Distribution control Systems, Inc

The ISA101 standards committee was formed in 2006 to establish standards, recommended practices, and/or technical reports pertaining to designing, implementing, using, and/or managing human-machine interfaces in manufacturing applications. The committee is co-chaired by Dr. Maurice Wilkins of Yokogawa Corporation of America and Greg Lehmann of URS Corporation.

The areas covered within ISA101's work includes every facet of HMI design and operation, such as: menu hierarchies, screen navigation conventions, graphics and color conventions, dynamic elements, alarming conventions, security methods and electronic signature attributes, interfaces with background programming and historical databases, popup conventions, help screens and methods used to work with alarms, program object interfaces, and configuration interfaces to databases, servers, and networks.

The standard takes a lifecycle approach categorized into four stages: system standards, design, implementation, and operation.

Each clause is being developed under the leadership of one or two industry experts, with the help of a number of committee members. The clauses are as follows:

• Clause 0: General
• Clause 1: Scope
• Clause 2: Normative References
• Clause 3: Definition of Terms and Acronyms
• Clause 4: HMI System Management
• Clause 5: Human Factors/Ergonomics
• Clause 6: Display Styles and Hierarchy
• Clause 7: User Interaction
• Clause 8: Performance
• Clause 9: Documentation and Training

Draft 3 was sent out for a review by the full committee at the end of April 2012, and Draft 4 at the end of June 2013. After discussions at ISA Automation Week in November 2013, a small working group was set up to get the standard into a format and content to be put forward for ballot in 2014.

Technical reports such as HMI philosophy, HMI style guide, HMI design guide, HMI usability and performance, and HMI purchase specifications have been identified for future development as soon as the standard has been accepted. A new working group is soon to be set up for HMI for mobile platforms.

ISA-103 Field Device Tools

Activities with ISA-103 (IEC62453) Field Device Tool Interface

ISA 103 defines the interfaces for both the vertical and the horizontal data flow, called Function Control and Data Access, in the framework of a Client-Server architecture so it will allow application software and configuration tools to interact with field devices in a unified way, while hiding the manufacturer-specific interaction with devices or sub-systems in a software module. ISA 103 supports any field bus, device or sub-system specific software tool that can be integrated as part of a universal life-cycle management tool of a plant automation system.

ISA 103 committee is currently working on the following items:

• Review and revise scope of ISA 103 to support FDI
• IEC 62453 update via 2012 maintenance cycle
• FDT 2.0 review
• Promotional activity for ISA 103 through road shows and seminars

Yokogawa is very active supporter of ISA 103 activity. Yokogawa products like Plant Resource Manager (PRM) and FieldMate supports ISA 103 based frame application and field instrument products based on HART®, FOUNDATION™ fieldbus, PROFIBUS® and ISA100.11a has DTM's (Device Type Manager) based on ISA 103.

ISA-104 Electronic Device Description Language

Activities with ISA-104 (IEC61804) EDDL Electronic Device Description Language

ISA 104 (IEC61804); Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL) is an integral technology for field digital protocols enabling configuration/setup, diagnostics, and monitoring of devices from different manufacturers. EDD is a text-based language for describing the digital communication characteristics of sophisticated field instrumentation and equipment parameters: device status, diagnostic data, and configuration details.

• New structure of IEC 61804 series and impact on field device integration
• Modify scope and purpose of ISA 104 to include FDI
• White paper on guideline/recommendation on management of EDD's for different device revisions.

Yokogawa is actively supporting ISA-104 and the associated IEC standard IEC 61804 and contribute to the creation and maintenance of these standards. Yokogawa field instrument products supporting field digital protocol like HART®, FOUNDATION™ fieldbus, PROFIBUS® and ISA100.11a supports EDD based on ISA-104 standard.

ISA-106 Procedural Automation

Activities with ISA-106 Procedure Automation for Continuous Process Operations

The committee is currently working to produce a second technical report addressing the lifecycle of automated procedures and is working on the standard.

The committee meets 3-4 times per year, participating is open to all interested parties.

Activities with ISA-108 Intelligent Device Management

The ISA108 Committee was formed in August 2012 to define standards related to best practices and work processes for design, operation and use of diagnostic and other information provided by intelligent field devices in the process industries.

Yokogawa is actively contributing and supporting the ISA-108 committee. Several members of Yokogawa Electric Corporation, the world headquarters, in Japan and Yokogawa Corporation of America are participating on the committee.