1. TOPICALITY OF THE SPECIALUTY
Congratulations! You live in an age of change that has never happened before. Up-to-date education that meets the challenges of nowadays – is the best investment!
Trends give us a clear picture of what specialists will be required in the near future. These are, first of all, engineers, experts, analysts in the field of production automation, who can see business value and how to ensure production of quality, attractive products. Extremely in demand will be people who are able to understand the transition from simply producing goods to providing services, joining these goods. Technical support of this service is the basis of financial success. And, of course, there will be a great demand for qualified specialists in operational technologies – people who know the smart production of the future, are familiar with IT technologies, and are able to combine them. We educate technical specialists who think in terms of business and enterprise values and are able to implement real software and hardware projects: in-demand specialists of the future!
The fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) involves the mass usage of digital technologies into production. Now, with the help of computer-aided design and robotic factories, it is possible to make a product with a wide range of properties at the price of ordinary serial, manufactured in old factories. This is the essence – customization for the needs of a particular client and the creation of digital services. And to make this possible – you need to automate the whole process of creating a product.
Industry 4.0 is a modern age of innovation, when advanced technologies are radically changing entire sectors of the economy at an extremely rapid pace. There is a completely new type of industrial production, based on full automation, augmented and virtual reality technologies, big data analytics, the Internet of Things. It is seen as a challenge and a new opportunity for every developing country.
Lecturers, scientists and students of ATEP theoretically and practically support the ideas of Industrial Revolution 4.0 and Computer Science, purposefully promote their implementation in the educational process.
2. INDUSTRY 4.0 AND TOPICAL DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES
The first industrial revolution was the steam engine and mechanized manufacturing.
The second industrial revolution was electrification and mass conveyor production.
The third industrial revolution was the computerization of production.
The fourth industrial revolution (well known as Industry 4.0) – cybernetization and internetization of industrial and domestic technologies. Industry 4.0 – the practical implementation of the digital economy. The digital economy is the economy of informatization, automation and robotics (the main trend of the 5th industrial revolution). Digitalization of the enterprise – the meaning of Industry 4.0. Digital enterprise – the subject of Industry 4.0.
The subjects (agents) of the digital economy are distributed cyber-physical systems (CFS) that interact. CFS is an interactive network of physical and computing components that are designed and function as a whole. Examples of CFS – automated technological complexes (technological units and industrial productions controlled by automated control systems), smart devices and works. CFS is an actor (implements the object management algorithm) and a communicator (implements data exchange). It is modern data processing technologies, rather than complex internal algorithms and mathematics, that make CFS an active agent and communicator of the digital economy.
Horizontal and vertical integration of operational (and information) technologies of the enterprise – the content of Industry 4.0.
Digital technologies as a platform of operational and information technologies is the tools of Industry 4.0.
Digital technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution:
- IoT – Internet of Things – a computer network (now – the Internet) of intelligent physical units (CFS), equipped with built-in technologies for interaction with each other or with the external environment. Protocols OPC-UA, MQTT, ODATA as a universal Internet communication. HTML5 browser as HTML5 RDP Client. SQL-DBMS and NoSQL-DBMS as data archivers. JavaScript as a universal MP for client, server and script (in cloud SCADA) applications. Built-in systems and RF systems. Automatic (subject-oriented) programming as a paradigm for programming smart devices (subjects of the Internet of Things). Sensor networks (motes, gateways, ZigBee protocol). Theory of Event-driven Control in Control Theory.
- Cloud Computing & Edge Devices – Cloud Computing and Edge Devices – Internet client-server architecture. Cloud data archiving. Cloud collective project development. Cloud monitoring of CFS (Read-Only mode). Real-time cloud control. Virtualization. Reservation. Boundary devices – data concentration, aggregation of raw data, integration of local HMI functions.
- Machine Learning – automated machine learning. Inductive learning = adaptive control + neural networks + fuzzy logic.
- Predictive Maintenance. Deductive learning = expert analysis + issuance of recommendations + performance monitoring.
- Information Modeling – information modeling (historically from 3D-modeling of buildings). Simulation (software) modeling of ATC (before installation and commissioning, then for modernization). Digital Twins. Augmented Reality. Note. 4PR digital technologies are Data Science technologies (big data) data exchange; data manipulation).
3. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN OUR SPECIALTY
Students of the ATEP department start learning programming from the 1st year: from the very beginning we learn how to think correctly by solving practical tasks, composing algorithms and implementing them in the most popular programming languages.
Having mastered the basic principles of C ++, students move (in the 2nd year) to study C#, which allows you to create modern commercial software products on the Microsoft platform. We also pay attention to the databases: students master the principles of proper data storage architecture, get acquainted with relational databases MS SQL, MySQL, SQLite and the most popular document-oriented MongoDB.
Third-year students begin to study WEB-technologies: get acquainted with the basic principles of HTML, CSS and the most popular programming WEB-sites language – Javascript, including the Vue.Js framework.
The combination of algorithms knowledge, programming languages and databases gives students the opportunity after the 4th year to try themselves in commercial software development.
Knowledge of IT at our department is successfully combined with industrial information systems like SCADA and MES, that are used for production management in enterprises. Understanding of production and management processes, business process automation skills make our graduates well-trained specialists in the IT and IoT job market.
4. Definition and general characteristics of the cyber-energy system
Cyber-energy systems (CES) are digitalized (automated and computerized) thermal power units, production and enterprises in energy and industry. The energy cyber-physical system is a “smart” unit, a “smart” production, a “smart” enterprise.
Industrial CES automatically generate, convert, distribute and consume different types of energy – thermal, electrical, mechanical. Examples of CES in Ukraine and in the world are smart energy production, smart production in the metallurgical, chemical, construction, food industries, smart electrical and thermal networks (Smart Grid, Smart Thermal Grids), smart houses (Smart Buildings), industrial Internet of Things (IoT).
Physical (industrial facilities) and embedded computing (cybernetic) components of CES are deeply integrated on the basis of data exchange networks, internet technologies, cloud computing. CES consists of a technological control object (unit, production, enterprise) and an automated control system (ACS).
Software and hardware platform of modern CES – operational technologies that combine classic automation solutions and current information technology.
Engineering in industrial automation
- PCS – Process control systems. Automation of technological processes in industry (metallurgy, glass production, industrial furnaces), large energy (steam boilers, turbines, auxiliary equipment), small energy (boilers, heating stations), engineering systems of buildings (heating and hot water supply; management of pumping stations; air conditioning and ventilation systems). Automation of industrial continuous and discrete processes. Technological control object (TCO) – physics of technological processes, identification and mathematical modeling.
- MES – Manufacturing executing systems. Automation of production in industry, energy and engineering systems. MES tasks according to ISA-95 / MESA-11 standards: MES Performance (accounting of down-times of equipment and calculation of OEE productivity); MES Operations (information support and genealogy; formation, implementation and control of shift-daily tasks and schedules; calculation of technical and economic indicators KPI): MES Quality (certification of equipment; quality control and standards). ISA-88 standard – automation of industrial batch processes (batch-processing / batch-control).
- SHCAT – Software and hardware complexes of automation tools of industrial control systems. The structure of the integrated ACS of the enterprise according to the ISA-95 standard (IO – PCS – MES – ERP – BI). Two-level structure of ACS (lower level – regulation – control automation; upper level – scheduling – supervisory automation). Three-level structure of SHCAT (level of controllers; level of software servers; level of software clients). PLC. HMI/SCADA systems. Industrial field buses. Industrial information buses. Automated technological complex (ATC = TCO + ACS) as a cyber-physical system (CPS). The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and the Internet of Things (IoT) in industrial automation is the concept of a smart (digitalized) enterprise. Cloud architecture “ground – fog – cloud” of ATC/CPS in industrial IoT and in industrial cloud computing. Implementation of cyber security in industrial control systems as hot redundancy, duplication and replication of software and hardware solutions.
- Programming in ACS. PLC programming. Programming of tasks of program-logical control, continuous PID-regulation, movement control, operator interface (local HMI). Implementation of machine learning (element of 4IR) as adaptive and autotuning PID-regulation loops. Programming of HMI/SCADA systems. Programming of data exchange, visualization, alarming, archiving, scripting, reporting. Implementation of predictive maintenance (element of 4IR) as consolidated analytical reporting. Implementation of PLC – PLC – HMI/SCADA data exchange. Protocols OPC-UA, MQTT, ODATA, ModBus in industrial IoT architecture “ground – fog – cloud”.
5. IM ATC – Imitation modeling of automated technological complexes (ATC = TCO + ACS). Simulation of industrial ATC = software modeling of TCO + implementation of controller regulation + implementation of HMI/SCADA-system. Software modeling of TCO – in the computer mathematics system (CMS), for example MatLab, or directly in the PLC. Imitation SIL-modeling – using of softPLC or PLC simulator. Imitation HIL-modeling – using of real PLC (hardPLC). Performing a complex engineering calculation of SHCAT before modeling (sensors and measuring channels; technical reliability; dynamics; actuators and control valves; technical and economic efficiency). Comparative analysis of the operation of TCO before and after automation (based on the statistical hypothesis of the reliability of the results). Creation of the library of ATC simulation models in industry, energy and engineering systems.
5. Operational technologies of cyber-physical systems
Operational technologies are modern technologies of automation of technological processes, industrial productions and enterprises on the basis of digital technologies.
Operational technologies of enterprise digitalization
- Automation of an industrial enterprise on the basis of classical and modern ACS – PCS, MES, ERP/BI and BPMS.
- Algorithmization and modeling of cyber-physical systems (CPS) based on the theory of automatic control (object identification, analysis and synthesis of automatic control systems, PID-regulation, fuzzy-regulation, neuro-regulation, adaptive control) and modern methods of Data Science (digital twins, machine learning, predictive maintenance, virtual and augmented reality – VR/AR).
- Software and hardware of the controller (lower) level of modern ACS on the platform of programmable logic controllers (PLC), human-machine interface (HMI) stations, edge devices, intelligent sensors and actuators (RTU).
- Software and hardware of the supervisory (upper) level of ACS on the platform of systems of automation and dispatching of technological (SCADA), production (MES) and business processes (BPMS), systems of industrial business analytics (business intelligence – BI).
- Modern network technologies of data exchange, cloud technologies, sensor networks, industrial IoT.
6. Means and tools of functional and information security – cybersecurity.
6. PRAGMATISM OF THE SPECIALTY
What is essential and important in our specialty? The answer is the pragmatism of our specialty, which is a constant optimal combination of classics and modernity. This is reflected in the title – “Automation and computer-integrated technologies”.
Automation of technological objects is an engineering classic. The basis of our specialty is the automation of thermal energy processes. Heat and mass transfer processes are the basis of all industrial technological processes and productions. Automation is a prerequisite for efficient and trouble-free operation of thermal power units (technological control facilities – TCF).
ACS of TP – software and hardware complex, which is a tool of the operator-technologist in the control of TCF. ACS transforms TCF into ATC – the automated technological complex which is operated by the person or functions desolately. Modern ATC is a computer-integrated technology – a cyber-physical system that uses modern computer technology (programming, Internet, databases). ATC as a computer-integrated technology is the technological modernity of our specialty.
ATC as a cyber-physical system is the core of the fourth industrial revolution, which is powerfully unfolding before our eyes in post-industrial countries. Fully automated (ie even automatic and robotic) “smart” enterprise – the basis of the new Industry 4.0. Industrial Revolution 4.0 tools include computerization, programming, control internetization (Internet of Things & Internet of Services), as well as modern microprocessor technical means of control.
Our specialty is always not young or old, but mature, as it optimally combines classic automation and modern control technologies. Automation will be needed everywhere and always, because without it, technological facilities cannot function. Automation is the control of a technological process by a person. Yesterday the control tools, ie automation, were regulators and relays. Today – computers and controllers, programming and network technology. Tomorrow, perhaps, – expert systems and machine vision. But it will always be automation with the use of modern tools, which you, if you graduate from the department of ATEP, will be professionally owned. The pragmatism of the choice of our specialty is that:
- first, our specialists will always find a job in any enterprise of energy, metallurgy, chemical industries, construction, industrial and civil organizations, etc.;
- secondly, this work will always be interesting, as it will always be modern in its tools;
- thirdly, our specialists will be able to work successfully in any other and most modern industries, as they theoretically and practically have modern computer technology.