HART Communication Foundation

HART Communication Foundation
Name	HART Communication Foundation
Founded	1993
Founder	Rosemount Inc., Emerson Electric, Yokogawa Electric
Headquarters	Houston, Texas
Type	Non-profit consortium
Area served	Global
Purpose	Industrial communication protocol development and promotion

HART Communication Foundation

The HART Communication Foundation was an industry consortium formed to develop, maintain, and promote the Highway Addressable Remote Transducer (HART) communication protocol for process automation and instrumentation. It engaged companies across instrumentation, automation, oil and gas, chemical processing, power generation, and manufacturing to standardize digital signals over legacy analog wiring while enabling field device interoperability and asset management. The Foundation coordinated technical specifications, certification programs, training, and relationships with standards bodies and industrial consortia.

History

The Foundation emerged from work at Rosemount Inc. and Emerson Electric in the late 1980s and early 1990s to bridge analog 4–20 mA instrumentation with digital diagnostics, joining companies such as Yokogawa Electric, Honeywell International, Siemens, ABB Group, and Schneider Electric. It formalized as an industry group concurrent with initiatives at ISA and IEC to create open standards for process automation, interacting with Fieldbus Foundation, PROFIBUS, Modbus Organization, ODVA, and OPC Foundation. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s the Foundation released successive revisions of the HART protocol, aligned specifications with IEC 61158 and IEC 61784 work, and supported migration paths like HART-IP and integration with FOUNDATION Fieldbus and PROFINET. Major industry events such as Hannover Messe and ACHEMA served as venues for demonstrations and interoperability showcases. Over time governance and stewardship shifted as member companies consolidated, mirroring mergers involving Emerson Electric, ABB Group, and Schneider Electric.

Technology and Protocol

HART is a hybrid analog-digital protocol that overlays digital communication on the legacy 4–20 mA current loop, using frequency-shift keying (FSK) compatible with existing instrumentation. The protocol's architecture includes a physical layer interoperating with standard field devices from vendors like Endress+Hauser, Emerson Process Management, Yokogawa Electric, Honeywell Process Solutions, and networking equipment from Siemens Industrial and Rockwell Automation. Higher-layer elements define command sets, variable formats, and device description files, linking to standards such as IEC 61804-3 for device description languages and incorporating concepts from Device Description (DD) and Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL)]. HART specifications support point-to-point, multi-drop, and wireless implementations, with extensions for WirelessHART that align with IEEE 802.15.4 and ZigBee Alliance radio technologies. The protocol supports device diagnostics, calibration, configuration, and asset management, integrating with Distributed Control System vendors and Asset Management suites from AVEVA and AspenTech.

Organization and Governance

The Foundation operated as a member-driven non-profit consortium with tiers of membership including end users, manufacturers, system integrators, and educational institutions such as Texas A&M University and Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Governance included a board of directors and technical steering committees composed of representatives from Emerson Electric, Yokogawa Electric, Honeywell International, ABB Group, Schneider Electric, Endress+Hauser, Siemens, Rockwell Automation, and specialized test houses. The Foundation coordinated liaison relationships with standards organizations ISA, IEC, ISO, and consortia like OPC Foundation, Fieldbus Foundation, PROFIBUS & PROFINET International, and Industrial Internet Consortium. Working groups produced specifications, technical notes, and interoperability test plans; funding derived from membership dues, certification fees, and training programs offered at venues such as SPE Offshore Europe and regional seminars in Singapore, Houston, and Essen.

Applications and Industry Adoption

HART found broad adoption across process industries, notably in oil refinerys, petrochemical plants, natural gas processing, power plants, water treatment facilities, and discrete manufacturing sites served by Siemens and Rockwell Automation ecosystems. Device vendors shipped millions of HART-enabled transmitters, actuators, and analyzers used for level, pressure, temperature, and flow measurement from suppliers like Emerson, Endress+Hauser, Yokogawa, ABB, and Schneider Electric. System integrators and end users integrated HART data into Distributed Control Systems and SCADA platforms from Emerson DeltaV, Honeywell Experion, and ABB 800xA, enabling predictive maintenance, condition monitoring, and advanced process control initiatives linked to Industry 4.0 and Industrial Internet of Things strategies promoted by Siemens and GE Digital. WirelessHART extended adoption to asset tracking and remote monitoring in brownfield and greenfield projects coordinated at trade shows like ADIPEC.

Certification and Conformance

The Foundation established certification programs and conformance test plans to ensure interoperability among devices from different manufacturers, working with independent test houses and laboratories accredited by bodies such as UL and TÜV Rheinland. Conformance testing validated HART physical layer behavior, command set compliance, and device description accuracy, with certified products listed by member consortia and promoted at industry exhibitions like Hannover Messe. Training and certification for technicians and engineers were provided through vendor courses and partner institutions including Emerson University and manufacturer-authorized training centers, aligning competence with global safety standards and plant qualification procedures used by operators like Shell, BP, ExxonMobil, and Chevron.

Relationship with Other Industrial Protocols

The Foundation maintained technical liaisons and interoperability efforts with FOUNDATION Fieldbus, PROFIBUS & PROFINET International, Modbus Organization, OPC Foundation, ODVA (for EtherNet/IP), and standards committees within ISA and IEC. Integration patterns included tunneling HART over industrial Ethernet via HART-IP gateways, mapping device descriptors to FDT/DTM frameworks, and incorporating HART variables into OPC UA information models championed by IEC. The approach emphasized coexistence with fieldbus and Ethernet-based protocols from ABB, Siemens, Rockwell Automation, and Schneider Electric to support migration strategies, hybrid architectures, and the evolving Industrial Internet Consortium reference architectures.

Category:Industrial communication protocols