Microcomputer-based control systems: which future trend is most accurate for industry adoption and capability?

Introduction / Context:
Microcomputers (and embedded controllers/PLCs) underpin modern automation. Understanding how their ecosystems evolve helps engineers plan migrations and maintainability. The prevailing trend is expanding software availability and standardization, not stagnation or uniform cost increases.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Industry repeatedly benefits from broader libraries, drivers, and toolchains.
• Hardware performance per cost generally improves over time.
• Packaged solutions reduce custom coding for common tasks.

Concept / Approach:
As platforms mature, vendors ship ready-to-use function blocks, communication stacks, HMI templates, and industry-specific apps (batching, motion, PID libraries). This reduces integration time and errors, increases reuse, and supports interoperability via standards (e.g., fieldbuses, Ethernet-based protocols). Costs may rise for premium, niche hardware, but overall, capability grows and total cost of ownership often declines due to productivity gains.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Compare claims: stagnation vs. capability growth.Consider historical trends: more off-the-shelf software modules and frameworks.Reject blanket cost-increase assertions; market competition often lowers cost/compute.Select the statement about more standard software availability.

Verification / Alternative check:
Look at modern PLC environments and SBC ecosystems (function blocks, libraries, SDKs): growth in standardized software is obvious and ongoing.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
(a) Stagnation contradicts industry history. (c) Costs do not uniformly rise; performance/cost generally improves. (d) Cannot be true as (a) and (c) are inaccurate. (e) Invalid because (b) is correct.

Common Pitfalls:
Assuming that more features always mean more cost; productivity gains and standard modules often reduce project budgets.

Final Answer:
They will have more standard industrial application software available in the future