Developing modular reusable IEC 61499 control applications with 4DIAC

A higher flexibility and adaptability in industrial automation systems is an important requirement which has to be addressed in industrial systems today. New software architectures for the corresponding control environments allowing to develop modular and reusable code, are necessary. The IEC 61499 standard was especially developed for distributed industrial automation systems addressing such needs but its realization and the provision of corresponding software tools can be cost intensive. Using open source developments can provide helpful benefits. This paper therefore investigates the usage of the IEC 61499 compliant open source environment 4DIAC for developing modular and reusable control code. Moreover, future improvements are identified in order to enhance its usability for industrial automation applications.