This paper presents a framework for developing a universal network infrastructure that would allow web-based monitoring and control of industrial processes, research facilities, and academic experiments. Internet technology is used here for its versatility, wide availability, and relative low cost. The main element of the infrastructure is a web-server, which connects to multiple control-servers, which in turn are connected to various processing modules within a local industrial facility, Since the web-server is the system centerpiece, which provides smooth information flow, a robust, intelligent, and autonomous scheduling scheme is required. Once such infrastructure is established, remote users in an academic or research environment, or in an industrial environment will be able to carry out a variety of tasks including experiments, monitoring and supervision, process scheduling and reconfiguration, using a web-browser. The flexibility and modularity of the developed networked infrastructure provide the rationale for implementing a multi-level hierarchical monitoring and control structure for a process. The usefulness of such a hierarchical structure is demonstrated through an application example on an industrial fish processing machine, which incorporates intelligent adaptive control.
