While there seem to be industrial automation applications where the »Windows« operating system is considered useful, there are downsides to implementing desktop operating systems in critical applications. Apart from safety and security considerations, the very Windows-specific question of 32 or 64 Bit is coming up now in those applications as well.
What's a microcontroller for industrial applications supposed to do? One of the main demands today is to increase energy efficiency while at the same time support as many communications standards as neccessary. Due to the multicore nature of modern microcontrollers, programming has become increasingly difficult so anything that reduces software complexity is highly desirable.
Even industrial automation systems follow the general trend towards more functionality. A new version of a common process control platform has the potential to make some additional systems unnecessary.
Ruggedized touch panel computers can serve as control front ends for industrial networking systems. However, the usually delicate touch screens have to withstand all kinds of mistreatment.
Planning and developing industrial communication systems is a rather difficult task, especially when proprietary fieldbuses are involved. An enhanced tool allows for the direct integration of fieldbus devices into a control system topology using FDT/DTM.
One of the most annoying tasks for electronic design engineers is securing standard conformity. The sizes of descriptions for IEC, DIN and EN usually range between the telephone directory for Greater Londonand the Encyclopedia Britannica. However, most of the more boring steps can be automatized.
Modular software for modular systems: Assembly lines consist of several units, which as a rule are developed and tested independently of one another to a large extent. In order to ensure reasonable interaction of those units in a manufacturing plant and to shorten deployment time, automation software development needs to take place in parallel to hardware development, i.e. in a modular way, too.
Happiness seeps out of Christopher Smith' every pore: Bobbing up and down, the Vice President Marketing at Green Hills Software couldn't stop waving copies of the “prestigious” certifications the company got for its Platform for Industrial Safety. With SWSIL 4 certified against CENELEC EN 50128, the tool provider expanded its safety certification portfolio for its INTEGRITY RTOS (real-time operating system). This Railway Safety Certification targets software for railway control and protection systems. Apart from this, the RTOS has also been certified by the German TÜV Nord SysTec.
The development process of safety or mission critical software poses very special requirements. With the release 6.2 of its tool suite Scade, Esterel Technologies promises crucial innovations in rapid prototyping and embedded interactivity of critical software. The enhancements to Scade Suite, Scade Display and the introduction of Scade Suite Rapid Prototyper potentially speed up rapid prototyping and embedded display development for critical Software, the company affirms.
Simulink PLC Coder is the name of the new product which generates IEC 61131 structured text for industrial control systems. Dr. Joachim Schlosser, Senior Team Leader Application Engineering of The Mathworks proposes that this advancement will bring Model-Based into manufacturing and power generation equipment using programmable logic controllers (PLC) and programmable automation controllers (PAC): “With Simulink PLC Coder, engineers can automatically generate code for industrial control systems, including closed-loop and supervisory control applications,” he affirms.
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