FOUNDATION for Remote Operations Management Launch and Media Day

The Fieldbus Foundation unveiled its FOUNDATION™ for Remote Operations Management (ROM) solution at a media event held Thursday, December 1, at the Fieldbus Center at Lee College, Baytown, Texas.  Representatives from all the major process automation related media outlets attended, as well as a lot of end users and educators.  As you may know, Lee College is one of our Fieldbus Certified Training Partners (FCTP), and we incorporated a tour of the fieldbus and process automation educational facilities and pilot plant into our schedule.

We have been talking a little about FOUNDATION for Remote Operations Management on this blog, but last week was the "official unveiling" of our new approach to remote operations, and we got a sneak peak at some early prototype devices that we have been working on in our labs as we develop the overall specification. 

FOUNDATION for ROM Devices on Display

Combining the Functionality of Smart RTUs, Intelligent Wireless Gateways, and Process Controllers

FOUNDATION for ROM provides a unified digital infrastructure for asset management in remote applications from tank farms and terminals to pipelines, offshore platforms, and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) skids. The technology enables fieldbus connectivity to remote I/O and the leading industrial wireless protocols, including WirelessHART® and ISA 100.11a. It provides an interface to these wireless technologies and uses Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL) and function blocks to ensure interoperability with FOUNDATION for ROM devices.

The media event featured FOUNDATION for ROM technology presentations and demonstrations, followed by a tour of the Fieldbus Center at Lee College, one of the Fieldbus Foundation’s FOUNDATION Certified Training Program (FCTP) partner sites. The Fieldbus Center facility is dedicated to training the next generation of process automation operators and technicians.
FOUNDATION for ROM is important because it is the first example of being able to integrate ISA 100.11a, WirelessHART, wired HART, and wired H1 protocols into a single standard environment. More importantly, it is one that does not sacrifice diagnostic capabilities of the existing wireless devices. Instead, we map these capabilities into our block structure to provide a standard environment for data management, quality, and more. Today’s solutions are highly customized and much more costly to maintain throughout the plant lifecycle.

Dave Glanzer, Director of Technology for Fieldbus Foundation, Describes the FOUNDATION for ROM Demo Unit

I'll be doing more blog posts about the demo unit, applications, and other resources related to FOUNDATON for ROM in the coming days and weeks.  In the meantime here are links to some more information related to ROM. 

Link to Flickr Photostream from FOUNDATION for ROM Media Day