An Open-Source Control Programming Platform for Universalautomation.org Runtime Engine

Summary

The Eclipse Foundation 4diac project has spearheaded the open-source industrial software movement. The new Aimirim 4diac opensource plugin donated to the community enables using the opensource 4diac IDE (Integrated Development Environment) to create IEC 61499 programs to run on the open source 4diac Forte and controlled source UniversalAutomation.org edge runtime code.

The Aimirim company believes contributing the opensource plugin to the 4diac community advances the evolution of Advanced Process Control and Real Time Optimizations through function blocks in the IEC61499 standard, enabling anyone with 4diac IDE or controlled source UAO edge runtime code for any industry. The 4diac IDE is built on the open-source IDE that is the established opensource platform for professional software developers to write software applications since 2007.

Eclipse 4diac provides an open-source infrastructure for distributed industrial process measurement and control systems based on the IEC 61499 standard. 4diac includes:



Developing applications using Eclipse opensource 4diac IDE they can now be downloaded execute on the 4diac Forte and/or Universal.org Automation IEC 61499 runtimes. The UAORT plug-in is a lighthouse towards configurability in IEC 61499 by allowing 4diac IDE users deploy to the UAO (Universal Automation) run-time environment.



The Aimirim company developed the plugin to make it easy for companies to use their industrial digitalization and optimization software including:

Saripe: It allows unlimited data to be collected, stored and visualized in an modern cloud architecture for highly scalable observability in the industrial environment

Kuab: Full stack, low code app to transform industrial data into relevant information using data analytics to generate valuable insights that improve data driven decision-making in the industry.

Arandu: Advanced Process Control and Optimization powered by Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to improve processes efficiency in real time, adapting to different operating scenarios.

Ceuci & Atiaia: Smart sensors that collect tricky data and use advanced algorithms to transmit and generate information through modern wireless networks in real time helping digitize complex processes, improve process control and satisfy operating requirements.

Aimirim believes they are the first company in the world doing APC and real time optimizations through function blocks in the IEC61499 standard and the new opensource plugin allows any company to create applications that run on the 4diac FORTE and UAO runtime.

IEC 61499 runtime choices

Users can now build applications using the Eclipse 4diac IDE and execute them in the field in the opensource 4diac FORTE or UniversalAutomation.org controlled source runtime engines.

Eclipse 4diac
Eclipse 4diac is an opensource project that began in 2007 to develop IEC 61499 for industrial process measurement and control systems (IPMCS). It has become a major source for research and development based on IEC 61499.

• 4diac IDE: This Eclipse-based opensource engineering tool is part of the Eclipse 4diac project.
• 4diac FORTE: Portable and efficient runtime environment

Both can be downloaded and used for free at 4diac.

UniversalAutomation.org runtime

UniversalAutomation.org provides a single IEC 61499 runtime code available to members in good standing that is shared controlled source runtime. This code is shared-source rather than open-source with strict configuration control achieved by members agreeing to the UniversalAutomation Shared Source licensing agreement that unlike open-source software, prohibits members from making changes independently. Governance of proposed changes and additions to the UniversalAutomation.com IEC 614 99 runtime code will be made by the organization’s voting members. There are various levels of UniversalAutomation.org IEC 61499 runtime code licenses with members in good standing having the right to use in products. Membership information is available here.

Eclipse Foundation background

Eclipse, an open-source integrated development environment (IDE), started in 2001 with IBM donating three million lines of code to a consortium of software vendors to create an open-source version of Eclipse. The license was royalty-free, allowing companies to use Eclipse in their own commercial products. In 2004 the Eclipse Foundation was created as a not-for-profit organization to manage the Eclipse community. The foundation's goals include guiding, implementing and sharing the development of Eclipse projects in a vendor-neutral environment.