Industrial and building networking for automation: a laboratory-based course for every E&C engineering department

Data are the key to information, information provides knowledge and knowledge drives action. This, generally valid, idea has been applied in the majority of industrial systems via the so-called industrial communication technology. This paper describes the subject of industrial and building networking by means of a laboratory-based course developed at the University of Patras - Greece. The course contains the main laboratory components that solidify the basic concepts of factory and building automation based on networking. The philosophy and pedagogical features of the course are first described, followed by the subject of the lecture and the laboratory practice.