Elisabet Estévez

XML exchange of control programs

The XML interface defined by PLCopen allows software reuse through interoperability between development tools, as it provides the ability to transfer the information that is on the screen to other platforms. This article presented a way to give any development environment that does not yet support the PLCopen interface the ability to import/export XML files following such a format and, thus, making code really exchangeable. However, the profit to be made may be much more than code reuse, as the interface can be used to interoperate with other software tools, such as configuration, documentation, version control, modeling, and simulation tools.

A Tool Integration Framework for Industrial Distributed Control Systems

This paper presents a tool integration approach for supporting the development cycle of industrial distributed control applications. The core of the approach is a formal model of the application that expresses separately the functionality of the control system from the implementation issues. The modeling language selected is XML (eXtensible Markup Language) and the framework proposed makes use of XML technologies for achieving the integration of the tools involved within the development cycle. Following this approach, a set of tools from different domain of expertise (control engineering, software engineering, configuration, maintenance...) have been integrated into a framework. The toolset has been used for designing and validating the distributed control system of a heat treatment line.

Model-driven design of Industrial Control Systems

Industrial control systems are used in most of the industrial sectors to achieve production improvement, process optimization and time and cost reduction. Integration, reuse, flexibility and optimization are demanded to adapt to a rapidly changing and competitive market. There is also a growing requirement that all software tools that support the different phases of the development process (design, configuration, management) can be integrated as well. Thus, a consolidation of modeling methodologies for achieving this goal is needed. This paper proposes a Model-driven approach based on different views of the application (control engineering, electric engineering and software engineering views) for designing industrial control systems. The approach is based on the definition of a description language that includes the description of the three domain views and their relationships. In particular, XML schema technology is used to define the architectural style and schematron technology to implement the composition rules.

A Methodology for Multidisciplinary Modeling of Industrial Control Systems using UML

Industrial process measurement and control systems (IPMCS) are used in most of the industrial sectors to achieve production improvement, process optimization and time and cost reduction. Integration, reuse, flexibility and optimization are demanded to adapt to a rapidly changing and competitive market. Thus, a consolidation of modeling methodologies for achieving this goal is needed. In this paper, a multidisciplinary modelling of distributed IPMCS, as well as a modelling methodology are proposed. The model of the application consists of three related views that separate the functional aspects from the implementation issues (hardware and software). The complete model is constituted by the three different views as well as the relationship among them. The modelling methodology makes use of the unified modelling language (UML) and it guides a non-expert UML user through the steps needed to model the control application. To achieve this, a set of UML profiles, that characterize the different elements of each domain view, have been defined. A limited subset of UML diagrams are used to define the three domains as well as its relationships. To illustrate its use, the methodology is applied to an industrial application: the distributed control system of a heat treatment line.

PLCopen for achieving interoperability between development phases

As fast as industry reaches a greater maturity level and applications become more complex, a consolidation of the modeling methodologies becomes necessary. They are composed by a lot of heterogeneous systems that need working together to perform automation and control tasks. AutomationML frameworks goal is to interconnect the heterogeneous tools used in the different engineering disciplines. In concrete it manages three well accepted standards: CAEX for topology, COLLADA for kinematics and geometry, and PLCopen for logic data. This paper is focused in the logic data. A logic CPF framework is defined in order to integrate tools into AutomationML framework that fulfill the logic data present in different development phases of the applications.

Engineering of manufacturing systems within engineering networks

Within the engineering of manufacturing systems an important change took place. The prior sequential and strongly disconnected engineering activities of the different stakeholders involved in this process became interlinked and strongly coupled leading to engineering networks. To properly work within such engineering networks lossless, consistent, and scalable data exchange structures and formats are essential for the success. Within this paper the applicability of the AutomationML by the different stakeholders of the engineering process is addressed. It is shown how this exchange format can be applied within one engineering network and which of the required engineering data are currently covered by the format.

Access to process data with OPC-DA using IEC61499 Service Interface Function Blocks

The need for flexibility in manufacturing systems is continuously growing. This need deals with the establishment of design methodologies for implementing distributed applications. The IEC61499 define a generic architecture for designing distributed applications, based on Functions Block (FB) networks. The interface between the control software and the hardware is achieved by means of the so called Service Interface FB. But guidelines to implement this type of FBs are provided neither by the standard nor by the available tools. On the other hand, one of the most widely used industrial communication standard is OPC that enables the exchange of data between multi-vendor devices and control applications without any proprietary restrictions. Thus, an easy integration of this communication standard within IEC61499 applications may contribute to consolidate such standard. This paper presents the guidelines to use OPC in industrial applications through the definition an implementation of SIFBs to access process data using OPC-DA (OPC Data Access) specification.

Model driven design in industrial automation

Current industrial applications demand the design of more and more complex, safe and trustworthy control systems which exhibit a high degree of flexibility and reutilization. To achieve this, the engineering process has to be improved through the integration of the tools involved in the development process. To achieve this goal the definition of Markup Languages for factory automation has been proposed at different layers of the engineering process. They allow defining the application from different points of view. Each point of view uses a particular syntax and semantics. Applications are defined by means of a set of view models as well as their relationships. This paper proposes a further step as the mechanisms needed for exchanging information among models are analyzed. They are used in the design of a model collaboration prototype for distributed industrial control systems.

Using cyclic executives for achieving closed loop co-simulation

Co-simulation between models that focus in different aspects of the same system is a powerful tool during the design of a system. In this paper, a co-simulation application that closes the loop between the process model and the control system, running in different software tools, is presented. The target systems are Industrial Process Measurement and Control Systems (IPMCS) that usually are implemented using PLCs as the primary control equipment. The configuration of the co-simulation is achieved by extracting information from the software model of the system being designed. Mainly, the concurrent control algorithms as well as their temporal requirements (period and priority) and the process model input/output variables are used for designing a simple cyclic executive. This cyclic executive marks the time instants in which data exchange for each control loop must be performed. These synchronization times are used by the cosimulation application which allows performing incremental validations of the control system before its implementation. The framework is based on CORBA middleware. This middleware allows performing the co-simulation among heterogeneous and distributed tools.

FORMAL MODELLING OF INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTED CONTROL SYSTEMS

Abstract Industrial Process Measurement and Control Systems (IPMCS) are used in most of the industrial sectors to achieve production improvement, process optimisation and time and cost reduction. Integration, reuse, flexibility and optimisation are demanded to adapt to a rapidly changing and competitive market. There is also a growing requirement that all software tools that support the different phases of the development process (design, configuration, management) can be integrated as well. Thus, a consolidation of modelling methodologies for achieving this goal is needed. This paper presents a formal modelling for IPMCS that captures all aspects of the system to design in terms of functionality and implementation (hardware and software). The modelling language (eXtensible Markup Language, XML) allow to implement model validation as well as to easily transform information coming from / going to different software tools, achieving tool integration.