Skip to main content

What to Expect?

The 2nd 4days of Eclipse 4diac Winter School offers four days of learning, experimenting, and exchanging ideas on IEC 61499, Eclipse 4diac, and open-source industrial automation.

Whether you are a newcomer eager to get started or an experienced user looking to deepen your knowledge, the Winter School offers opportunities to learn, explore advanced concepts, and engage directly with the Eclipse 4diac community.

Following our guiding principle of “no theory without hands-on experience,” technical presentations are complemented by practical workshops, allowing participants to immediately apply what they have learned.

For the second edition, we also plan a participant-led hackathon, allowing participants to tackle their own challenges with guidance and support from Eclipse 4diac committers.

Preliminary Program Overview

Building on the experiences of the first edition, we are preparing a program combining established topics with new hands-on activities. The following sessions are currently planned.

Eclipse 4diac and IEC 61499

  • Developing IEC 61499 Solutions: Learn the fundamentals of developing distributed automation solutions using Eclipse 4diac.

  • Advanced Concepts of IEC 61499: Explore advanced features and methodologies for developing complex and large-scale automation systems.

  • Developing Eclipse 4diac – Guided Session: Follow an Eclipse 4diac committer as they work through a concrete problem, demonstrating how to investigate, implement, and test bug fixes or extensions to 4diac IDE or 4diac FORTE.

  • Managing 4diac FORTE Builds with FBE: Simplify building and managing customized 4diac FORTE runtimes using 4diac FBE.

  • Connecting Eclipse 4diac to the Open Industry Project: Use the open-source Open Industry Project simulation environment to develop and test IEC 61499 automation applications.

  • Eclipse 4diac Hackathon: Participants choose their own challenges and work collaboratively on solutions, with guidance and support from Eclipse 4diac committers. We are considering two themes:

    • Developing Control Applications with Eclipse 4diac: Design and implement a larger control application, putting the concepts learned during the Winter School into practice.

    • Developing Eclipse 4diac: Contribute to the open-source project by fixing bugs, implementing new features, or extending existing functionality in 4diac IDE or 4diac FORTE.

    Depending on participants’ interests, we may offer one or both themes.

  • Industry Usage Reports: Hear from industrial users about their experiences applying Eclipse 4diac in real-world applications.

  • Introduction to OPC UA: Learn about OPC UA and its use in industrial communication and integration with Eclipse 4diac.

Open Source and Community

  • Open-Source Security: Explore security topics in open-source software in a planned session with the Eclipse Foundation.

The detailed program and schedule will be announced as preparations progress.

Registration and Further Information

Information on registration, participation fees, accommodation, and further venue details will be published as soon as it becomes available.

For information about the previous event, visit the 1st 4days of Eclipse 4diac Winter School (2025).

Back to the top