SCADA
What it is
SCADA can be part of an industrial control system, energy management system, environmental monitoring system, scientific experiment, building automation, and more.Dispatch control and data collection are the primary and most promising methods for automated management of complex dynamic systems or processes in critical and safety-critical areas. Large-scale automated systems in industries, energy sectors, transportation, aerospace, defense, and various government structures are built on the principles of dispatch control.
Thus, SCADA systems are used in all sectors of the economy where real-time operator control of technological processes is required. This software is installed on computers and controllers and uses input-output drivers or OPC/DDE servers for communication with the object.
- Data exchange with "object communication units" (i.e. industrial controllers and input/output boards) in real-time through drivers.
- Real-time data processing.
- Logical control.
- Displaying information on the monitor screen in a convenient and understandable format for humans.
- Maintaining a real-time database with technological information.
- Alarm signaling and management of alarm messages.
- Preparation and generation of reports on the progress of the technological process.
- Network interaction between SCADA PCs.
- Ensuring communication with external applications (database management systems, electronic spreadsheets, word processors, etc.). In enterprise management systems, such applications are often referred to as MES-level applications.
- Drivers or input-output servers being programs providing communication between SCADA and industrial controllers, meters, ADCs, and other input-output devices.
- Real-time system being a program that processes data within a specified time cycle, taking into account priorities.
- Human-Machine Interface (HMI) being a tool that presents process data to the operator, allowing them to monitor and control the process, i.e. a program editor used to develop the human-machine interface.
- Logical control system being a program that executes user programs (scripts) for logic control in the SCADA system. A set of editors is used to develop these programs.
- Real-time database being a program that provides real-time storage of process history.
- Alarm management system being a program that provides automatic control of technological events, categorizing them as normal, warning, or alarm events, and ensures processing of events by the operator or computer.
- Report generator being a program that creates user reports on technological events, with a set of editors used to develop such reports.
- External interfaces being standard data exchange interfaces between SCADA and other applications. Usually OPC, DDE, ODBC, DLL, etc.
- the SCADA process is used in systems where the presence of a human (operator, dispatcher) is essential.
- the SCADA process was developed for systems where any improper intervention can lead to failure (loss) of the control object or even catastrophic consequences.
- the operator generally bears overall responsibility for managing the system, which, under normal conditions, only occasionally requires parameter adjustments to achieve optimal performance.
- active operator involvement in the control process occurs infrequently and at unpredictable times, usually in the event of critical incidents (failures, emergencies, etc.).
- the actions of the operator in critical situations may be rigidly time-limited, lasting only a few minutes or even seconds.