Fieldbus in the process control laboratory-its time has come

Author

Rehg, James A. ; Swain, William H. ; Yangula, Brim P. ; Wheatman, S.

Author_Institution

Pennsylvania State Univ., Altoona, PA, USA

Volume

3

fYear

1999

fDate

10-13 Nov. 1999

Abstract

Industrial process control has evolved following the path of direct digital control (DDC-1962), programmable logic controllers (PLC-1972), distributed control systems (DCS-1976), and field control systems (FCS-1994). The latest field control system evolution that is taking place is the implementation of Foundation fieldbus (FF) into the manufacturing environment. This article describes Foundation Fieldbus, its role in a plant network hierarchy, and a comparison between Foundation Fieldbus and the older DCS model. In addition, this article discusses instructional issues associated with teaching Foundation Fieldbus in a system control course and laboratory, along with an overview of the hardware and software necessary to build a network of Foundation Fieldbus devices through integration of FF on existing process trainers.

Keywords

control engineering education; digital control; field buses; manufacturing industries; process control; Foundation fieldbus; distributed control systems; field control system; hardware; industrial process control; instructional issues; manufacturing environment; plant network hierarchy; process control laboratory; software; system control course; system control laboratory; Control systems; Digital control; Distributed control; Electrical equipment industry; Field buses; Industrial control; Laboratories; Manufacturing industries; Process control; Programmable control;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Frontiers in Education Conference, 1999. FIE '99. 29th Annual

Conference_Location

San Juan, Puerto Rico

ISSN

0190-5848

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5643-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/FIE.1999.840380

Filename

840380