A Control System in industrial automation is a set of electronic devices or equipment which are use for accurate control manufacturing activity or process. A most popular control system is based on PLC, programmable logic controller which is like an electronic brain for the machines. Read more about PLC here.
As a result of rapid advancement of technology, elements of automation control are connected using network, for example fieldbus and Ethernet. Network communication provides greater flexibility in realizing distributed control system DCS.
Control System based on PLC
Big role plays here SCADA – supervisory control and data aquisition. SCADA allows to see what is happening in our process, change setpoints and monitor alarms. Using new intelligent devices we can connect directly to motor drivers, sensors, pneumatic control valves, flowmeters etc.
SCADA system uses RTUs (remote terminal units, or remote telemetry units) to send data back to a master controller.
The technical limits that drove the designs of these various systems are no longer as much of an issue. Many PLC platforms can now perform quite well as a small DCS, using remote I/O and analog control loops, and are able to communicate supervisory data. It is not uncommon to have telecommunications infrastructure that is so responsive and reliable that some SCADA systems actually manage closed loop control over long distances. With the increasing speed of today’s processors, many DCS products have a full line of PLC-like subsystems that weren’t offered when they were initially developed.
