Automation pyramid
The automation pyramid is used to classify technologies and systems in control technology and represents the various levels in industrial production.
Each level has its own task in production , with fluid boundaries depending on the operational situation. Specific techniques for analog and digital data transmission and processing have developed in accordance with the task of the level .
history
The term automation pyramid came up with the increasing automation of production and manufacturing companies in the 1980s and initially comprised the lower three levels: input / output level, automation and human-machine interface .
In addition, the term CIM pyramid, which is seldom used today, arose and contained the top three levels.
As the various systems have grown together, all levels have been represented in the automation pyramid since the 1990s.
Levels in the automation pyramid
The pyramid display emphasizes the hierarchy of the levels.
The increasing distribution of the systems used from top to bottom is visualized. Example: an ERP system, more than one control system, a few controls ( PLC ) and thousands of input and output signals.
| level | Systems used | Typical tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Company level | ERP | Rough production planning, order processing |
| Operations management level | MES , MIS , LIMS | Detailed production planning , production data acquisition , KPI determination ; Material management, quality management |
| (Process) management level | Process control system / HMI / SCADA | Operation and monitoring, recipe management and execution, measured value archiving |
| Control level | PLC | Control , regulation |
| Field level | Process signals, input / output modules, fieldbus | Interface to the technical production process via input and output signals |
| Sensor / actuator level | Parallel wiring or intelligent systems such as E.g .: AS-Interface , IO-Link | Quick and easy data collection, mostly binary signals |
Variants and synonyms
There are more than 25 different versions of the automation pyramid (number of levels and names) in the literature. The upper or lower levels are partially omitted if they are unimportant in the respective context.
Sometimes the company level and the operations management level are combined as the management level. The management level has special names in certain industries, e.g. B. process control level, traffic control level, building control level. Some authors understand the control level to be the combination of process control level and MES.
Sometimes additional levels are listed, e.g. B. Cell level between control level and management level.
The control level is also referred to as the automation level or the process level.
The field level is divided into input / output level and sensor / actuator level.
Norms
- IEC 62264 introduces the designations level 0 to 4 and deals with the integration levels 2, 3 and 4.
- ISA-88.01 and ISA-95 define a physical model .
Web links
- Lecture building system technology , FH Dortmund (PPT file; 6.4 MB)
- Internet - a data highway is changing automation technology , Namur (PDF file; 0.2 MB)
- Literature research on the automation pyramid sorted by level by Meudt, Pohl, Metternich (PDF file; 0.33 MB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Meudt, Pohl, Metternich: The automation pyramid - a literature overview . Ed .: TU Prints. ( tu-darmstadt.de [PDF]).