Modular tools for motion control and process control system design

Abstract

An open, reconfigurable and modular process monitoring and CNC operating system has been developed. The process monitoring system runs on a dedicated DSP board with analog input and output channels. New process control and signal processing algorithms can be rapidly applied by sequential execution of script commands provided in a library. The CNC operating system is a combination of an open real-time, preemptive DSP operating system and a Windows NT application, which are fully integrated with each other. It supports multiple DSP boards and multiple host computers for distributed operation. The system's transparent communication protocol allows connection between software modules on the same or different DSP boards and host computers. The connections can be set up at runtime via a scripting language. THe operating system allows modular integration of new functions developed in C language, and can be reconfigured to control robots, machine tools or processes, using simple script commands. The system can be used as an open architecture, modular operating system for the progressive development of real time signal processing, motion and process control applications running in WINDOWS NT and DSP environments.