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PICTURES OF THE FUTURE ■ History of Industrial Automation
Five Decades
of Automation
About 50 years ago, Siemens introduced microelectronics to
automation technology. Suddenly, transistors were being used to
control enormous steam turbine sets. It was an advance
that marked the beginning of solid-state industrial automation.
SIMATIC PCS 7 process
control systems allow
users to control, operate
and monitor processes
via the Internet or an
intranet.
E rlangen, 1956. A small team of experts is
gathered at the Siemens-Schuckert plant.
Their job is to find out what the recently in-
vented transistor can do for the electric power
industry. The team is given free rein and devel-
ops something entirely new. At the Paris ma-
chine tool fair in 1959, Siemens proudly pres-
ents the first generation of its “Building-Block
System for Solid-State Controls”: the SIMATIC G.
These controls performed many functions,
from summoning elevators when the ”up” and
“down” buttons were pushed, to directing ma-
chine tools to perform work according to a pro-
grammed sequence. Switching elements in
that era’s conventional electromechanical sys-
tems were relays and contactors. But in the
SIMATIC G, transistors performed these func-
tions. Their advantage was that they were
smaller and not subject to wear and tear. That’s
why SIMATIC G was at first mainly used where
highly reliable control elements were needed:
in transformer substations and power plants.
In the ensuing decades, SIMATIC G has
been succeeded by five generations of controls
response to the arc control system developed
SIMATIC ad (1959)
with an ever-expanding range of functions.
While the first generation was designed entirely
for programmed control functions, today’s
SIMATIC-S7 system, as the core of Totally Inte-
grated Automation (TIA), performs virtually any
conceivable industrial automation task, from
managing electric power generation to waste
treatment, and from controlling transportation
systems to manufacturing plants.
Worldwide Leadership. The SIMATIC plat-
form continues to make Siemens a world
leader in automation technology. “A key to our
success is the fact that individual SIMATIC com-
ponents have always interacted flawlessly,”
says Thomas Hahn, head of software develop-
ment at Siemens Automation & Drives in
Nuremberg. Another factor driving SIMATIC’s
success was that Siemens tended to swiftly in-
clude innovations in semiconductor technol-
ogy. But that also caused problems. In the
development of SIMATIC G, for instance, sev-
eral transistors proved useless for industrial ap-
plications. Their properties would gradually
change until they disintegrated at elevated
temperatures. But development engineers
devised a method for identifying unsuitable
transistors.
Another problem was that insulating prop-
erties were first tested with older methods that
had been developed for robust contactor sys-
tems. Factory engineers would expose transis-
tors to peak voltages in the kilovolt range —
much more than a transistor can take. Accord-
ing to one early assembly report: “The failure
rate of SIMATIC components was far worse
than if entire control consoles had caught fire.”
On the other hand, a factor that helped
SIMATIC gain ground was the very positive
SIMATIC PCS 7: “SIMATIC stands for Totally Inte-
in the early 1960s. Siemens equipped many
transformer substations with this system, be-
cause these facilities often suffered short cir-
cuits caused by arcs resulting from operator er-
rors in using the switchgear, or from voltage
surges due to lightning. The resulting damage
was enormous and caused prolonged power
blackouts. Arc extinction systems had to con-
vert an arc into a harmless short circuit in a
matter of milliseconds, which SIMATIC G could
do thanks to its fast switching times.
The era of programmable logic controls
(PLCs) began in the early 1970s. Their func-
tions were not determined by hardware con-
nections but by software, which made pro-
gramming a lot easier. “In addition to the
programming functions, SIMATIC has been
able to accomplish more and more higher-level
tasks,” notes Hahn. A key requirement for
making this possible was the continuing
increase in device computing power: In 1965,
a SIMATIC N module could perform 20 tran-
sistor functions and consequently 15 instruc-
tions per second. In the S5 module of 1988,
the numbers had soared to about four million
transistor functions and 32,000 instructions
per second.
The S5 module, which was introduced in
1979, performed automation, programming
and documentation tasks. Soon thereafter, the
first bus systems were introduced. This tech-
nology was essential for data communication
and commands. Bus systems integrated multi-
ple individual controls into a single, powerful
data network. During the 1990s, these ad-
vances enabled SIMATIC to develop into the
core of a process control and management
system that handles all automation tasks from
the signal level to the control console.
Though on many occasions SIMATIC is still
equated with programmable controls, that as-
sociation has long been incorrect, explains
Hermann Richter, product manager for
shouldn’t be scrapped early; it should con-
grated Automation, and consequently for a tinue to serve the customer’s needs.”
new way of implementing automation tasks.” As automation systems move toward
Take a brewery. A SIMATIC platform, Richter ex- open architectures, Siemens is focusing on im-
plains, makes end-to-end automation feasible. plementing a uniform architecture for all the
All of the fermentation, brewing, bottling and
sales processes are controlled by a higher-order
control level. “The advantage is that this will
control technologies it makes. Some 40 differ-
ent control systems are used in Siemens prod-
ucts, from telephone systems to control sys-
virtually eliminate costly system incompatibili-
ties and discontinuities,” explains Richter.
Platform for Control Systems. A prerequisite
tems for building management and power
plants.
A uniform platform would be a great
advantage for Siemens and its customers,
for such integration is uniform data networks explains Werner Schlieker, product develop-
that connect all levels of automation, much ment manager at Siemens A&D AS in Nurem-
like a nervous system. Equally crucial is to berg. Schlieker is coordinating the company’s
structure the system landscape according to hi- platform project as part of the top+ Innovation
erarchical and, as far as possible, autonomous business excellence program. A uniform plat-
levels. The advantage is, if a fault occurs, only form, he adds, would yield great savings from
the function of the affected process segment R&D synergies. Investments of tens and even
is lost; the rest of the system continues to op- hundreds of millions of euros have gone into
erate, though with limitations. This approach the development of each of these control sys-
also makes it possible to expand the system tems. And customers would benefit mainly
step by step. “The trend is clearly in the direc- from simplified operation due to uniform in-
tion of open systems architecture,” Richter terfaces. “Training expenses would also be cut
says. He adds that this is necessary to protect sharply,” adds Schlieker.
the customer’s investment. “Such a system ■ Luitgard Marschall
S YS TEMS ARCHITECTURE FOR PROCESS CONTROL
Central computer
management level
Local control
system
Industrial
Ethernet
Profibus
Server
Operator ■ Higher-order
control station control level
Server
Actuators
Motors
■ Field level Control computer
Sensors, ■ Process control level
analyzers
Field
devices
■ Control and automation level
Control systems monitor and operate systems as integral parts of an overall system.
Their architecture is networked and hierarchically structured. Everything is linked by commu-
nications via a data network, where large volumes of data and commands are interchanged.
At the lowest level, this data flow is carried mainly by field bus systems (Profibus), while
Ethernet predominates at the higher levels. In the future, real-time-capable Industrial Ether-
net will encompass all the levels. At the top of the hierarchy is a higher-order control level,
which integrates several systems into a single monitoring and operator control system.
There are several lower levels. The process control level consists of local control systems and
coordinates and monitors the lower-level processes of the control level. The control and
automation level executes the process control level’s commands and logically integrates the
elements of the field level into a single unit. The field level comprises actuators that execute
the control level’s control commands, and sensors that measure physical variables.
Pictures of the Future | Spring 2005
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