Factory automation systems: Evolution and trends

The paper mainly presents the evolution of factory automation and the trends for the next generation factory automation systems, i.e., open systems. Along the dimension of open architecture, it discusses some standardized methodologies involving Linux open source operating system, platform independent Java programming language, systematic object-oriented software engineering, Web-based information publishing, virtual instrument based system configuration, distributed and embedded real-time systems, etc. and their applications in factory automation systems. The resulting open systems are capable of keeping up with the evolving requirements in automation industry and it is expected that the strict use of standards would bring benefits to enterprises in the long sight.