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The following article was published in our article directory on October 19, 2011.
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Distributed Control Systems

Article Category: Computers and Technology

Author Name: Michael Garza

Distributed Control Systems are control systems in automation processes which allows for distributed control of a system. This allows for the creation of bigger and wider control systems and production line. The controller elements are present in each sub system, allowing for the construction of a extensive network of automated systems with distributed equipment in different locations. DCS's are used in a wide variety of industries, examples include: electrical power grids, oil refineries, chemical plants, oil tankers, water management systems and traffic management systems.

Distributed Control Systems in Automation

DCS's are essential in the development of automation systems and of the proliferation of factory floor automation. With the arrival of Distributed Control Systems, computers and microprocessors were brought into the fold in the factory floor. One of the basic advantages of DCS's is that it allows digital communication between controllers and other system elements, allowing operators to focus on the network. Without having to visit each subsystem, an operator can control and monitor each separate subsystem from a central location. This opens up new possibilities and gives greater freedom to systems designers in terms of creating larger and more complicated control systems.

Mechanism and Application

DCS's are used largely for continuous, batch-oriented jobs. This means that any production or manufacturing process that involved continuous, batch-oriented jobs such as bottling beverages, packaging food, or processing medicines are delegated to Distributed Control Systems. This provides a huge revolution in the way factories and production plants operate.

DCS's use input and output devices to monitor measured variables and regulate the flow of materials through the production line. A DCS is comprised of locally distributed controllers distributed throughout a plant capable of communication throughput. DCS's have higher computing power, and are capable of performing logic and sequential control as well as supporting neural networks and fuzzy logic operations.

Central to the functioning of DCS's are function blocks, which are self-contained blocks of code mimicking analog hardware components, performing tasks such as PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) algorithms. Modern DCS's still maintain the core model of function blocks, and are supported today by new technologies such as Foundation Fieldbus.

DCS and the Development of Automation

DCS's have allowed for the development of newer systems of automation. PLCs or Programmable Logic Controllers were invented and integrated into DCSs as a result of systems engineer's desires to widen the network control of DCSs. Ethernet-based networks were developed with the goal of making communication between DCSs systems even more integrated. In one way, we owe the birth of the internet to DCS and automation. The TCP-IP protocol was developed by the Defense Department specifically aimed to solve the problem of limited data openness between systems using DCS's.

The drive to automate the work place birthed new technologies that gave way to better communication systems. Likewise, automation bloomed from separate sub systems into full-network control systems capable of operating vastly more complicated tasks. The reality of the workplace in today's modern factories and plants owes its existence to the development and implementation of Distributed Control Systems.

Keywords: automation controls, factory floor automation, plant automation, industrial automation, control systems integration, control systems design, distributed controls systems, SCADA, supervisory control and data acquisition, PLC programming, programmable logic controller, Allen Bradley, A-B, Siemens, S7, S5, WinCC, Wonderware, iFix, Factory Talk, Rockwell Automation, RS View, RS Logix, ControlLogix, Compact Logix, Kinetics, Ladder Logic, Factory Talk Transaction Manager, Human Machine Interface, Panel Views, vision systems, motion control and design

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