Remote monitoring and control
Remote monitoring and control (M&C) systems are designed to control large or complex facilities such as factories, power plants, network operations centers, airports, and spacecraft, with some degree of automation.
M&C systems may receive data from sensors, telemetry streams, user inputs, and pre-programmed procedures. The software may send telecommands to actuators, computer systems, or other devices.
M&C systems may perform closed-loop control.
With the introduction of Industry 4.0, technologies such as Internet of Things and Machine Learning have realized the machine to machine communication, which ultimately have paved the way to automate the monitoring and controlling operations. The two-way communication among devices, which are inter-connected through various protocols, have made it possible to monitor as well as control business operations remotely
Once limited to SCADA in industrial settings, remote monitoring and control is now applied in numerous fields, including:
- Smart grids
- Positive train control
- Structural health monitoring
- Pipeline sensors
- Patient monitoring
- Desktop/server monitoring
While this field overlaps with machine to machine communications, the two are not identical.