Definition

• SCADA systems are computer systems designed to control and manage infrastructure, industrial or facility-based processes. SCADA systems receive data, or digital information, from individual machinery and sensors and transmits it to a central computer unit.
  
  

Applications

• SCADA systems are used in such industrial processes as fabrication, production and manufacturing. Infrastructure manufacturing processes that involve SCADA systems include water treatment centers, wind farms, oil pipelines and communication systems. Facility-based processes involving SCADA systems include access and HVAC control on ships and in airports.
  
  

Components

• Common components shared by most SCADA systems include an HMI, or Human-Machine Interface, which functions by allowing a human operator to receive and manage data. SCADA systems also use RTUs, or Remote Terminal Units, which connect sensors, convert sensor signals into data and transmit that data to the control system.