IEN: How can/will the sector answer industry demand for increased automation and flexibility?

Kulkarni: Automation and flexibility in a process plant are always facilitated by an in-house expert who knows the components of the system well enough to make changes on his / her own. As modern plants grow in size and complexity, they need these experts in the plant. It is definitely not feasible to have multiple experts for a single system; however it is possible that the system is so easy to understand that anyone familiar with it can make changes. There are four main ingredients for success in this scenario:

• The system and the programming environment behind it must be easy to understand and use.


• The system must be modular and scalable.


• Engineers should be able to buy off-the-shelf components from a different vendor and add to the system without any issues.


• There should be seamless data connectivity between the different components.

This sector can answer the industry demand for increased automation and flexibility by catering to the above requirements. I believe the key to increased automation and flexibility is software. A plant engineer's dream is to have a single software platform that would be used to create the HMI, do the analysis, monitor the process, write optimized control loops, deploy programs on a real-time operating system, and interface with all the hardware components of the system. Development of software platforms such as LabVIEW is a boon for engineers who want increased automation and flexibility.

IEN: Will distributed control architectures continue to displace centralized controls?

Kulkarni: Definitely. Supply chain optimization is a continuous process that cannot be achieved in a single day. Gone are the days when an automation plant did not change for 20 years after being set up. Today's competitive environment demands that processes be modified to suit market demand at regular intervals. The only way to achieve this is to have a very scalable and flexible system that can be easily modified by different engineers at different points in time without reinventing the wheel. Distributed control architectures provide this capability. Products like Compact FieldPoint provide, in a small form factor, a flexible, scalable, distributed control system that is easily reprogrammed even with complex analysis and control algorithms. A vision system can be talking to a real-time controller of the same form factor over Ethernet. With advances like these, distributed control architectures are definitely the right choice.

IEN: What innovations are in store for equipment, systems, peripherals, and software (MEMS, MST, Nano, etc.)?

Kulkarni: Cost effective, easy to use, high precision control systems are the products to watch out for in next generation applications like MEMS and nanotechnology. Nanonis recently developed a new control system for a scanning probe microscope (SPM) that uses LabVIEW-FPGA to react extremely quickly when the probe is about to strike an obstruction, saving them about $20,000 on developing the system using off-the-shelf components.

IEN: How much progress has been made in resolving software and hardware debugging issues? Documentation challenges? Installation headaches?

Kulkarni: The key to achieving software and hardware installation utopia is to have different vendors support common standards. Research should focus on making software platforms more open and supporting more off-the-shelf hardware.

IEN: What advances do you see in plant floor connectivity? Open standards? Data sharing?

Kulkarni: Open standards are definitely the key to success in improving plant floor connectivity. With so many standards floating around for plant floor connectivity -- Ethernet, DeviceNet, Fieldbus, CAN, serial, and wireless -- we cannot force a particular standard on the industry. It is the vendor's role to provide the necessary software connectivity tools so they can be used seamlessly. Open standards and National Instruments helped Daishowa America implement a closed loop control system using Fieldbus technology that incorporated device-based control products from several vendors.

IEN: Will embedded servers play more of a role in controls? Integrated development environments?

Kulkarni: With supply chain optimization becoming increasingly important, it is necessary that plant data be fed back to top management in real time so timely decisions are made. Embedded web servers are becoming a necessary feature for any control system. LabVIEW remote panels have been a major success and are used all over the industry to monitor and control a process remotely using just a web browser. The fact that the web server is integrated with the development environment for control gives the engineer the ability to host a web interface to his application with just a couple of clicks.

IEN: Where are other R & D hot spots?

Kulkarni: Smaller form factor, hardware and software based on open standards, plug and play hardware, integrated software environment that does it all, reconfigurable hardware.

IEN: What role will wireless play in control technology?

Kulkarni: Wireless plays an important role in any control application where installation of cable is costly or impossible. Typical applications such as wastewater management and factory automation include remote monitoring and control for moving platforms. Challenges like noise and line of sight needed are slowly being overcome by different wireless standards. In addition to radio modems, recent technologies like 802.11 and Bluetooth are perceived as a reliable form of communication.

IEN: Will embedded servers play more of a role in controls? Integrated development environments?

Kulkarni: Beyond the Internet-based control, control through web services based on .NET or mobile technology such as WAP are gaining ground. LabVIEW 7 Express includes seamless connectivity to .NET web services. Pee Suat Hoon at Singapore Polytechnic implemented a control application using WAP technology that enabled him to control a process through his cell phone.

IEN: How can companies maintain legacy equipment with advanced control technology, in the spirit of the lean enterprise?

Kulkarni: Maintaining legacy equipment with advanced control technology is what companies typically do. No company would wipe out an entire line of PLCs to implement intelligent FieldPoint controllers in the factory. The solution is to have legacy equipment run with modern controllers with open standards that platforms like LabVIEW provide.