AutomationIE 2012 - Workshop on Improving Industrial Automation using the Intelligent Environments paradigm

Intelligent Environments (IE) refer to physical spaces in which IT and other pervasive computing technology are woven and used to achieve specific goals for the user, the environment or both. IE enriches user experience, better manages the environment's resources, and increases user awareness of that environment.
Several aspects of Industrial Automation solutions can be improved using the paradigm of Intelligent Environments. For example improved man machine interfaces, training using intelligent e-learning techniques, augmented reality for in field equipment documentation to name a few. Industrial Automation present in most modern factories already include Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs), Sensors, Actuators in some cases networked to a centralized Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition system (SCADA). We could use these elements as part of Intelligent Environment solutions to lower the cost of implementation.
The objective of this workshop is first to review the current state of the art for Intelligent Environments (from now on we will call it IE), then present some possible examples of areas where this technologies can improve the field of Industrial Automation (from now on we will call it IA). We will also present a short video of an application of Augmented Reality.
We will then select two multidisciplinary teams that will discuss a presented case giving ideas of how we can improve the automation of the case company using the IE technologies.
We will not require that the participants write a paper, we only need their participation on the workshop to search for new possibilities when combining this two areas IE and IA.
We are looking for 4 professionals with experience in the Automation Field on some relevant industry, 4 academic researchers working on one related area to IA and IE and finally 2 representatives from IA part providers, ie. Siemens, Rockwell, Festo or some similar company.