SCADA

Start with an overview

The mind map on structural design and earlier plant monitoring is a useful starting point. It introduces supervisory control and data acquisition alongside the switches, buttons and dials used before SCADA. Use its branches to identify the processes and equipment mentioned, then look for those ideas in the other maps.

Another map brings together hardware components, software and the human machine interface. It also traces changes in how plant personnel monitor and control processes. Comparing it with the opening map can help you organize the terms each one uses.

Follow the components

Move on to a map that includes remote terminal units and programmable logic controllers. These are also listed as RTUs and PLCs. Other maps show field devices, valves, pumps and sensors alongside hardware and software components.

As you read, note where a map places each component. A separate map includes protocols such as Modbus RTU and Modbus TCP, as well as data collection, analysis and storage. Its branches offer another way to examine the parts named in the earlier maps.

Trace data and control

Several maps connect SCADA with collecting, processing or analyzing data. One sets out local and remote supervision alongside the human machine interface and field devices. Another includes online monitoring, system status, reports, alarms and remote control.

Compare these branches with the components you have already noted. The maps use different labels and levels of detail, so it is worth following each branch in context rather than treating every map as an identical outline.

Use the wider unit

SCADA is a topic within a wider unit in Computing and ICT. The maps on this page give university students and teachers material focused on that topic, from earlier monitoring methods to data and control functions. Return to a map when you want to check how it groups a term with the surrounding ideas.

Pick a map and explore its branches at your own pace.