The Need of Automation in
Industries
• Boost Productivity
• Improve the quality of your
Product
• Save labour costs
• Efficiency and Accuracy
1. Proportional Integral Differential Controller:-
A Programmable Logic
Controller, PLC or Programmable Controller is
a digital computer used
for automation of electromechanical processes, such
as control of machinery on factory assembly
lines, amusement rides, or light fixtures.
2. Programmable logic Controller
Components of a Industrial Automation System
1. Field level
3. HMI (Human Machine Interface)
4. Artificial Intelligence Assistance
Functional levels of an Automation System
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN FIELD
INSTRUMENTS and PLC/DCS
MODBUS
MODBUS is a communication
protocol designed to allow
industrial equipment such
as Programmable Logic Controllers,
of physical input/output devices to
communicate over a network.
Invented by Modicon/Group
Schneider and is today is one of the
most popular protocols embedded
inside the TCP/IP frames of
Ethernet.
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE MODBUS
DEVICES:-
1. MODBUS devices communicate using a
master-slave technique in which only one
device (the master) can initiate transactions
(called queries). The other devices (slaves)
respond by supplying the requested data to
the master, or by taking the action requested
in the query.
2. Masters can address individual slaves, or
can initiate a broadcast message to all slaves.
Slaves return a response to all queries
addressed to them individually, but do not
respond to broadcast queries.
3. Valid addresses are from 1-247.
When the slave responds, it places its own
address in this field of its response to let the
master know which slave is responding.
Transmission Modes in Modbus
ASCII MODE REMOTE TERMINAL UNIT MODE
In the ASCII Transmission Mode each character In RTU Mode, each 8-bit message byte contains
byte in a message is sent as 2 ASCII characters. two 4-bit hexadecimal characters, and the message
is transmitted in a continuous stream.
This mode allows time intervals of up to a second The greater effective character density increases
between characters during transmission without throughput over ASCII mode at the same baud
generating errors. rate.
In ASCII mode, the word size is 7 bits. In RTU mode; the word size is 8 bits.
Frame checking is done by Longitudinal Frame checking is done by Cyclic Redundancy
Redundancy Check. Check.
Advantages:-
a. MODBUS has became an industry de facto standard because of its
openness, simplicity, low cost development, and minimum hardware
required to support it.
b. Can connect 246 devices at a time with a baud rate of over
9600bauds/sec.
c. Can move raw bits and words without placing any restrictions on the
sender.
Disadvantages:-
a. Doesn’t support datatypes developed after 1980.
b. Large Binary objects are not supported.
c. It provides no security against unauthorized commands or
interception data.
PROCESS FIELD BUS(Profibus)
PROFIBUS (Process Field Bus) is a
standard for fieldbus communication in
automation technology and was first
promoted in 1989 by BMBF (German
department of education and research)
and then used by Siemens.
The medium used can be twisted pair
cable, fiber optic or infrared depending
upon the requirement.
There are two variations of Profibus in use today:-
1. Profibus DP( Decentralized Peripherals) :- Uses dual core violet sheathed
cable. Supports speeds from 9.6Kbaud/sec to 12 Mbaud/sec. Speed can be adjusted
according to frequency of changes in the system. Used for all kinds of field
instruments.
2. Profibus PA(Process Automation):- Preferred in areas where there are
chances of explosion and other hazardous. The cable allows power to be delivered
over the bus to field instruments, while limiting current flows so that explosive
conditions are not created, even if a malfunction occurs. The speed is constant at
31.25Kbaud/sec.
Advantages:-
a. Only a single wire is used for data and power transmission.
b. Flexibility of speed according to transmission volume
c. Can be employed in Hazardous Areas.
d. Hamming Distance is 4, which means more than 3 transmission
failures can be detected at a time.
Disadvantages:-
a. It is not open source. A company has to pay royalty to Profibus
International in order to use this system.
b. Only 126 devices can be connected at a time.
Foundation FieldBus
• FOUNDATION
Fieldbus is an all-
digital, serial, two-
way communications
system that serves as
the base-level
network in a plant or
factory automation
environment.
These two implementations use different physical
media and communication speeds.
These two implementations use different physical media and
communication speeds.
• FOUNDATION Fieldbus H1 - Operates at 31.25 Kbit/s and is generally
used to connect to field devices and host systems. It provides
communication and power over standard stranded twisted-pair
wiring in both conventional and intrinsic safety applications.
• HSE (High-speed Ethernet) - Operates at 100/1000 Mbit/s and
generally connects input/output subsystems, host systems, linking
devices and gateways.
Advantages:-
a. Reduced number of wires and marshalling panels
b. Increased uptime due to less equipment, better self
diagnostics, and remote diagnostics
c. Increased accuracy of measurements
Disadvantage:-
Since it is all digital, some field instruments may require
A/D converters.
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PLC/DCS and
HMI
1. Ethernet:-
The Ethernet is intended primarily for use in such areas as office
automation, distributed data processing, terminal access, and other
situations requiring economical connection to a local communication
medium carrying busy traffic at high-peak data rates.
Specifications required
for DCS-HMI
connection:-
Data rate: 10 Million bits/sec
Maximum station separation: 2.8kms
Maximum number of stations: 1024
Medium: Shielded coaxial cable, base
band signalling
Topology: Bus or Ring
COMMUNICATION between Higher level
intelligence and PLC/DCS
Since server-client model is used in Information
Interaction with the PLCs.
OLE for Process Control (OPC), which stands
for Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)
for Process Control, is the original name for
a standard specification developed in 1996 by
an industrial automation industry task force.
CONCLUSION
Automation System plays a very vital role in running an industrial unit.
The intent of installing an automation system in
manufacturing/processing unit is to ensure accurate and efficient
handling of processes. Automation System can drastically increase
manpower efficiency, i.e. more work can be done with lesser human
involvement and with increased accuracy. Though all the sensors and
transmitters are installed at highly unsafe and accident-prone zones,
the risk of human loss is significantly reduced as because all the
measuring and controlling can be done purely with the help of the HMI,
which is setup in a control room.
References
1. En.wikipedia.org
2. www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-process-control
3. Data communication and computer networking by Behrouz A. Forouzan
4. Control System Engineering by IJ Nagrath and M. Gopal
5. www.profibus.com
6. Tata Steel technical reference manual
7. www.simplymodbus.com
