I. Sarachaga

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.

Building complex remote learning laboratories

The interaction with real plants is a key issue in control engineering education in order to consolidate the concepts learned in the classroom. Unfortunately, for several reasons, real laboratories are not always available. On the other hand, Internet technologies have proved to be mature and reliable, becoming a common alternative in the creation of remote laboratories. However, the use of these technologies in complex remote laboratories is not a trivial task as several requisites must be satisfied simultaneously. This article proposes a methodology that eases the creation of remote laboratories establishing the steps to build up a remote access system. This methodology proposes a set of key components that can be used to define the access to a remote plant from a functional point of view. Some of these components are generic being reusable in most applications whereas others are application specific. In summary, the methodology allows designers to concentrate more on the functionality of the applications than on the technical aspects of the underlying technology. The use of this methodology is illustrated with a relatively complex example: A laboratory manufacturing cell.

Object-oriented modeling for remote monitoring of manufacturing processes

Deals with the use of object oriented technologies in the modeling of industrial plants that have to be remotely monitored and/or controlled. The main goal is to propose a design methodology for obtaining the model of the so-called Virtual Plant, that a remote and certified user will use to access the real plant for performing command actions and/or monitoring. The type of applications and systems targeted must have autonomous behavior and be interconnected and accessible. Reliability, maintainability and flexibility are also required goals, as well as a high rate of reusability of the applications. The methodology has been applied to the remote process monitoring and control of manufacturing processes. The Virtual Plant Model is, in fact, the part of the plant that can be accessed by a certified remote client and thus it can be constituted by a set of sub-models, as many as different types of clients. The Virtual Plant resides inside the Application Server who is responsible of communicating with the cell controller and sends the image of the actual plant state (the Virtual Plant) as required by the remote client (monitoring) or sends the client commands to the cell controller.

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.

A novel approach to attain the true reusability of the code between different PLC programming tools

Industrial Process Measurement and 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. In fact, standardization is a key goal to achieve these goals. The international standardization efforts have lead to the definition of the IEC 61131 standard. Part 3 of this standard defines a software model for defining automation projects as well as 5 programming languages. Nowadays, a major part of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) vendors follows this standard, although each programming tool adds particularities and stores the automation project in different manner. But, although they may use the same software model and the same programming languages, source code reuse is not available. This work presents an infrastructure that allows transferring source code from one PLC programming tool to any other transparently to the users. The proposal consists of a textual expression of the software model and the programming languages, as well as the mechanisms, based on XML technologies, to achieve tool interoperability.

Using object oriented technologies in factory automation

This paper discusses the use of OO technologies, in particular the use of Unified Modelling Language (UML) in factory automation. The authors have proposed an architecture to access remotely industrial plants. This papers focuses in the so-called virtual plant model, that contains the information of the plant that is remotely accessible. In order to show the use of UML class diagrams, the virtual plant model of simple manufacturing cell is developed. The remote actions are grouped in user profiles and from them the class diagrams that form the virtual plant are designed. The virtual plant model is contained in the application server that acts as a middleware between the plant and the remote users. Although these classes have been identified for a very simple case study, they may be extended and enriched according to the needs of new applications.

A Methodological Approach to Model-Driven Design and Development of Automation Systems

The growing complexity of industrial automation demands the adoption of software engineering principles for improving the development process of control systems. This paper presents a methodological approach to the design and development of complex automation systems relying on model-driven engineering (MDE). A benefit of this approach is the integration of methods and techniques widespread within the automation discipline with modern MDE techniques guiding the designer through the development phases. A second advantage is to add flexibility enough to adapt the steps to the needs of the system under design. Finally, the architecture presented is prepared to be adapted to methodology extensions to cover other aspects of automation systems. The framework is based on domain models that are defined through the development phases using the terminology of the automation field. Using model transformations both documentation about system analysis and design and the skeleton of software units are automatically generated. A proof-of-concept tool has been developed that has been tested on the design of medium-complexity projects to assess the impact of its use with respect to project documentation and maintenance.Note to Practitioners—Control software development can be considered one of the challenges in automation field for achieving leadership in the future economic market. This work presents a model-driven engineering-based approach making use of both automation and software engineering methods and techniques for developing automation control systems. The framework implements the methodology for industrial automation systems (

USING UML FOR MODELLING REMOTE ACCESS TO MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS

{\rm MeiA}_{\bullet }

Achieving reconfigurable service oriented applications using Model Driven Engineering

) for guiding developers through the development phases and generates the analysis and design documentation using domain terminology, the design documentation that involves the minimal units of design, and the program organization units in one-to-one correspondence with the minimal units of design. From a practical point of view, it should be highly emphasized that developers of automation projects benefit from more structured designs, reduced number of errors, and improved project documentation.

Modeling and validation based on manufacturing standards

Abstract This paper describes a general architecture to access remotely to manufacturing plants through Internet-like networks. The operations that remote users may perform over the plant are analysed in order to identify the different user profiles to be defined as well as the set of objects that constitute the so-called Virtual Plant Model. This Model resides in the Application Server which is responsible for maintaining an image of the real plant state that can be accessed by remote users. When a remote user logs on, the Application Server creates a View Model of the plant through which operations on the plant are performed. The paper discusses the use of UML diagrams that may be used in order to outline the architecture from different points of view.