Implementing distributed controls for FMCs using internet utilities

In todayʹs global marketplace, industries try to compete with cost-effective products engineered using emerging techniques which are highly flexible and rely heavily on computers and information interchange among them. The active involvement of various automation technologies in manufacturing has had a positive effect, but has also led to the creation of various incompatibilities and given rise to situations commonly known as “islands of automation”. The implementation of MAP (manufacturing automation protocol) and TOP (technical and office protocol) has started to bridge the communication gap, but there still exists an “island of automation” between the controllers and host computers. The present effort is directed towards connecting these different islands of automation. The objective is to create a generic internet-based utility for hooking up host computers (which handle high-level decisions) and dedicated process controllers. This gives the controllers various facilities to interact, report, query and co-ordinate activities with computers located anywhere on the internet.