Users and Suppliers of machine tools have developed sophisticated
requirements for control systems in the late nineties. New machining technologies together
with the need to reduce costs and the effort to improve flexibility lead to a strong claim
towards open control systems. A control system needs to be adapted quickly to new
requirements - without affecting quality and performance issues.
Control Vendors want to concentrate on their specific
capabilities in control applications. The availability of a control system that can be
easily adapted and extended to changing requirements (e.g. new hardware platforms) allows
a cost-effective and time-saving satisfaction of customer requirements.
Machine Tool Builders need to secure
their investments and want to become independent from a certain control vendor. They want
to be capable of integrating their specific know-how into different controls by reusing or
modifying already implemented and tested software modules.
End Users also want to free themselves
from dependencies on single suppliers. The ability to handle different controls in a
common way results in reduced costs for maintenance and training. The collecting of
manufacturing data for optimising the production process becomes easier and more flexible.
Software Houses can enrich the market by providing general purpose applications,
like monitoring and visualisation tools, and also by developing software algorithms in
special fields.
There are other open architecture approaches
in control business world-wide. Most of them limit the openness to the use of a personal
computer (PC) in combination with a standard operating system and hardware extensions for
fieldbus communication and other networking technologies. The OSACA architecture is based
on a more general approach by defining a vendor-neutral programming interface which is
identical on any system independent of any hardware platform and operating system, making
use of existing (de facto or de jury) standards where necessary and appropriate.
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