At the 2023 Hannover Industrial Fair, the Open Automation Organization UAO (UniversalAutomation.org) demonstrated a revolutionary next-generation open automation platform, which runs the same automation application on multiple hardware devices independently of the manufacturer, and lays the foundation for the seamless integration of IT information technology and OT operation technology with a portable, interoperable, hardware-software separated, plug-and-play automation system, helping to unleash the full potential of Industry 4.0. At the same time, UAO also welcomed many new members, including two Chinese companies.

As one of the first industry pioneers to join UAO, Schneider Electric has been committed to creating a new era of open collaboration, and continues to promote the development of next-generation industrial automation with its expert experience in digital transformation in energy management and automation.

The industrial operations field is undergoing a thorough transformation, and it is urgently needed to make full use of cutting-edge technologies such as machine learning, augmented reality, real-time analysis and the Internet of Things, just like the IT field, to bring about a step-by-step improvement in performance, agility and sustainability. However, closed and proprietary automation limits the widespread application of new technologies, slows down the pace of innovation, hinders the integration of third-party components, and keeps upgrade and maintenance costs high. The shared runtime advocated by Schneider Electric and UAO is changing all this.

UAO was founded in 2021 and is an independent non-profit association that promotes the reference implementation of industrial-grade runtime based on the IEC61499 open standard by sharing source code. Its members include industrial and information manufacturers, integrators, end users and academic institutions including Schneider Electric. Currently, there are more than 40 member units including 4 domestic institutions.

Schneider Electric and UAO are committed to promoting the concepts of standardization, openness and universality, helping members of the organization to innovate and create interoperable solutions, thereby promoting sustainable and lasting positive changes in our industry. This way of sharing code can ensure that the runtime of the platforms provided by all manufacturers is exactly the same, and maximize the universality, consistency, compatibility and high quality of the software, greatly speeding up the speed of manufacturers developing products and bringing them to market, and reducing the cost of user development and maintenance of applications.

EcoStruxure Open Automation Platform launched by Schneider Electric is the first open automation system based on UAO shared runtime launched by UAO members. It has been upgraded to V23.0 at this year’s Hannover. UAO also demonstrated a series of products based on UAO runtime at Hannover. By using a shared runtime based on the IEC61499 open standard, software becomes a portable asset, enabling industrial control systems to be modeled and developed as a single integrated system, and can also be deployed as a distributed system, thereby shortening design and debugging time, improving operational efficiency, and increasing productivity, achieving “plug and play”.

Wang Yong, Asia Pacific representative of UAO, said: “The open automation promoted by UAO is a unified universal platform that does not rely on specific hardware. It will greatly shorten engineering time and reduce the total cost of ownership of end users. The benefits of end users adopting a universal automation platform will greatly accelerate the development of the UAO platform. At present, three UAO members in China are developing products based on shared runtimes, and we look forward to the launch of more open automation products. The latest version of IEC 61499 has been transformed into a Chinese national standard and officially implemented in 2022, which will also promote the promotion and use of UAO.”

The digital transformation of the entire industrial chain requires an open ecosystem, and the development and growth of the open ecosystem requires the participation of more companies. As more manufacturers, system integrators, users and research institutions committed to open automation join the open automation organization UAO, the entire automation field will usher in a thorough revolution, providing important support for thousands of industries to improve resilience, efficiency and sustainability, and work together for the future of industry.
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