IEC 61499 is a standard for modelling distributed control systems for use in industrial automation, and is already having an impact on the design and implementation of industrial control systems that involve the integration of programmable logic controllers, intelligent devices and sensors. Modelling Control Systems Using IEC 61499. 2nd Edition provides a concise and yet thorough introduction to the main concepts and models defined in the standard. Topics covered include defining applications, systems, distributing applications on the system's devices, function blocks, structuring applications, service interface function blocks, event function blocks, and examples of industrial applications. This second edition has been significantly updated to reflect the current second release of IEC 61499, including changes in the function block model, its execution, and the newly standardized XML exchange format for model artefacts, and to reflect lessons learned from the author's teaching of IEC 61499 over the last ten years. This book will be of interest to research-led control and process engineers and students working in fields that require complex control systems using networked based distributed control.

Alois Zoitl leads the Industrial Automations research group at the research institute fortiss in Munich, Germany. He has conducted several research projects on distributed adaptive automation systems and has given lectures and consulted on IEC 61499 for more than ten years. He is co-author of more than 100 publications and the co-inventor of 4 patents. Dr. Zoitl is a founding member of the open source initiatives 4DIAC and OpENer. He is a member of the PLCopen user organization, consultant for CAN in Automation as well as the IEC SC65B/WG15 for the distributed automation standard IEC 61499.