Supervisory control
Sensors and actuators occupy the lowest level in the automation pyramid. These are part of a machine and multiple machines form a line. However, there needs to be a control system that monitors these individual machines so that the factory has a high-level overview of the various operations. It also makes it easier to send parameters to individual machines from a central place. This is part of the supervisory control. There are various forms of supervisory controls, which are listed in the following sections.
Plantwide information
A typical plant or factory will have several machines. For the efficient running of the operation, some information has to be viewed as an aggregation of each machine’s performance. It is also useful to know the present status and alarms from each machine. The location could be a plant control room.
Digital dashboards
There is some information that should be visible from anywhere on the shop floor. This can be production...
