Siemens launches integrated automation 'framework'

London – Siemens Industry Automation and Drive Technologies is claiming an “industry first’” for its new automation framework, which is said to significantly reduce the time, money and effort required to get new products into the marketplace.

The claim concerns a new software engineering framework, called the Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) Portal. This is designed to enable users to develop and commission automation systems more quickly and intuitively than via the traditional integration of separate software packages.

Significantly, the framework will be the basis of all future software engineering packages for configuring, programming and commissioning automation and drives products within the TIA portfolio from Siemens.

As an integral component of all software engineering packages from Siemens, the TIA Portal framework is structured to provide shared services across all the configuration interfaces. This, said the company, will ensure uniform navigation for the user and consistent system behavior.

All devices and networks in any automation system can, therefore, be configured within one shared device and network editor. Project navigation, library concepts, data management, project storage, diagnostics and online functions are standard features and made available to the user in the shared TIA Portal framework.

All data management for controller parameters, blocks, tags or messages now only need to be entered once - saving significant time and cost for software engineering on an automation project.

The TIA Portal design is based on advanced object-oriented software architecture and centralised data management. Users can find data and programme blocks across the entire automation project using a project-wide cross-reference system: reducing the time to troubleshoot and debug software.

The single software framework will enable all Siemens’ Programmable Controllers, HMI operator panels and drives to be configured in the same development environment. This, calims the company, greatly reduces interfacing and configuration costs for the common tasks of communications setup between controllers, drives and HMI devices.

For example, it said, the user can drag and drop a tag from a programmable controller - such as the signal of an I/O (input/output) module - to the screen of an HMI device. The tag is instantly assigned within the HMI and a controller-HMI connection is created automatically in the background with no manual configuration required.

The new Simatic WinCC V11 engineering software is also based on the new TIA Portal framework. This includes configuration of machine-level applications using HMI operator panels with support for current Simatic TP and MP model panels, support for the new Simatic HMI Comfort Panels, and for larger PC-based SCADA process visualisation systems.

Configuration and commissioning of the Sinamics inverter drive family is planned in future TIA Portal enhancements.

The new framework offers significant advantages in terms of operational efficiency gains and cost reductions to support modern automation and drive technology applications, believes Simon Keogh for Siemens Industry Automation and Drive Technologies.

“The TIA Portal is redefining how users can approach tasks and is a major step towards a state of simultaneous engineering - a position which will provide companies with faster product turnaround, increased competitiveness and help them address their future market demands,” said Keogh.