1. Context

1.1 Frameworks and industrial issues

Over the past two decades, the use of computers in automated systems has grown from a marginal to an almost explosive phenomenon, both in the industrial world and in everyday objects. The computer, in a wide variety of forms, from microcontroller to vector computer, has become established in many applications, where its ability to adapt is a marvel and is gradually contributing to the introduction of new functionalities, as well as to the realization of functions hitherto based on other technologies.