Schneider Electric Launches Universal Automation Discovery Packs to Foster Industrial Innovation

Schneider Electric launched their Universal Automation Discovery Packs program in the U.S., giving users the opportunity to explore the value of universal automation. Through this Universal Automation program, experts from many aspects of the industry, including OEMs, system integrators, end users, distributors, academics, and others can receive a free license to explore this next-generation automation system for themselves. Universal automation is a disruptive technology based on the IEC61499 standard for interoperability and portability that decouples hardware and software by addressing one of the industry’s largest challenges to innovation, which is single-vendor lock-in. By having the opportunity to explore this new technology before leveraging it for commercial projects, users can better understand how the platform can support their organizational goals and help to improve operational efficiency. Universal Automation Discovery Packs are for non-commercial use, enabling users to experience the benefits of universal automation while testing the interoperability and portability of Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Automation Expert system with compatible 3rd party hardware. Available on both Microsoft- and Linux-based machines, the plug-and-produce automation software components are based on IEC61499, an industry standard that helps to define high-level system design language for distributed Industrial Control Systems (ICS). Adoption of an IEC61499-based automation layer common across vendors has major potential for modernization across industries.