Notes

Automation Pyramid
We will eventually come across the concept of the automation pyramid in the world of automation, either through a comment or a reference to different levels in the automation universe. Worst of all, these levels are numerical, but they always refer to some equipment, set of equipment, field devices, software, and everything else that makes up an automation system.
This is merely a reference to the organization of the devices and software that represent the automation system in the industrial organization in terms of their functions, capabilities, and interactions with other equipment and software in the production chain.
In this sense, the bottom of the pyramid is equipment that has direct contact with the production environment, while the top of the pyramid is software that prints reports and generates corporate data.
It is worth noting at this point that the pyramid also provides an understanding of the infrastructure requirements of the industrial network, as its interpretation allows us to understand the type and density of information that circulates at each level, as well as the data flow and interactions that occur between each other at the level of data communication networks.
This enables us to define the types of technology and systems that should be used at each level, as well as between them, to ensure compatibility and data security.

In general, the different layers of the automation pyramid are as follows:

Field Level-
Machines, equipment, devices, and plant components are at a high level. PLC has a low level of intelligence, but it can have sophisticated equipment that generates a large volume of data as well as equipment that generates a small amount of data individually. Because of this, the communication networks used here are very diverse, but generally have low bandwidth and relatively limited features, such as CAN, AS-i, Modbus, Profibus PA, and Fieldbus Foundation H1, and on rare occasions, Ethernet technology.

Control Level-
It is the level containing the equipment that automatically controls the plant's operations. To that end, it must be outfitted with intelligent equipment and devices that allow the automation guidelines for the control system, such as logic and activation conditions, to be implemented. As a result, the requirements for data communication are higher, and networks at this level are more sophisticated, employing protocols such as Profibus DP, DeviceNet, ControlNet, Modbus TCP, and EtherNet IP, which are faster and allow control systems to respond to field information in real-time.



Supervisory Level-
It's the level that's in charge of the process's supervision. It includes tools for remote control and monitoring, as well as a database for storing and querying historical system performance data. Because the solutions implemented at this level necessarily require a large and consistent volume of data, Ethernet-based protocols are widely used. At this level, it is also common to find protocol converters that use OPC technology to ensure collaboration between different systems.

Planning Level-
The responsibility at this level is to plan production and carry out supply control and logistics, which is accomplished by consolidating the data collected and stored at level 3, using tools such as MES and PIMS, which create more advanced reports than those made available by the supervision tools. Due to the large amount of data used by the software solutions available at this level, all information travels on high-performance Ethernet-based networks and is stored in databases.

Management Level-
Corporate management, the final layer of the automation pyramid, disconnects itself from factory tools and focuses on the administration of company resources, such as sales and resource management, with a focus on the financial results of the manufacturing process. As a result, these networks, which are entirely based on Ethernet technology, have little access to information and technical reports available at lower levels.

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