this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2023
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Yeah a few levels.
Level 1: complex stand alone devices, mostly firmware.
Level 1a. Stuff slightly more complicated than a list of settings, usually for something like a VFD or a stepper motor controllers. Not as common.
Level 2 PLCs, HMIs, and the black magic robotic stuff. Stand alone equipment. Like imagine a machine that can take something, heat it up, and give it to the next machine.
Level 3: DCS and SCADA. Data control center and whatever SCADA stands for, I always forget. This is typically for integrating or at least data collection of multiple stand alone equipment for level 2.
Level 4: the integration layer between Level 3 and whatever means the company has for entering in sales.
Like everything in software this is all general. Some places will mix layers, subtract layers, add them. I would complain about the inconsistent nature of it all but without it I would be unemployed.
Is this specific software engineering languages? or is this electrical engineering or what kind of work is this?
I am having problems understanding your questions. I generally operate on level 2 and we typically use graphics based languages when we implement scripting languages to do graphical languages. The two most common graphic languages are FBDs and Ladder-Logic. Both have a general form and vendor specific quirks.
For scripting I tend towards Perl or Python, but I have seen other guys use different methods.
Level 3 use pretty much the same tools. Level 4 I have in the passed used a modbus/tcp method but this isn't something I can really say is typical. One guy I know used the python API to do it.
oh, thank you
my background is not in engineering which explains my confusing questions