What is Universal Automation (UA)?
Universal Automation (UA) is a global initiative and technology based on IEC 61499 that makes automation logic portable across hardware platforms – enabling customers to own their control logic while hardware becomes an interchangeable commodity.
Technical Definition: A global initiative and technology (typically associated with PLCopen and IEC 61499) to make automation logic portable across hardware platforms. With Universal Automation, the customer owns the logic and code, while hardware becomes an interchangeable commodity.
Why it matters: Universal Automation removes the last major form of vendor lock-in in automation: the control logic itself. When logic runs on a standardised runtime, switching hardware vendors no longer means rewriting the entire application from scratch.
HubMind’s view: We follow the Universal Automation movement closely and recommend it for new installations where long-term hardware flexibility and logic ownership are priorities.
External link: PLCopen Universal Automation.
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