Efficiency Analysis Between Free and Paid Hardware and Software in a Pneumatic Press

The present work proposes the automation of a pneumatic press, based on free software and hardware. The project analyzes the behavior of free software versus proprietary technology. The project is based on creating a prototype of a distribution system. The proprietary technology consists in a Siemens S7-1200 programmable logic controller, which monitors the system with an OPC server and a (Human Machine Interface) user interface based on LabVIEW, M. In the other hand, the free technology consists of an M-DUINO controller based on Arduino monitors the system with a LAMP server, and hosts a website programmed in PHP; reducing implementation costs in control processes, without affecting the performance and quality in the industrial process. Research is done to determine the reliability of free software. © 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.