Glossary · Automation fundamentals, platforms and components
Automation system
German: Automatisierungssystem
In industrial automation, an automation system is the combination of hardware and software, such as controllers, I/O, networks, HMIs and engineering tools, that monitors and controls a machine or process.
- Automation components
In one sentence
An automation system combines controllers, I/O, networks, HMIs and software to monitor and control a machine or process.
Example
The automation system of a packaging machine consists of a PLC, distributed I/O, servo drives, a touch panel and the engineering project that ties them together.
How it applies
- Engineering: The automation system is designed as a whole: controller performance, I/O count, network topology, HMI concept and software structure must fit the machine's functions.
- Commissioning: Commissioning tests the automation system against the functional specification, including interfaces to higher-level systems.
- Documentation: A system description should list the components, their versions and firmware, the network architecture and the software modules. This baseline supports maintenance, spare parts and change control.
Automation system vs. control system
In practice the terms overlap. Control system often emphasizes the control function, including safety-related parts; automation system emphasizes the complete technical platform with HMI, networking and engineering tools. Define the System boundary explicitly in project documents so both terms point to the same scope.