The goal of this lecture is to introduce the general architecture of industrial real-time control systems and its corresponding components (i.e. communication system, etc.). The main focus lies on the architecture and concept of such control systems based on a RTOS and a runtime system as well as on the communication network (i.e. fieldbus, Industrial Ethernet). Moreover the concepts of centralised and distributed approaches in industrial automation and control are also covered by this lecture. In addition the main standards in the automation and control domain are presented and discussed in detail. The application of the introduced concepts and architectures are explained and demonstrated on selected use cases.
The deterministic execution of control concepts and algorithms is a prerequisite for its implementation in an industrial environment. In general a real-time (operating) system (RTOS) is responsible for this task. The hardware and software architecture of automation and control systems is mainly realised with so-called programmable logic controllers (PLC) and an underlying RTOS. PLC systems are based on centralised control approaches.
Recently there has been a trend towards distributed control systems. The automation and control of processes and machines becomes more and more complicated since an increasing number of sensors and actuators from different vendors are used. The aim and challenge of such systems is the mastery of complex automation and control tasks in a network of different controllers which are connected by a communication network.
A very important aspect of industrial automation and control systems is their engineering as well as their programming and configuration. As a consequence centralised and distributed approaches have to be handled in different ways and need special engineering methods and concepts.
