Frequently Asked Questions

Browse through these Frequently Asked Questions to find answers about UniversalAutomation.org

About UniversalAutomation.org

Who are the UniversalAutomation.org members? How they benefit?

UniversalAutomation.org current members include a diverse group of industrial leaders and pioneers – including hardware & software technologyvendors, end users, systems integrators, OEMs, start-ups and higher education institutions.

Members develop and adopt the next generation of universal automation solutions — software components that bring unique values to users, based on the IEC 61499 standard. They also increment a shared runtime and champion its use. Members have access and the ability to shape the runtime implementation.

Applications for membership are open to all, everyone is encouraged to join.

>> Current list of members

What does UniversalAutomation.org aim to accomplish?

UniversalAutomation.org has been formed by a diverse group of industrial leaders and pioneers who have joined together to advance the world of industrial automation.

For the first time, hardware & software technology vendors, end users, systems integrators, OEMs, start-ups and higher education institutions will share a common automation software layer across their products and solutions—regardless of brand. This new level of shared technology provides the basis for an ecosystem of portable, interoperable, “plug and produce” solutions and creates an entirely new category within industrial automation.

UniversalAutomation.org members will develop interoperable and portable automation software – based on the IEC 61499 standard – that can run with almost any hardware, creating an entirely vendor-agnostic ecosystem for automation software development. By merging both the information technology and operational technology worlds and sharing a technology reference implementation, the organization seeks to unleash the full potential of Industry 4.0.

Why is UniversalAutomation.org needed now?

Current industrial automation system architecture has done a good job of advancing industry to where we are today. However, “open automation” as it exists today is not enough. Industry-wide adoption of universal automation will ensure next-generation software applications are interoperable and portable.

We have already seen other industries thrive from adopting interoperability, including the IT, energy, and telecoms spaces, and the time is now to ensure we don’t stay behind. Our industry has long been on the edge of disruption, attempting to fulfil the promise of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Today, the current health emergency along with ever-changing global market dynamics have underlined the need for resilience and agility, which can only come from digitization that includes interoperable industrial automation applications. It is time to embrace interoperability and abandon proprietary systems to meet today’s and tomorrow’s demands. We intend to give industrial enterprises the ability to choose best-of-breed solutions that suit their unique needs and effectively address modern challenges.

Today, we must come together and innovate to drive sustainable and long-lasting positive change for our industries.

What is the difference between UniversalAutomation.org and other industrial standardization bodies?

UniversalAutomation.org is a complementary partner to the other initiatives aiming at a more open automation world.

UniversalAutomation.org is not creating a new standard. UniversalAutomation.org is managing a reference runtime implementation of the IEC 61499 standard on a shared source basis.

Both UniversalAutomation.org and the OPC Foundation promote interoperability. What is the difference?

The IEC 61499 standard defines interoperability at the application level and does not specify any communication protocol.

The IEC 61499 runtime shared by UniversalAutomation.org already has an OPC UA stack implemented. The initiatives of UniversalAutomation.org and the OPC Foundation are complementary.

What is interoperability at the application level?

IEC 61499 allows one or multiple applications to be run on one resource/device or distributed to multiple resource/devices.

If an application is split and distributed to multiple resource/devices, all cross communications between the application’s FB’s on different resources/devices are automatically re-created & managed by the UAO runtime. This is what we mean by application interoperability – the ability to split connected FB’s in an application and have them interoperate across the different resource/devices to which they are distributed.

UniversalAutomation.org is a standardization organization?

UniversalAutomation.org is not a standardization organization but is sharing a reference implementation of a runtime execution engine based on the IEC 61499 standard.

Not every company can join UniversalAutomation.org?

Every company, academia, institutes and start up can apply to join the non -profit association UniversalAutomation.org

UniversalAutomation.org has its own IDE that it provides to its members?

UAO does not have its own IDE, but can support vendors with the developments of their own IDE providing a IEC 61499 compliance profile.

UniversalAutomation.org is a keeper and promoter of IEC 61499 standard?

UAO is sharing a reference implementation of IEC 61499 standard accelerating and promoting the use of the standard. The standard is maintained and managed by a dedicated IEC steering committee.

UniversalAutomation.org is an accelerator of IEC 61499 standard implementation and adoption?

UAO accelerates the implementation and adoption of the IEC 61499 standard though a shared source model of the reference implementation.

Academics

I come from academics and want to teach IEC 61499, how to get access to a curriculum to do it?

Academic Partners can access the IEC 61499 Curriculum developed by UniversalAutomation.org. For more details, please visit: Academic Partners with IEC 61499 Curriculum

Academic members can join UniversalAutomation.org and Contribute

Academic members can contribute to the runtime development, curriculum content, encourage students to create application examples and collaborate with industries for joined projects.

UniversalAutomation.org supports Academics to teach IEC 61499?

UAO developed a full turn-key IEC 61499 curriculum that Academics worldwide have been implementing.
For a comprehensive overview of the IEC 61499 standard, please refer to the Curriculum available on the UAO Portal.

UniversalAutomation.org empowers Academics to exchange about the technology and teaching experience?

Academics can exchange between themselves but also with industries using the UAO community meetings and regular events organized by the association.

Academics involved into IEC 61499 activities are not promoted?

On the UAO website, you can find the list of UAO Academic partners involved into IEC 61499 activities

Academic members are a standalone group, not interacting with other member types

UniversalAutomation.org is striving interactions between all member types, especially academics. For example, they can share their researches linked with IEC 61499 with the industrial community, get networking oppportunity for common reasearch projects, internships, events …

Business model

Does UAO charge device vendors for each UAO device sold?

No, apart from the yearly membership fee, device vendors are not required to pay royalties for every UAO device sold.

Is UAO supporting other IDEs to deploy to the UAO runtime execution engine?

Yes, UAO supports other IDEs to enable them to deploy to the UAO runtime execution engine

UniversalAutomation.org charges a royalty fee for every vendor device sold?

No royalty is to be paid back to UAO for every devices sold by a device vendor. UAO members that are device vendors can sell any number of devices just by paying the yealry membership fee that gets them access to the UAO runtime source.

Technology vendors are left by themselves to port the runtime to their platform?

Technology vendors receive support from UniversalAutomation.org and get trained on porting the Runtime to their own platform.

What is the source-sharing model of UniversalAutomation.org?

Its Shared Source model, where all UAO members that has access to UAO runtime source can use it and also contribute back.

Market benefits

Do I need to rip and replace all my equipments to start benefiting from UniversalAutomation.org’s technology?

To start using Universalautomation.org’s technology, you can first add a new layer called orchestration on top of your current system. This layer helps all parts of your system work together more smoothly.

Next, you can gradually replace your old technology with new products that have the UAO runtime built in. The UAO runtime is a special software that makes your system run more efficiently and effectively.

You can also virtualize your system, which means creating virtual versions of your components. This allows you to run multiple applications on one physical machine, making better use of your resources and increasing flexibility.

By starting with orchestration, you can immediately improve how your system operates. Over time, as you replace old technology and virtualize components, you will fully transition to a more advanced and efficient system powered by Universalautomation.org’s technology.

How can the market benefit from the IEC 61499 standard?

Current industrial automation system architecture has done a good job of advancing industry to where we are today but “open automation” as it exists today is not enough. Industry-wide adoption of universal automation will ensure next-generation software applications are interoperable and portable.

The IEC 61499 standard extends and enhances the IEC 61131-3 standard. It solves the problems of ensuring portability, configurability, and interoperability of application software across vendors and, at the same time, permits software and hardware independence. It allows a seamless integration with the IT layer and an easy distribution of control logic.

The IEC 61499 standard is a technological enabler for a “plug and produce” approach to industrial automation. Adoption of a shared automation layer, common across vendors, will provide limitless opportunities for growth and modernization across industry. The confluence of digitization and the IEC 61499 standard now make it possible for such open systems to be easily and effectively deployed.

Does the IEC 61499 standard and open automation have industry backing?

Yes. Universal automation and open industrial standards are fundamentally necessary to fulfil the promise of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The pressure to adopt open automation is mounting for stakeholders across all corners of industry.

End users are beginning to see proprietary automation systems as a barrier to growth and an unnecessary cost, rather than an enabler and source of profit. Many organizations recognize that next-generation industrial automation must be interoperable and break free from the proprietary closed model we have now.

A few examples are: Open Process Automation Forum, NAMUR, and OPC Foundation.

Moving from a proprietary world to universal automation not only benefits end users but it also gives those willing to innovate an edge in the race for new value built on software innovation.

Universal automation will create a market for proven-in-use software components that bring unique values to users and new revenues for vendors.

The industry realizes that working to the same, open standards is fundamental to progress. Our ecosystem, from supply chain through manufacturing and production to the end customer, recognizes the need to fully embrace interoperable implementations.

Technical

Do products / solutions using the principle of universal automation exist already?

Yes. Please, visit the dedicated page.

Can the runtime execution engine run in an containerized version (eg. on a server…)?

For sure, the runtime is suitable to be ran in a container which could run for example on a server.

A ready-made version already exists (see Soft dPAC from Schneider Electric) and others will be soon developed by the vendor members.

What is the difference between the Linux based platform and a UAO-Runtime? Why do I need this technology?

Linux-based platforms and UAO are solving different problems.

The Linux-based automation platforms allow the User to do real-time control applications as well as run other applications using other programming languages like C++ or Python on the same computer platform. Although they are Linux-based, they remain proprietary because they implement proprietary techniques to guarantee real-time performance and determinism, namely real-time OS patches and standardized data layer access (including IO access) for all applications. So applications cannot be ported from one Linux platform to another one without significant rework and retest.

UAO provides a runtime execution engine for an event/data-based system environment (based on IEC 61499). The objective is to enable plug & produce applications that are independent of the hardware platform on which they execute. In other words, users can build applications using libraries of vendor-independent UAO software components, plugging them together using the event-data interface, and distributing the complete application to one or multiple Universal Automation controllers. The same application can be deployed to different platforms with no rework except for connecting the “logical” IO to the real physical IO of the new platform.

The two approaches are complimentary. UAO is available on several Linux-based platforms.

Who is liable for service and support in the event of an issue with a Universal Automation platform?

When a vendor joins UAO, it is his responsibility to verify and validate the offer that he launches on the market. And he is responsible to support his offer.

When it comes to project support, it is up to the application system integrator to guarantee and support the application for the user. In the event of issues with the UAO platform, the system integrator will rely on the UAO platform vendor for support. In the event that the issues are with the UAO runtime itself, the vendor will turn to UAO for support to resolve the issue if he is not able to resolve himself..

This approach is not new – many automation PLC vendors use 3^rd party software products for their IEC 61131 software, and most project applications are provided by independent system integrators.

Which IDE can deploy to the UAO runtime?

The following options are currently available:

Schneider Electric – EcoStruxure Automation Expert IDE (See DEMO)
Aimirim – 4diac IDE plugin (with the limitations described in the plugin documentation) (See UAO Live DEMO)

I can replace a vendor “A” UniversalAutomation.org device with a vendor “B” UniversalAutomation.org device and redeploy the same application with 0 changes?

Vendor “A” UAO device can be replaced with Vendor “B” UAO device and the same application can be re-deployed and run without any changes with one exception. The exception is if a Service function block that is specific to hardware of Vendor “A” device is used in application, then it must be ensured that the Vendor “B” device also supports it.

UniversalAutomation.org runtime is a virtual PLC or controller?

UAO Runtime is shared with its members as Source code, not as an Software Development Kit, a set of libraries, as an installable or as an executable package. The members are at liberty to choose whichever form they want to give it. It can be compiled and run as an embedded process on a physical controller, can be run as an application or process on any computer with an OS or an RTOS, and it can be also run inside a docker-container or Kubernetes etc..

UniversalAutomation.org runtime is an installable package?

UAO Runtime is shared with its members as Source Code, not as an Software Development Kit, a set of libraries, as an installable or as an executable package. The members are at liberty to choose whichever form they want to give it. It can be compiled and run as an embedded process on a physical controller, can be run as an application or process on any computer with an OS or an RTOS, and it can be also run inside a docker-container or Kubernetes etc..

Is it very difficult to port the UniversalAutomation.org runtime environment?

The UniversalAutomation.org runtime has been package in a scalable way to adapt to most platforms depending on their operating system, CPU and memory size. Getting an offer which embeds the runtime could take only a few months.

UniversalAutomation.org runtime is shared with its member as a Source Code?

UAO runtime is shared with its members as Source code, not as an Software Development Kit, a set of libraries, as an installable or as an executable package. The members get access to the source code on the UAO GitHub.

Is UniversalAutomation.org now obsolete with virtual PLC?

UAO runtime is a shared implementation of the IEC 61499 standard aimed at portability and interoperability at the core against Virtual PLCs that are still vendor-specific requiring additional efforts for interoperability. UAO runtime is scalable and can be run in any mode, as an embedded process, as a container, and as a virtual PLC.

UniversalAutomation.org Privacy notice

We commit to serve you with care, consideration, and respect and to protect your privacy and personal information.

1 – Who is in charge of data processing?

UniversalAutomation.org is responsible for your personal data. The UniversalAutomation.org official address is Botanic Tower, 6th floor, Blvd St. Lazare 4-10. UniversalAutomation.org is organized as an international, non-profit organization.

2 – What types of personal information do we process?

The personal data we collect may include:

Contact information, such as your name, job title, postal address, including your home address, where you have provided this to us, business address, telephone number, mobile phone number, fax number and email address;
Payment data, such as data necessary for processing payments and fraud prevention, including credit/debit card numbers, security code numbers and other related billing information;
Further business information necessarily processed in a committee or participation relationship with UniversalAutomation.org or voluntarily provided by you, such as instructions given, payments made, requests and projects;
Your password for the UniversalAutomation.org website or other password protected platforms or services, where you have one;
Information collected from publicly available resources;
Special categories of personal data. In connection with the registration for and provision of access to an event or seminar, we may ask for information about your health for the purpose of identifying and being considerate of any disabilities or special dietary requirements you may have. Any use of such information is based on your consent. If you do not provide any such information about disabilities or special dietary requirements, we will not be able to take any respective precautions;
Other personal data regarding your preferences where it is relevant to the standardization services that we provide.
From time to time, it may include personal data about your membership of a professional or trade association or union, health personal data, details of dietary preferences when relevant to events to which we invite you and details of any criminal record you may have.

3 – How do we collect your personal data?

We may collect personal data about you in a number of circumstances, including

When you or your organization seek technical documents or brochures;
When you or your organization browse, make an enquiry or otherwise interact on our website;
When you attend a seminar or another UniversalAutomation.org event or sign up to receive personal data from us; or
When you or your organization offer to provide or provide services to us.
In some circumstances, we collect personal data about you from a third-party source. For example, we may collect personal data from your organization, other organizations with whom you have dealings, government agencies, an information or service provider or from a publicly available record.

4 – Are you required to provide personal data?

As a general principle, you will provide us with your personal data entirely voluntarily; there are generally no detrimental effects for you if you choose not to consent or to provide personal data. However, there are circumstances in which UniversalAutomation.org cannot take action without certain of your personal data, for example because this personal data is required to process your instructions or orders, provide you with access to a web offering or newsletter or to carry out a legally required compliance screening. In these cases, it will unfortunately not be possible for us to provide you with what you request without the relevant personal data and we will notify you accordingly.

5 – For which purposes will we us your personal data?

We may use your personal data for the following purposes only (“Permitted Purposes“):

Providing services or things you may have requested, including on-line, technology services or solutions as instructed or requested by you or your organization;
Managing and administering your or your organization’s business relationship with UniversalAutomation.org, including processing payments, accounting, auditing, billing and collection, support services;
Compliance with our legal obligations (such as record keeping obligations), compliance screening or recording obligations (e.g. under antitrust laws, export laws, trade sanction and embargo laws, for anti-money laundering, financial and credit check and fraud and crime prevention and detection purposes), which may include automated checks of your contact data or other information you provide about your identity against applicable sanctioned-party lists and contacting you to confirm your identity in case of a potential match or recording interaction with you which may be relevant for compliance purposes;
To analyze and improve our services and communications to you;
Protecting the security of and managing access to our premises, IT and communication systems, online platforms, websites and other systems, preventing and detecting security threats, fraud or other criminal or malicious activities;
For insurance purposes;
For monitoring and assessing compliance with our policies and standards;
To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations and requests anywhere in the world, including reporting to and/or being audited by national and international regulatory bodies;
To comply with court orders and exercises and/or defend our legal rights; and
For any purpose related and/or ancillary to any of the above or any other purpose for which your personal data was provided to us.
Where you have expressly given us your consent, we may process your personal data also for the following purposes:
Communicating with you through the channels you have approved to keep you up to date on the latest technology and marketing developments, announcements, and other information about UniversalAutomation.org services, products and technologies (including newsletters and other information) as well as UniversalAutomation.org events and projects;
Customer surveys, marketing campaigns, market analysis, contests or other promotional activities or events; or
Collecting information about your preferences to create a user profile to personalize and foster the quality of our communication and interaction with you (for example, by way of newsletter tracking or website analytics).
With regard to marketing-related communication, we will – where legally required – only provide you with such information after you have opted in and provide you the opportunity to opt out anytime if you do not want to receive further marketing-related communication from us. We will not use your personal data for taking any automated decisions affecting you or creating profiles other than described above.
Depending on for which of the above Permitted Purposes we use your personal data, we may process your personal data on one or more of the following legal grounds:
Because processing is necessary for the performance of your instructions or other contract with you or your organization;
To comply with our legal obligations (e.g. to keep records for tax purposes); or
Because processing is necessary for purposes of our legitimate interest or those of any third-party recipients that receive your personal data, provided that such interests are not overridden by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms.
In addition, the processing may be based on your consent where you have expressly given that to us.

6 – Personal data about other people which you provide to us

If you provide personal data to us about someone else (such as one of your directors or employees, or someone with whom you have business dealings) you must ensure that you are entitled to disclose that personal data to us and that, without our taking any further steps, we may collect, use and disclose that personal data as described in this Privacy Policy. In particular, you must ensure the individual concerned is aware of the various matters detailed in this Privacy Policy, as those matters relate to that individual, including our identity, how to contact us, our purposes of collection, our personal data disclosure practices (including disclosure to overseas recipients), the individual’s right to obtain access to the personal data and make complaints about the handling of the personal data, and the consequences if the personal data is not provided (such as our inability to provide services).

7 – Transfering your personal data abroad

UniversalAutomation.org is a global association. We may transfer your personal data abroad if required for the Permitted Purposes as described above. This may include countries which do not provide the same level of protection as the laws of your home country (for example, the laws within the European Economic Area or Australia). We will ensure that any such international transfers are made subject to appropriate or suitable safeguards as required by the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 or other relevant laws. This includes entering into the EU Standard Contractual Clauses which are available here. You may contact us anytime using the contact details below if you would like further information on such safeguards.

We will require our agents, consultants and sub-contractors and others who are outside the European Economic Area or Australia and to whom we transfer your personal data to ensure a level of data protection at least as protective as that required in the European Economic Area and Australia.

When doing so we will comply with applicable data protection requirements and take appropriate safeguards to ensure the security and integrity of your personal data.

8 – How long do we keep your personal information?

We keep information as needed to perform the purposes described above, taking into consideration the need to provide the services, marketing requirements, security requirements, legal requirements and statute of limitations.

9 – Who do we share personal information with and where is it processed?

Personal information will be processed by our affiliates and suppliers involved in the provision of the services and in the performance of the purposes described in Section 5. We take measures to ensure that personal information receives an adequate level of protection. We do not sell your personal information.
Our affiliates and suppliers provide service including hosting and maintenance, performance monitoring and security. As we are a global association, teams and suppliers may have global or multi-country roles, and they can be located anywhere in the world, in countries with different privacy standards than the country of our customers.
We may also share your information, as necessary :

with competent authorities, based on a good faith belief that disclosure is necessary to respond to a judicial process, a valid official inquiry, or if otherwise required by law;
to defend our legal rights, or to protect the rights or safety of any person or entity;
as instructed by you;
with third parties in the context of reorganization of operations.

Google Analytics

The service includes Google Analytics, a Google service which provides us with information about how you use the mobile and the web applications. Google publishes information about its use of information at https://www.google.com/policies/technologies/partner-sites
Google Analytics features are used to understand how often functionalities are used.

10 – How do we secure personal information?

We will take appropriate technical and organizational measures to keep your personal data confidential and secure in accordance with our internal procedures covering the storage, disclosure of and access to personal data. Personal data may be kept on our personal data technology systems, those of our contractors or in paper files.

However, no method of transmission over the internet or of electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11 – How to exercise your choices and rights about your personal information?

To exercise the data protection rights granted under applicable data protection law, such as the rights to be informed, to access, to rectify, to withdraw consent, to request restriction or erasure, the right to object and data portability, you may make a request at data.privacy@universalautomation.org. To ensure the security of your personal information, we may ask you to provide other details to verify your identity.
You may address questions or comments about our privacy practices or this privacy notice to the following e-mail address: data.privacy@universalautomation.org or at:

UniversalAutomation.org AISBL

Botanic Tower
6th floor, Blvd St. Lazare 4-10.

If you believe that we have processed your personal information in violation of applicable law, you may file a complaint using the e-mail address stated above or, the contact details above or with a supervisory authority.

We reserve the right to charge you a reasonable administrative fee for any manifestly unfounded or excessive requests concerning your access to your data, and for any additional copies of the personal data you request from us.
We will consider any requests or complaints which we receive and provide you with a response in a timely manner. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may take your complaint to the relevant privacy regulator. We will provide you with details of your relevant regulator upon request

12 – Updates to this privacy policy

This Privacy Policy was last updated in November 2021. We reserve the right to update and change this Privacy Policy from time to time in order to reflect any changes to the way in which we process your personal data or changing legal requirements. In case of any such changes, we will post the changed Privacy Policy on our website or publish it otherwise. The changes will take effect as soon as they are posted on this website.