Shop-floor communication with OSACA-compliant controllers

The ESPRIT framework within the EC had given a chance for a European consortium to develop a model for the new generation of open controls, that could be used for advanced manufacturing environment. The OSACA consortium (the name OSACA stands for: Open System Architecture for Controls within Automation Systems) had developed the methodology and the technology to build such open controllers. Within the 4th framework, the EC has launched a continuation project, named IDAS-OSACA, to help the dissemination process for the results achieved previously by the consortium. The article gives a summary on the external (superior and inferior) communication means applied with the OSACA controllers. The authors have prepared the article based on their review on the former OSACA project deliverables