Using Tool Support to Visualize and Interact with IEC 61499 Control Software

The field of industrial automation has witnessed a significant increase in software development and maintenance efforts in recent years. This can be attributed to the demand for shorter product life cycles and customized products, leading to increasingly complex applications. As a result, control software engineers are facing new challenges. In this paper, we present our tool for visualizing industrial automation software. It provides engineers with a unique perspective on their large-scale applications. The tool offers several benefits, including convenient tracing of control and information flow across multiple levels of hierarchy, applying metrics to the visualization, and various interaction methods. The tool is tightly integrated into an existing IDE, providing a unique workflow for software analysis and maintenance. We discuss the experiences of engineers of our industry partner, who have been using the tool, and next steps.