Modern user interface revolutionizes supervisory systems

Workstation-based full-graphics technology has fundamentally changed the nature of computerized energy control systems. The proliferation of standards based workstations created an environment that enabled SCADA data to be opened up to an expanded user community within the corporation. Workstation technology has been essential to the emergence of distributed computer system architectures. The existence of UI (user interface) standards has given impetus to independent application specialists to develop products in their chosen area of expertise; the standards have, in effect, created a market for third-party software. This article updates a chapter of the IEEE tutorial ´Fundamentals of Supervisory Systems´, which summarized UI architectures and the functionalities typically achieved through the SCADA system´s UI facilities. The article briefly describes features of a modern control center´s graphical UI and explores some of the ways in which the new technology is being used in everyday operations.<>