Industrial Automation: TCEW3891

Chapter 2
Architecture of an Automation System

Dr. Tom Wanjekeche

email: twanjekeche@unam.na
 Architecture of Automation System
The architecture of an automation system is the structured design of how
hardware, software, and other components are arranged and integrated to
automate processes. It's the blueprint for an automation solution and is tailored
to meet the specific requirements of the process being automated.
The architecture of an automation system typically includes:
• Hardware and software: The strategic selection, placement, and
configuration of hardware and software components
• Network configurations: How the components are connected in a network
• User interfaces: How users interact with the system
1.1The Functional Elements of Industrial
Automation
• Industrial Automation System consists of numerous elements that perform a
variety of functions related to Instrumentation, Control, Supervision and
Operations Management related to the industrial process.

Sensing and Actuation Elements

• Interface directly and physically to the process equipment and
machines.
• The sensing elements translate the physical process signals such as
temperature, pressure or displacement to convenient electrical or
pneumatic forms of information, so that these signals can be used for
analysis, decisions and finally, computation of control inputs
1.1The Functional Elements of Industrial
Automation
Industrial Sensors and Instrument Systems:

• The physical medium refers to the object where a physical phenomenon is

taking place
• The sensing element is affected by the phenomenon in the physical medium
either through direct or physical contact or through indirect interaction of the
phenomenon in the medium with some component of the sensing element,
e.g. a Thermocouple
• The signal-conditioning element serves the function of altering the nature
of the signal generated by the sensing element e.g amplifiers
 1.1The Functional Elements of Industrial
Automation
Industrial Sensors and Instrument Systems:
• The signal processing element is used to process the signal generated by the
first stage for a variety of purposes such as, filtering (to remove noise),
diagnostics (to assess the health of the sensor), linearisation (to obtain an
output which is linearly related with the physical measurand etc.
• The target signal-handling element: contain data/signal display modules,
recording or/storage modules, or simply a feedback to a process control
system. Examples include a temperature chart recorder, an instrumentation
tape recorder, a digital display or an Analog to Digital Converter (ADC)
followed by an interface to a process control computer.
 1.1The Functional Elements of Industrial
Automation
Industrial Actuator System:
• Convert the input signals computed by the control systems into forms that
can be applied to the actual process and would produce the desired
variations in the process physical variables.

• The electronic signal-processing element accepts the command from the

control system in electrical form. The command is processed in various
ways, such as filtering to avoid applying input signals of certain frequencies
• The electronic power amplification element sometimes contains linear
power amplification stages called servo-amplifiers. In other cases, it may
comprise power electronic drive circuits such as for motor driven actuators.
1.1The Functional Elements of Industrial
Automation
Industrial Actuator System:
• The variable conversion element serves the function of altering the nature
of the signal generated by the electronic power amplification element from
electrical to non-electrical form, generally in the form of motion. Examples
include electrohydraulic servo valve, stepper/servo motors, Current to
Pneumatic Pressure converters etc.
• The non-electrical power conversion elements are used to amplify power
further, if necessary, typically using hydraulic or pneumatic mechanisms.
1.1The Functional Elements of Industrial
Automation
Industrial Control Systems:
• Controllers are essentially (predominantly electronic, at times
pneumatic/hydraulic) elements that accept command signals from human
operators or Supervisory Systems, as well as feedback from the process
sensors and produce or compute signals that are fed to the actuators.
Control Systems can be classified into two kinds.

Continuous Control
• This is also often termed as Automatic Control, Process Control, Feedback
Control etc. Here the controller objective is to provide such inputs to the
plant such that the output y(t) follows the input r(t) as closely as possible, in
value and over time.
1.1The Functional Elements of Industrial
Automation

Sequence / Logic Control

• Many control applications do not involve analog process variables, that is,
the ones which can assume a continuous range of values but values with
finite values
1.1The Functional Elements of Industrial
Automation
Sequence / Logic Control
• Operate by turning on and off switches, motors, valves, and other devices in
response to operating conditions and as a function of time.
• Example, the operation of transfer lines and automated assembly machines
• Modern controller device used for sequence control n transfer lines,
robotics, process control, is the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC).
• Industrial sensors (such as, Limit Switch / Pressure Switch/ Photo Switch
etc.) which provide discrete outputs, they do not indicate, the value of a
process variable, but the particular range of values to which the process
variable belongs
• In the control of a conveyor system, analog motor control is not applied.
Simple on-off control is adequate. Therefore for this application, the motor-
starter actuation system may be considered as discrete having three modes,
namely, start, stop and run.
1.1The Functional Elements of Industrial
Automation
Supervisory Control
• Supervisory control performs at a hierarchically higher level over the
automatic controllers, which controls smaller subsystems
• Supervisory control systems perform, typically the following functions:
• Set point computation:.
• Performance Monitoring / Diagnostics
• Start up / Shut down / Emergency Operations.
• Control Reconfiguration / Tuning: Structural or Parametric redesign of
control loops are carried out, either in response to operator commands or in
response to diagnostic events such as detected failure modes.
• Operator Interface: Graphical interfaces for supervisory operators are
provided, for manual supervision and intervention.
1.1The Functional Elements of Industrial
Automation
Production Control
Production control performs at a hierarchically higher level over the
supervisory controllers. Typical functions they perform are:
Process Scheduling: Depending on the sequence of operations to be carried on
the existing batches of products, processing resource availability for optimal
resource utilization.
Maintenance Management: Decision processes related to detection and
deployment of maintenance operations.
Inventory Management: Decision processes related to monitoring of inventory
status of raw material, finished goods etc.
Quality Management : Assessment, Documentation and Management of
Quality
 1.2 The Architecture of Elements: The
Automation Pyramid
• Industrial automation systems are very complex having large number of
devices with a number of technologies working in synchronization.
• Industrial automation systems are organized hierarchically. Various
components in an industrial automation system can be explained using the
automation pyramid.
• Here, various layers represent the wideness (in the sense of no. of devices),
and fastness of components on the time-scale.
1.2 The Architecture of Elements: The
Automation Pyramid
 1.2 The Architecture of Elements: The
Automation Pyramid
• Sensors and Actuators Layer: This layer is closest to the processes and
machines, used to translate signals so that signals can be derived from
processes for analysis and decisions
• Automatic Control Layer: This layer consists of automatic control and
monitoring systems, which drive the actuators using the process information
given by sensors.
• Supervisory Control Layer: This layer drives the automatic control system
by setting target/goal to the controller. Supervisory Control looks after the
equipment, which may consist of several control loops.
 1.2 The Architecture of Elements: The
Automation Pyramid
• Production Control Layer: This solves the decision problems like
production targets, resource allocation, task allocation to machines,
maintenance management most of the operations are performed by humans
with the aid of tools
• Enterprise Control Layer: This deals less technical and more commercial
activities like management of supply, demand, cash flow, product marketing
etc. This is called as the ‘level 4’ layer.
• The lowest level is faster in the time scale and the higher levels are slower.
• The spatial scale increases as the level is increased e.g. at lowest level a
sensor works in a single loop, but there exists many sensors in an automation
system
 1.2 The Architecture of Elements: The
Automation Pyramid
• Production Control Layer: This solves the decision problems like
production targets, resource allocation, task allocation to machines,
maintenance management most of the operations are performed by humans
with the aid of tools
• Enterprise Control Layer: This deals less technical and more commercial
activities like management of supply, demand, cash flow, product marketing
etc. This is called as the ‘level 4’ layer.
• The lowest level is faster in the time scale and the higher levels are slower.
• The spatial scale increases as the level is increased e.g. at lowest level a
sensor works in a single loop, but there exists many sensors in an automation
system
 1.2 The Architecture of Elements: The
Automation Pyramid
• All the layers are connected by various types of communication systems.
1. Device level. This is the lowest level in our automation hierarchy. It
includes the actuators, sensors, and other hardware components that
comprise the machine level.
2. Machine level. Hardware at the device level is assembled into individual
machines. Examples include CNC machine tools and similar production
equipment, industrial robots, powered conveyors, and automated guided
vehicles.
 1.2 The Architecture of Elements: The
Automation Pyramid
3. Cell or system level. This is the manufacturing cell or system level, which
operates under instructions from the plant level. A manufacturing cell or
system is a group of machines or workstations connected and supported by
a material handling system. Production lines are included in this level
4. Plum level. This is the factory or production systems level. It receives
instructions from the corporate information system and translates them into
operational plans for production.
5. Enterprise level. This is the highest level Consisting of the corporate
information system