SIs will co-develop open controls suite

Control engineers and systems integrators are joining forces in the US to provide equipment manufacturers with a set of open, modular control components that can be mixed and matched to perform a variety of motion control, data acquisition and process control applications.

Two organisations - Control.com, an online community for control professionals, and the Control System Integrators Association, representing the interests of SIs - will work together to produce the open controls suite.

Control.com and the CSIA also plan to develop a new Web community, including technical discussion areas where SIs can ask and answer questions and share their expertise on topics such as PLCs, HMI software, and motion control.

The new, open control technology, including hardware, software and compatibility testing, will be developed in conjunction with Control.com`s Open Control Laboratory. CSIA members will provide applications-level development, on-site installation and support.