Summary
This chapter started on a historical note, looking at the evolution of industrial automation systems. We talked about PLCs, DCS, and SCADA systems. As we undertook a journey to understand our various manufacturing ecosystems, it helped us appreciate the need for sophisticated and purpose-built control systems to optimize production. The evolution of the PLCs has been fascinating, and the industry keenly anticipates the next significant set of advancements and milestones.
We then investigated a brief composition of a PLC, its types, architecture, and programming constructs, before comparing them to microcontrollers. Industrial protocols are essential for a successful Industry 4.0 implementation, especially in a complex heterogenous multi-player and multi-generation ecosystem. We discussed the details of some of them in this chapter.
The combination of PROFINET for real-time acyclic communication and OPC UA as a standard for vertical cyclic communication over SPE on the...