Coding environment offers cloud collaboration and AI assistance
6 January 2025 
B&R Automation has introduced “an entirely new engineering experience” to its Automation Studio engineering and runtime software. A new version, Automation Studio Code, incorporates a generative AI coding assistant developed with Microsoft, as well as advanced editing functions, and flexible local or cloud-based access.
The new version (the sixth) supports collaborative engineering and rich syntax highlighting, making it easier to read code. Object-oriented programming in Structured Text helps engineers to organise their code more logically and work more efficiently. Real-time error detection eliminates repetitive compiling and correction loops, and the ability to change to a dark mode helps to avoid fatigue.
Users can open projects either in the new environment or in the familiar Automation Studio interface.
The embedded Automation Studio Copilot AI companion allows developers to generate executable machine code simply by entering prompts in natural language. It also helps them to optimise and annotate existing code, making it easier to share and re-use. Complex applications can be summarised quickly to facilitate discussions with non-technical personnel.
Describing a typical project workflow, B&R’s software strategy manager, Manuel Sanchez-Marchan, says: “You might start by setting up a project in the familiar, feature-rich Automation Studio environment. Then you can jump over to Automation Studio Code to develop your application and share it with your team – using all the modern editing features and enjoying all the advantages of cloud collaboration and seamless source control. Every step of the way, you have Automation Studio Copilot at your side – whether you get stuck on a tricky problem or just want a faster way to get things done.”
Developers can open projects on their desktop or in a Web browser. “It’s a lot like the tools we use to collaborate on documents, spreadsheets and presentations,” explains Sanchez-Marchan. “Considering how dramatically those tools have transformed office work, it’s easy to imagine what it means to bring the same level of collaboration to software development processes in the automation industry.”
With teams collaborating in real-time from different locations, issues such as source control become more important. “B&R has always been a step ahead with easy source control thanks to the file-based nature of Automation Studio projects,” says Sanchez-Marchan. “With Automation Studio Code, we’re now taking that a step further. By building source control tasks right into the development environment, we remove distractions and allow developers to focus on their creative work.”
Connection of git repositories allows integration with third-party tools such as GitHub or Azure DevOps. These version control and collaboration tools make it easy to merge contributions from different team members, and to keep track of changes.
Cloud-based engineering eliminates the need to install the development environment locally, and avoids version management and dependencies becoming bottlenecks.
With a project dashboard offering a clear overview of projects in one place, engineers can easily see what is in progress and what needs attention. “You spend less time searching for files or trying to remember where you left off, and more time actually developing and refining your code,” says Sanchez-Marchan. Projects can be shared by sending a link – which a teammate or client can open in a browser without needing to install additional software.
