The Acronyms of Automation & Controls Engineering! #automation #engineering #robotics #electronics

I work in Automation and Controls Engineering, sometimes abbreviated ACE. And like every great field of engineering, there are way too many acronyms. Here are some of the most important ones that you should know about. First up, we have the PLC, or Programmable Logic Controller. This is the brain of the entire factory or automation system. Next up is the HMI, which stands for Human Machine Interface, and is basically the screen that allows you to control outputs and monitor input tags from your PLC. Next we have I.O., which stands for Inputs or Outputs, which can mean inputs like these proximity sensors or outputs like these motors. And closely related are I.O. cards, input and output cards, which can clip into your PLC and give you more input and output channels. Next up is a combo, so pay attention. A.I., A.O., D.I., D.O., Analog Input, Analog Output, Digital Input, Digital Output. These are the four most common types of signal. Digital inputs mean on or off signals like on-off proximity sensors, while digital outputs mean things like on-off pumps. But analog outputs could be variable speed pumps or motors or control valves, and analog inputs are varying range things like temperature, pressure, flow, things like that. Next up is the SCADA, or Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System, and it's similar to an HMI because it often provides lots of graphics and screens like this ignition software, but it also is an aggregate of data like Historian and SQL. It's also where you tie tons of PLCs and supervisory screens together, and it often has handshakes with higher-level enterprise systems like MES or ERP. Next up, MES and ERP, Enterprise Resource Planning and Manufacturing Execution Systems. These are honestly just the higher-level software tools that schedule things in plain resources that actually control all the way down to the plant floor, batch scheduling, and things like that. IOT, the Internet of Things, and IIOT, the Industrial Internet of Things, basically refers to smart devices that send some form of data that you can continuously monitor. SQL, Structured Query Language, is the language that allows you to insert and receive data back from database tools. MQTT, or Message Queuing Telemetry Transport, which is like one of the most lightweight ways that IOT data gets passed through systems. And the last ones we're going to cover all together, the NFPA, the NEC, the IEC, and the UL, the National Fire Protection Agency, the National Electrical Code, the Underwriters Laboratory, and the International Electrotechnical Committee, are kind of four agencies and bodies of work that tell you how to build control panels, how to list official control panels, how to program to certain standards, and set a lot of rules, regulations, and parameters for the field of automation and controls. If that felt like a lot, just remember acronyms seriously suck.