Abstract : In the field of electrical automation control systems, computer-based systems that are easy to integrate and flexibly control are being widely used. This paper describes the applications of electrical automation control systems and analyzes their future development trends. Industrial automation instrumentation is currently developing towards intelligence, virtualization, networking, and digitalization. Based on the current development status of industrial automation instrumentation in China, this paper discusses the development trends of industrial automation instrumentation.
Keywords : Electrical automation; Control system; Development trend; Industrial automation instrumentation; Intelligentization; Virtualization; Networking; Operation status
Introduction : In recent years, electrical automation control systems have become increasingly widely used in daily life, making life more convenient and continuously improving the level of intelligence. They enable more precise control of instruments and equipment, and the realization of large-capacity information data transmission relies on constantly developing communication technologies. As a core field of modern advanced science and technology, electrical automation engineering control systems, built upon the most advanced science, play an irreplaceable role in the rapid development of the social economy. They lead the direction of modern industry. In industrial production, electrical automation control systems can effectively reduce labor costs and intensity, enhance the effectiveness and real-time nature of information transmission, improve detection accuracy, and reduce the probability of safety accidents, thus ensuring production safety.
Automated production process flow diagram
I. Current Status of Electrical Automation Engineering Control Systems
Many industries rely on electrification automation for their automation technologies. After decades of development, my country's electrical automation technology has achieved significant progress. However, compared to international standards, a considerable gap still exists. With the further maturation of the market economy, competition in the electrical automation market is increasing, presenting both challenges and opportunities. Only by combining its own practical experience with its strengths can my country's electrical automation control field secure a place in this fierce competition.
1.1 The standard language specifications for electrical automation engineering control systems are Windows NT and IE. In the development field of electrical automation engineering, human-machine interface has become a development direction because it can be flexibly controlled and is easy to integrate. These characteristics make it more and more accepted by users. At the same time, the standard system language used by electrical automation engineering control systems makes maintenance easier. The control loop is one of the electrical devices that is a combination of several electronic components to ensure the stability and safety of the main circuit line and to realize a certain control function. Such devices should have the following functions: (1) Automatic control function. For electrical automation control systems, when the equipment fails, the switch needs to automatically cut off the circuit to ensure safety, making electrical operating equipment with automatic control function a necessary device. (2) Protection function. During the operation of electrical equipment, unpredictable faults often occur. Voltage, current and power may exceed the allowable range and limit of the equipment and line. This requires a set of protection devices that can detect these fault signals and automatically process the equipment and line. (3) Monitoring function. The most important independent variable in the control system is invisible to the naked eye. Whether a machine is powered or de-energized cannot be distinguished from its appearance. Therefore, it is necessary to use the various functions of sensors and set various audio-visual signals to monitor the real-time changes of the entire system. (4) Measurement function. Audio-visual signals can only qualitatively indicate the working status of each device. The specific working conditions of electrical equipment still need to be measured by professional equipment to determine various parameters of the circuit (such as voltage, current, power and frequency).
1.2 Information Integration in Electrical Automation Engineering Control Systems. The information technology used in electrical automation engineering control systems is mainly reflected in the following aspects: First, the vertical extension at the management level. Management departments within an enterprise need specific browsers to access and retrieve data on financial accounting, human resources, and other information in a timely manner, while also effectively monitoring and controlling dynamic scenes during the production process. Furthermore, it enables timely acquisition of first-hand information about the enterprise's production activities. Second, information technology facilitates horizontal comparisons between electrical automation facilities, machines, and systems. With the continuous application of microelectronic processor technology, traditional interface devices are becoming increasingly blurred, while the use of structured software communication is becoming increasingly important.
1.3 Distributed Control Systems in Electrical Automation Engineering. DCS evolved from centralized control systems. However, with its increasing application, its shortcomings have become apparent. Because it is a hybrid analog-digital system, it uses traditional analog instruments, which are not only unreliable but also difficult to maintain and expensive. Therefore, technological innovation in electrical automation engineering systems is essential.
1.4 Control systems using centralized monitoring. Centralized control systems integrate all functions into a single processor, resulting in slower processing speeds. Monitoring all devices leads to an excessive number of monitored objects, consuming significant server space and requiring a larger number of cables, thus increasing investment costs. Furthermore, the interlocking and locking mechanisms in centralized monitoring disconnect switches use hardwiring, resulting in cumbersome and repetitive wiring, further complicating maintenance and hindering the overall system's effectiveness.
II. Development Trends of Electrical Automation Engineering Control Systems
2.1 Standardization of Electrical Automation Engineering Systems. A standardized electrical automation engineering system is crucial for the design, testing, commissioning, and maintenance of electrical automation products. Separating the development system from the operational system represents a significant step forward for electrical automation engineering control systems, enabling system standardization. The system network should ensure the commonality of data across on-site facilities, monitoring systems, and enterprise engineering management.
2.2 Marketization of Electrical Automation Engineering Control Systems. For products to achieve long-term development, it is necessary to deepen the institutional reform of the manufacturing sector and pay attention to the impact of marketization to ensure that products meet market needs. Simultaneously, enterprises must not only invest in technological development but also marketize and specialize the production of supporting components. Industrial marketization is an inevitable trend in industrial development, which significantly promotes the improvement of resource allocation efficiency.
2.3 Standardized Interfaces for Electrical Automation Control Systems. Adopting Microsoft's standardized technology significantly reduced project costs and successfully enabled data resource sharing. Considering the importance of automation system planning, companies must use Microsoft operating systems when connecting systems. In this case, the office uses an IP system, and the connection between the management system and automation control is established through the PC system. Standardized program interfaces ensure data exchange between manufacturers and solve communication problems.
2.4 Electrical automation engineering will make production safer. The integration of security technologies is a development direction for electrical automation engineering control systems, with the focus on ensuring system safety. In unsafe conditions, how can users choose to achieve safety? After analyzing the development characteristics of my country's market, we should start from the highest security level and gradually extend to lower security levels, including hardware and software equipment, public facilities layers and network layers, to achieve a comprehensive study of the system's security design.
2.5 Innovative Technologies in Electrical Automation Engineering Control Systems. Under the guidance of my country's electrical automation development plan and with the market-oriented environment, the innovation capabilities of electrical automation engineering control systems are continuously improving. Enterprises are constantly absorbing innovative technologies to enhance their own innovation capabilities, and investment in scientific research provides a broader space for innovation in electrical automation. Strengthening policy support and improving mechanisms are also highly beneficial for innovation. Currently, Chinese enterprises mainly produce low- to mid-range products, primarily serving small and medium-sized projects. Enterprises should open up new avenues for independent innovation, transform their economic growth model, and gradually enhance their innovation capabilities.
Industrial control, or industrial automation, is a priority industry in advanced manufacturing. Specifically, it includes integrated automation systems required for large-scale, complex, and continuous production processes; integrated automation control systems that utilize multiple fieldbus standards and industrial Ethernet and can leverage the Internet; detection and control instruments that apply fieldbus technology; high-performance intelligent controllers; efficient and energy-saving speed control systems for large transmission devices; digital and intelligent sensors; various software and hardware products integrated with fieldbus; and intelligent industrial control components and actuators.
In recent years, the industrial control industry has developed rapidly, and the industry's market size has continued to increase, from 25.249 billion yuan in 2004 to 160.029 billion yuan in 2010.
Driven by numerous factors such as China's vigorous development of high-end equipment, policy support, industrial upgrading, rising labor costs, and import substitution, the market for China's industrial control industry will continue to grow in the future. It is estimated that the market size of China's industrial control industry will reach 387.468 billion yuan in 2015.
The steady growth of the industrial control industry has driven the steady growth of the market size of the industrial control transformer industry, which increased from RMB 2.939 billion in 2007 to RMB 7.473 billion in 2010.
With the growth in demand from downstream industrial control industries, the market size of the industrial control transformer industry will also maintain rapid and stable growth in the future. In 2015, the market size of China's industrial control transformer industry will reach 18.211 billion yuan.
III. Recommendations for Strengthening the Construction of Electrical Automation Engineering Control Systems
First, electrical automation can be integrated with the digitalization of the Earth. This concept incorporates innovative automation experiences, allowing vast amounts of relevant data to be aggregated into a coordinate system, ultimately creating an electrical automation digital earth. By storing all information in computers and connecting it to networks, people can access data from anywhere using geographical coordinates. Furthermore, cooperation between enterprises and relevant educational institutions can be strengthened. Enterprises can be encouraged to establish workshops and conduct technical production within specialized schools, creating learning-based production training bases. Teaching can also be conducted within enterprises, combining practical skills with theoretical learning. In addition, it is essential to connect with modern networks and actively utilize existing scientific and technological advancements. Professional training should be strengthened, and the level of research personnel should be improved.
With the development of science and technology and the progress of society, electrical automation control systems are being used more and more widely in real life. Analyzing the future trends of electrical automation systems is significant for further enhancing their contribution to social development, technological progress, and the improvement of people's living standards. In short, for electrical automation engineering control systems to achieve long-term development, they must continuously strengthen innovation, analyze market demands to meet increasingly higher industrial production requirements, and pay special attention to ensuring product safety performance. Strengthening talent cultivation, making research teams stronger, and enabling my country to join the ranks of the world's leading scientific and technological powers as soon as possible are also crucial.
IV. The instrument industry will develop towards multi-functionality and intelligence.
In recent years, due to increasing market demand and policy support, many international companies have entered the Chinese market, intensifying competition and significantly stimulating the development of my country's instrument industry. Customers in numerous application fields have placed higher demands on instrument products and require more advanced products to support production development. Looking at industry development: in the future, my country's microelectromechanical technology for instruments will become more mature; it will transition from single-function to multi-function; its level of intelligence will continue to increase; and it will incorporate more networking elements.
With the continuous development of science and technology, the instrumentation industry has also begun to keep pace with the information age and move towards a networked and intelligent era. Furthermore, the continuous advancement and expansion of computer and network technologies will drive the modern instrumentation industry towards building practical measurement and control systems based on PCs and workstations, thereby improving production efficiency and sharing information resources.
Experts have pointed out that there are four major development trends in my country's instrumentation industry in the future.
(I) With the continuous development, maturation, and price reduction of microelectromechanical technology, its application fields will continue to expand. Therefore, miniaturization is one of the future development trends of instrumentation. Miniature instruments will not only possess the functions of traditional instruments but will also play a unique role in automation technology, aerospace, military, biotechnology, and medical fields.
(II) In the future, instruments and meters will become more multifunctional. These multifunctional integrated products not only have higher performance (such as accuracy) than dedicated pulse generators and frequency synthesizers, but also provide better solutions for various testing functions.
(III) Artificial intelligence is a brand-new field of computer applications that utilizes computers to simulate human intelligence. Future instruments and meters will further develop, incorporating a certain degree of artificial intelligence, meaning they will replace some of the mental labor of humans, thus possessing certain abilities in vision, hearing, and thinking. The application of artificial intelligence in modern instruments and meters will enable us not only to solve problems that are difficult to solve using traditional methods, but also potentially solve problems that are fundamentally unsolvable using traditional methods.
(iv) With the rapid development of network technology, internet technology is gradually penetrating the fields of industrial control and intelligent instrumentation system design. In response to Germany's Industry 4.0 initiative, industrial automation instruments will achieve intelligent manufacturing and automatic control. In the future, the instrumentation industry will integrate ISP and EMIT technologies to achieve networking. The concept of networked instruments represents a breakthrough from the traditional concept of measuring instruments; the network is the concept of the instrument, accurately outlining the trend of instrument networking development.
According to the "2013-2017 China General Instrument Manufacturing Industry Development Analysis and Investment Research Report," my country's instrument and meter industry has made remarkable achievements in intelligent development in recent years, possessing broad development space and application prospects. It plays a significant role in strategic emerging industries, the Industrial Internet of Things, environmental protection and food safety, and cultural relic protection and inheritance. With the continuous introduction of favorable policies, the intelligent development of my country's instrument and meter industry will usher in new opportunities.
V. Development and Application of Industrial Automation Instruments
(I) Current Status of Industrial Automation Instrumentation Development
The development of new technologies such as computer technology, digital processing technology, network communication technology, and superconducting technology in my country has driven the development of industrial automation instruments. Industrial automation instruments are used to acquire, transform, store, transmit, process, and analyze information, and can control industrial production processes based on the processing results. Industrial automation instruments are mainly classified into several categories, including analytical instruments, temperature measuring instruments, recording instruments, and execution and control instruments.
Industrial automation instruments are currently developing towards intelligence, virtualization, networking, and digitalization. The current state of development of industrial automation instruments is characterized by the increasing demands placed on them by low-carbon economy and energy conservation and emission reduction as long-term national development strategies, as well as by new energy sources such as nuclear power and wind power. In my country, users still lack experience in using these instruments, and the integration of fieldbus and intelligent instruments is relatively limited.
my country's industrial automation instrumentation is still in its early stages of development. my country's automation instrumentation industry started late, has a weak foundation, and lags significantly behind foreign products. Chinese industrial automation instrumentation products face intense market competition, and their structural contradictions need to be addressed. The research and development process of my country's industrial automation instruments lacks innovation, and imported technologies are not being actively digested and transformed into domestic technologies. my country has not provided corresponding policy support for these industries. Some large enterprises, accustomed to using imported systems, are reluctant to adopt domestically produced systems. Adjustments to national equipment-related policies have brought about significant changes in industrial automation. Industrial automation instrumentation has also undergone new changes in the equipment manufacturing sector. Currently, my country has mastered core technologies in commonly used instruments such as temperature measuring instruments, display instruments, traditional flow meters, and pressure measuring instruments, and some products have been exported. However, their technological content is still relatively low, and high-end technologies are not yet mature. Corresponding products still need to be imported or rely on foreign investment for production. The following are images of industrial automation instruments in operation.
(II) Development Trends of Industrial Automation Instruments
With the development of new technologies such as computer technology, precision machinery technology, high-sealing technology, special processing technology, integration technology, nanotechnology, superconducting technology, network technology, laser technology, biotechnology, and thin-film technology in my country, the development speed of industrial automation instruments has been accelerated. In recent years, due to the popularization of computer science and microelectronics technology, the design concepts and structural concepts of industrial automation instruments have undergone tremendous changes. The development trends of industrial automation instruments mainly include the following aspects.
2.1 Intelligentization of Industrial Automation Instruments; Intelligentization of industrial automation instruments refers to the ability to complete predetermined control actions under program guidance by utilizing theories, technologies, and methods such as expert control and artificial intelligence. It possesses human-like intelligent functions such as self-learning, self-adaptation, and self-repair. Intelligentization is one of the main directions of development for industrial automation instruments. Intelligent industrial instruments employ microprocessor technology and very large-scale integrated circuits (VLSI), utilizing embedded software for coordinated operation to enable intelligent functions and control of industrial processes. Industrial automation instruments are based on microprocessors, containing dedicated signal processing circuitry and CPU chips. To realize the functions of industrial automation instruments, relevant software must be embedded. This software must be programmable. Currently, many new technologies are being widely applied to industrial automation instruments, such as embedded real-time operating systems (RTOS), digital signal processors (DSPs), large-capacity memory, 32-bit RISC processors, and conversion technologies. These new technologies have greatly promoted the development of industrial automation instruments.
2.2 Virtualization of Industrial Automation Instruments; Virtualized instruments refer to specialized software designed and defined by users on a general-purpose computer platform according to their own needs. The essence of industrial virtualized instruments is the full integration of computer software and hardware with traditional instrument hardware to realize and expand the functions of traditional industrial automation instruments. Virtualized instruments have significant advantages over traditional instruments in terms of performance-price ratio, processing power, operability, and intelligence, thus their application areas are very wide. Virtualized instruments fully utilize contemporary advanced technologies and products, and are generally composed of software and hardware. The software part of a virtualized instrument consists of a virtual instrument panel and device driver software. The virtual instrument communicates with the real instrument system through the driver software and can display controls corresponding to the operating elements of the real instrument panel on the instrument's display, allowing users to operate the virtual instrument panel using a mouse. The software part of the virtual instrument is the core of the virtual instrument; users can implement the various functions of the virtual instrument system by developing different software programs.
The hardware component of a virtualized instrument forms its foundation. Its main functions include acquiring, transmitting, and displaying the measured signals. Virtual instruments utilize a graphical user interface (GUI), which places basic requirements on the computer's memory, graphics card performance, and CPU performance. Additionally, virtual instruments utilize external testing equipment or internal expansion cards and related sensors, which together constitute the hardware system. The hardware of a virtualized instrument provides the working environment for data acquisition and processing. The combination of hardware and software completes the processes of data acquisition, display, and storage. With the development of computer hardware technology and digital signal processing, the future prospects for virtualized instruments are very promising. Open data acquisition standards will guide virtualized instruments towards generalization, standardization, modularization, and serialization. The application of digital signal processors and large-scale programmable logic devices will accelerate the application of virtualized instrument systems.
2.3 Networking of Industrial Automation Instruments; The 21st century is an era of networking, informatization, and intelligence. The application of fieldbus technology integrates field devices and automatic control systems into corresponding information networks, bringing development opportunities to industrial automation instruments, leading to the emergence of networked industrial automation instruments. The birth of new IP intelligent industrial automation instruments represents the development trend of control networks in the information age. Through the Internet and fieldbus, remote access to the system can be achieved, obtaining the real-time operating status of instruments, and data from remote instruments can be transmitted to other computers. Networked instruments involve modifying field instruments and secondary instruments distributed in the control room, adding industrial communication functions, and through embedded software modules, realizing integrated control and management functions for field measurement and industrial measurement.
VI. Overall Operation Status of Industrial Automation Instruments
China's instrumentation industry continues its golden age of development. According to the latest statistics from the China Instrument and Control Society, from February to July 2010, the industry's output value reached 108 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 29%; sales revenue reached 98.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 29.1%; and profits reached 6.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46.5%. It is predicted that the industry's growth rate for the entire year of 2010 will remain high, at least maintaining last year's pace, and may even exceed it by 3-5 percentage points. Thus, the instrumentation industry has maintained a high level of economic growth for six consecutive years.
There are two main reasons why the instrumentation industry's growth rate has not slowed down this year. First, the national economy remains at a high level; based on past experience, if GDP growth exceeds 15%, the instrumentation industry's growth rate is between 25% and 30%. Second, the impact of national macro-control policies on the instrumentation industry has a lag. Instruments are often delivered and put into use in the later stages of projects. Therefore, the reduced investment due to macro-control policies will not have a significant impact on the instrumentation industry this year.
Structure diagram of the proportion of automated instruments and meters in the national economy
Currently, the formulation and revision of national and industry standards for industrial automation instruments in my country are handled by the National Technical Committee on Standardization of Industrial Process Measurement and Control (SAC/TC124). Between 2001 and 2010, SAC/TC124 gradually built an industrial automation instrument standard system that suited my country's national conditions. It transformed a number of advanced and applicable international standards into Chinese national standards and machinery industry standards, while also making several Chinese proprietary technology standards official JEC international standards. As of October 2008, my country had 244 existing national standards and 225 industry standards for industrial automation instruments, with 296 national standard plans and 24 industry standard plans. The main international standards for industrial automation instruments are IEC/C65 (Industrial Process Measurement, Control and Automation) and ISO/TC30 (Measurement of Fluid Flow in Closed Pipelines), totaling 270 international standards. There are 204 related national standards in the field of industrial automation instruments, of which 143 adopt international standards. Eight advanced foreign standards are adopted, resulting in a related adoption rate of approximately 74%. Therefore, the overall operating status of the industrial automation instrumentation industry has attracted widespread attention.
With the development of society, economy, and science and technology, industrial automation instruments are used to acquire, transform, store, transmit, process, and analyze information, and to control industrial production processes based on the processing results. Industrial automation instruments mainly fall into several categories, including analytical instruments, temperature measuring instruments, recording instruments, and execution and control instruments. The development of new technologies such as computer technology, digital processing technology, network communication technology, and superconducting technology has driven the development of industrial automation instruments. Currently, industrial automation instruments are developing towards intelligence, virtualization, networking, and digitalization. The performance of industrial automation instruments themselves is undergoing fundamental changes, adding many new functions compared to traditional industrial instruments, and developing towards intelligence, virtualization, and networking.
VII. Future Development Potential of China's Automation Instrumentation Industry
Regarding the prospects for the scientific instrument industry in 2016, experts indicate that market demand will remain strong, and operating levels will continue to grow steadily, with an increase in the range of 10%-15%. Although issues such as cost and technology still exist, the market has great potential for future development due to improved technological innovation.
This development prospect is mainly reflected in:
7.1 Gradual Emphasis Attached by Various Regions
Major cities like Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing are the birthplace and concentration of my country's instrumentation industry, boasting favorable conditions and consistently ranking among the top. However, with changes in regional industrial structures and increased demand for instruments from various sectors, the production and sales volume in Beijing, Shanghai, and Chongqing declined somewhat in the first half of this year. Meanwhile, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Shandong provinces have surged ahead, surpassing Beijing and Shanghai in output value. Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces, with their large foreign investment and significant share of the instrumentation industry, have risen to first and second place nationwide. Meanwhile, private enterprises in Zhejiang are developing rapidly, forming regional industrial clusters. They possess both large-scale production of widely used products and high-tech industrialization models, ranking third in the country.
7.2 The product demand structure still needs adjustment.
While technological advancements and structural adjustments have made progress, two major shortcomings remain unresolved: firstly, there has been no breakthrough in the production of a large quantity of high-end scientific instruments; and secondly, the root causes of instrument reliability and stability issues have not been addressed.
The instrumentation industry encompasses a wide range of products. Industrial automation instruments and control systems maintained a higher growth rate than the overall industry average, with production and sales increasing by 34%. This reflects that my country is still in a period of rapid development in energy and heavy chemical industries. However, the growth rate was lower than in the first half of the year, indicating that structural adjustments in application areas have taken effect. With the increasing emphasis placed on environmental protection by the national government, the air quality in Chinese cities has improved year by year, and the compliance rate has increased annually. Therefore, environmental monitoring instruments saw a year-on-year growth of 40%, reflecting the growing demand for related instruments driven by environmental governance and energy conservation and emission reduction.
In addition, optical instruments, geological exploration and seismic instruments, and teaching instruments generally maintained the industry average growth rate. Electrical instruments, surveying instruments, experimental analysis instruments, nuclear measuring instruments, electronic measuring instruments, timing instruments, weighing instruments, and medical instruments saw growth rates lower than the industry average. For some of these products, demand was stable, production capacity was excessive, and there were significant technological gaps. The mid-to-high-end product market was dominated by imported products, indicating a clear structural adjustment.
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Author Biography : Li Dingchuan, male, Han nationality, born in Yibin City, Sichuan Province, with ancestral roots in northern China. Born in Sichuan on June 9, 1962. Graduated from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, majoring in Electronic Information Engineering in 1982. Currently serving as the Technical Director and Electronic Engineer of Sichuan Electric Automation Co., Ltd., a special correspondent for *Science in China*, and an outstanding correspondent for *Yibin Daily*. His publications include "The Use and Technical Characteristics of DLP Projectors" and "An Introduction to Broadband IP Video Structure" in *Practical Audio-Visual Technology* magazine; "The Application of FPGA in Automotive Electronics" in *Electrical Age* magazine; and the design and fabrication of electronic audio virtual production equipment.
