*2.1. Proposed Automation Systems: National Instruments and Schneider Electric*

In order to realize the proposed installation, two solutions have been taken into account for the automation of the system, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each solution.

The first solution considered is to use the LabVIEW 19.0 HMI (human–machine interface) graphics interface provided by National Instruments, which offers various hardware platforms on which LabVIEW program developers implement operator interfaces, using programmable controllers that allow reconfigurable inputs/outputs (RIO), combining an improved, robust architecture with small industrial input/output modules, and time-sensitive networking (TSN). For monitoring the processes, either a PC (Personal Computer) can be connected remotely through a data transmission interface or a touchscreen can be used to enter the sequences directly. Figure 1 shows the hardware and software platform offered by National Instruments.

**Figure 1.** National Instruments hardware and software platform [35].

The second solution proposed is to use a system which has a Schneider Electric programmable automaton (Figure 2), a PLC control application made in Unity Pro L software (Figure 3), and the SCADA (HMI) graphical control and monitoring interface. In order to program these PLCs, the ladder diagram (LD) and function block diagram (FBD) programming languages are used, according to IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) standard 61131-3.

**Figure 2.** Schneider Electric programmable automaton [36].

**Figure 3.** Unity Pro L working interface.

Following a multicriterial analysis, taking into account the availability, the quality-price ratio, the software interface, and the applicability for the developed installation, the second option (Schneider Electric) was chosen.
