manufacturing. In
addition, similar applications in other areas, such as
environmental monitoring or distributed energy
production, have been kept in mind. As this report is an
outcome of a research project, the focus lies on concepts
and system architectures rather than on hardware issues.
To make it more useful however, also selected new
implementation technologies have been described.
The discussion starts from business and technological
trends and their implied requirements for future control
systems. Then we introduce the conceptual model of a
component-based control platform. Only general ideas of
their implementation are given. Based on these concepts,
the application needs and middleware architectures
related to local-area distribution are analysed. Also a
review of a few Ethernet-based communication standards is
included. Next, the domain is extended to geographically
distributed applications. This emphasises the role of
remote monitoring, data-acquisition, and business-level
services. In terms of implementation technology,
service-oriented architectures and communication over
public networks become more important. This report also
describes a prototype implementation that was developed
to clarify the suggested concepts and to evaluate some
technical solutions. The final section sums up the key
findings and lists areas that would need further
research.
AB - Recent trends in automation are characterised by
geographical distribution and functional integration. On
the technical level, the goal is to easily connect
devices and software components from different vendors.
Functionally, there is a need for interoperability of
control functions on different hierarchical levels
ranging from field equipment to process control,
operations management and various Internet-based service
applications.
This research report discusses current technological
trends and outlines a new, component-based control system
platform that supports the reuse of both system and
application software. The working hypothesis is that next
generation control systems will be a combination of new
information technology and the domain-specific concepts
found in process automation. The application area is
industrial automation, including both process industries
(continuous and batch) and discrete manufacturing. In
addition, similar applications in other areas, such as
environmental monitoring or distributed energy
production, have been kept in mind. As this report is an
outcome of a research project, the focus lies on concepts
and system architectures rather than on hardware issues.
To make it more useful however, also selected new
implementation technologies have been described.
The discussion starts from business and technological
trends and their implied requirements for future control
systems. Then we introduce the conceptual model of a
component-based control platform. Only general ideas of
their implementation are given. Based on these concepts,
the application needs and middleware architectures
related to local-area distribution are analysed. Also a
review of a few Ethernet-based communication standards is
included. Next, the domain is extended to geographically
distributed applications. This emphasises the role of
remote monitoring, data-acquisition, and business-level
services. In terms of implementation technology,
service-oriented architectures and communication over
public networks become more important. This report also
describes a prototype implementation that was developed
to clarify the suggested concepts and to evaluate some
technical solutions. The final section sums up the key
findings and lists areas that would need further
research.
KW - industrial automation
KW - control architecture
KW - component-based control systems
KW - local-area distribution services
KW - information technology
KW - domain-specific concepts
KW - process automation
KW - discrete manufacturing
KW - systems architecture
KW - implementation
M3 - Report
SN - 951-38-6726-9
T3 - VTT Tiedotteita - Meddelanden - Research Notes
BT - Next generation of industrial automation
PB - VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
CY - Espoo
ER -
