Intuitive control engineering for mechatronic components in distributed automation systems based on the reference model of IEC 61499

Current research on mechatronic engineering focuses mainly on engineering methodologies. This paper presents a new architecture based on the reference model of IEC 61499. This architecture includes both, the engineering view of a device represented by its services and their representation within the control application as function blocks that are used within the whole distributed automation system. The services of a mechatronic component are its special functionalities, for instance motion in the case of a linear servo drive. The direct relation between services and IEC 61499 function blocks enables simple and intuitive control engineering for the user. In this paper the usage of this novel integrated approach is demonstrated by the example of a linear axis. Each movement of the axis corresponds to a certain function block. The control application itself is modeled by associating the motion sequence with the services encapsulated in function blocks. The embedded control platform of the mechatronic component executes the application control logic and each device within the network is able to access the services of a certain mechatronic component. Therefore device vendors are able to enhance their products by integrating their special intellectual property. The users can access the functionality of the mechatronic components without regard to its implementation details.