Distribution Automation ? A Modern Perspective

Distribution automation spans a broad field of applications from product automation to distribution plants. For all these applications, there are numerous challenges to be faced like reduced time-to-market, reduced costs, increased variability and expectations concerning higher quality. Domain engineering has been developed for software and offers a good approach for meeting these requirements, since it is based on reusability. Unfortunately, the adoption of this approach to distribution automation systems is not possible without major changes. Distribution automation possesses distinguishing characteristics, which require deeper research and new methodologies, in order to enable a systematic reuse. A new approach, based on the domain engineering approach applied for software, is being currently developed. The new approach considers the characteristics of distribution automation by taking not only software into account, but also hardware and the knowledge necessary to develop new distribution automation systems