An Integrated System for Logic Controller Implementation Using FPGAs

The major obstacles to teaching Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is a variety of PLCs and the rapid pace of technological development with new models and innovations. Moreover, costs incurred in the setting up of comprehensive and modern PLC laboratory facilities, and in the required periodic updating of teaching material and equipment are, as a result, very high. After investigated the conception and features of PLC and embedded system, the development of the embedded PLC for teaching machatronics students is proposed in this paper with the seamless combination of the LabVIEW software and the ARM Microcontroller with the LabVIEW embedded module. The flexibility of the proposed PLC makes it relatively easy and less costly to teach the basic principle of different kinds of PLCs due to their variety and rapid change. The implementation of the embedded PLC is discussed and evaluated. The results of evaluation shows that embedded PLC can be taught in an uncomplicated manner.

The characteristics and applications of the system for welding machines based on SCM , based on PLC control system and PC-based industrial control system was introduced. It has certain significance to the design of welding machine control system.

Developing a hybrid programmable logic controller platform for a flexible manufacturing system

The essence of this research relates to the redesign for the acquisition of a simulator based on an embedded system in general and specifically to the utilization of a set of programmable logic controllers (PLCs). The research was chosen on the use of instrumentation systems and controlled automation mechanisms by a PLC which functioned as a simulator to operate the double bridge bodies analogy for road traffic lanes, i.e., highways on crossings with dual water canals as the ship-path system or ship crossings. Some results are (i) the operating principle of the simulator, it is observed for the sensors installed on the simulator, whether they are functioning as programmed into the PLC; (ii) when the auto mode of lifting the bridge body, both on bridge bodies #1 and #2, is longer than the process of lowering the bridge bodies, it is more emphasized on the existence of a gravitational force; and (iii) there is no significant time difference compared between the auto and manual mode selection. Concluding based on the four main research objectives and topics carried out that the stages for performing the simulator assisted by PLC and driven by GX Work of Mitsubishi can be realized according to the initials of idea and design for selecting and determining the hardware and software.

In the course of the fourth industrial revolution, companies are facing considerable challenges, such as retrofitting and integrating existing, mission-critical automated production systems (aPS) into new interconnected environments. To integrate the production data from aPS and to make it available for data analysis and plant monitoring, relevant data from the programmable logic controller (PLC) of each aPS needs to be accessed and forwarded. These PLCs, at a first priority, control the production plants and ensure reliable production. Due to the long life-cycles of aPS of around 30 years, a huge number of legacy PLCs with limited processing and communication capabilities exists in the field. Therefore, retrofitting concepts that aim to allow access to PLC data need to account for this special, mission-critical role of PLCs. In the context of PLC retrofitting approaches, research currently addresses two domains: on the one hand, abstract Industrie 4.0 architectures are proposed that lack of implementation details. On the other hand, specific retrofitting concepts are presented, which are usually not transferable to other application purposes. Hence, this work aims to fill this gap by deriving generally applicable retrofitting strategies for legacy PLCs for data collection. Five technology-neutral retrofitting concepts based on industrially relevant use-cases were proposed. Three concepts were substantiated on an exemplary basis and their validity shown within a proof-of-concept. Altogether, this work can act as a guideline for retrofitting automation technology to facilitate the integration of legacy systems in Industrie 4.0 scenarios.

In this paper, we identify the database issues associated with programmable logic controllers (PLC), special-purpose computers used in scientific and industrial applications, e.g., in factories in manufacturing environments. We propose as a PLC database system a single-user, real-time, scalable main-memory-only relational database system with a two-level architecture having historical data modeling and manipulation capabilities, and query processing techniques incorporating time- and/or error-constrained query evaluation. We revise the ladder logic language, the most common PLC language, to incorporate data manipulation language instructions. We add a separate time component into the PLC processor scan time to handle database updates, backup, integrity enforcement and data archival issues.KeywordsQuery ProcessingApplication ProgramRelational AlgebraHost ComputerOutput BufferThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

최근 자동 생산 시스템은 PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) 제어 프로그램을 일반적으로 사용하고 있다. 생산제품의 수명 주기가 길지 않기 때문에 공법과 라인 및 설비 변경이 자주 일어난다. 대부분, 기존 공정을 바탕으로 이루어지고 설비의 위치 및 제어정보를 수정한다. PLC 제어 프로그램 또한 기존 공정을 바탕으로 수정이 이루어진다. 새로운 제어 프로그램을 검증하기 위해서는 실제 생산 시스템을 구축하기 전에 가상의 공간에서 실제 공정과 같이 구성하여 순차적으로 공정이 진행되는 지 확인할 수 있는 방법이 필요하다. 본 연구는 순차제어(sequential control)와 병목현상 처리에 유용한 Timed-FSA를 기반으로 하는 논리적인 모델링 방법을 사용한다. 기존에 연구되었던 I-O 모델링과 I-O 모델링에서 요구되었던 하나의 설비에 다양한 상태의 정의를 통해 사용자의 시간과 공수를 절감하기 위한 기존 모델링에 페트리네트의 토큰(Petri Nets Coloured Token) 개념을 추가한 확장된 I-O 모델링 방법을 제안한다. 예제 설비를 통하여 사용자의 모델링 시간을 절감하는 실험과 사용자 평가를 통해 제안하는 확장된 I-O 모델링의 편의성을 검증한다. Recently manufacturing companies have used PLC control programs popularly for their automated production systems. Since the life cycle of production process is not so long, the change of the production lines occur frequently. Most of changes happen with modification of the position information and control process of the equipment. PLC control program is also modified based on the fundamental process. Therefore, to verify new PLC program by configuring virtual space according to real environment is needed. In this paper we show a logical modeling method, based on Timed-FSA useful for sequence control and dead-lock prevention. There is a problem wasting user's labor and time when defining a variety of states in a device. To overcome this problem, we propose an extended I-O model based on existing methods by adding a token concept of Petri Nets. Also we will show the usability of the extended I-O modeling through user study.

Integration of Networked Control Systems is always an engineering challenge. Heterogeneous hardware and software environments combined with long lifetime of control systems makes this job particularly troublesome. Modern concepts of integration of automation systems are related to Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). While its suitability is proven in IT systems, SOA has not been adopted yet in commercial Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), and thus cannot be considered as a solution for integration with already deployed control systems. However, during past years thousands of PLCs with embedded HTTP servers were deployed in the field. These devices, used together with modern PLC that acts as the HTTP client, enable unique opportunity of integration for control systems with soft real-time constraints. In the present study, the performance of PLC-to-PLC communications based on HTTP is evaluated and compared to Modbus TCP.

The main challenges related to water affect human settlements' sustainability: the lack of access to safe and clean water at all times. These problems have massive consequences on human health, safety, economic growth, and development. Rujban city faces this crisis despite more than five decades trying to resolve this problem. In this paper, we describe the existing water supply system, which consists of three main components: Karthoom Automated Control System (KACS), Idref Automated Control System 1 (IACS1), and Idref Automated Control System 2 (IACS2). We propose the control system design of the KACS to meet the city's demand and keep the collecting tank with an acceptable level of water continuously. This paper presents the Karthoom Automatic Control System (KACS) design to control the water supply system using the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). PLC controller is a central part of the proposed automatic control system due to its reliability and ease of installing and maintenance. Besides, we use PLC to carry out the water level control, sequencing, monitoring, display, and control functions, such as logic, sequence, timing, counting, and arithmetic logic. To maintain an appropriate water level in the collecting tank, we control the operation of the feeding submersible pumps ("on" or "off") by sensing the collecting tank's water levels. This is accomplished by utilizing four-stage-level sensors, seven water flow sensors, and an RF transmitter/receiver to monitor and control all pumps' operations and protect them from dry running and then accomplish the sensing stage. We introduce the control system components, the operation flow chart, and the proposed system's implementation. Finally, we implemented and conducted a simulation experiment using the Siemens S7-200 PLC to control the overall water supply system and evaluate the proposed control approach's performance.

A structured design procedure for systems integration sequential logic which is to be implemented on programmable logic controllers is presented. The procedure offers the advantages of producing intrinsically robust software which is very easy to understand and to modify as systems requirements change. The approach takes advantage of the sequential nature nature of processors to assure that the order of solution of the sequential logic equations is consistent with maximum speed and instantaneous correctness of the output states. The authors present examples of the basic elements of the structured design procedure from which any type of system integration can be implemented. An example is given of an industrial die cast molding machine system. >

Current approaches to manufacturing must evolve to respond to increasing demands for short product life cycles and customised products. Adaptive manufacturing systems integrate advanced technologies, automation, and data-driven methodologies to develop adaptable, efficient, and responsive production processes. Central to this concept is the emphasis on human involvement and fostering synergy between human operators and the manufacturing system. Significant changes to the system’s controller are required to achieve adaptivity, with programmable logic controllers (PLCs) being a common controller type. After the necessary changes to the configuration of the manufacturing system, the PLC should be reconfigured to orchestrate the new required behaviour. Automated reconfiguration is vital to rapidly responding to change, but some changes cannot be entirely achieved without human input in collaboration with automated methods. Conventional practices in PLC programming include manual, repetitive coding practices subject to errors. As a result, to ensure operational safety, the changes must be tested before being deployed to operations, ensuring it is error-free. This paper presents a methodology to automatically reconfigure the simulation environment and controller in response to a new product request. We automate the PLC code generation and testing practices to support and free up the operators when performing repetitive manufacturing reconfiguration tasks. The methodology is based on human learning, software automation, customised program development, knowledge graphs, and Graph Neural Networks (GNNs). The presented solution is a generic, vendor-agnostic, and interoperable solution that facilitates information exchange among multiple heterogeneous environments. Lastly, we have validated the methodology as a proof of concept at an adaptive assembly cell at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.

The integration of perational Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT) is crucial for enterprise-level decision-making regarding company effectiveness and productivity. This integration is achieved by developing an integrator system in the form of an API service, which facilitates the connection between Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and Odoo Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Integration allows IT systems synergize with OT systems to processing data obtained from the performance of industrial machines. Analysis was conducted using the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) method to monitor the company’s production outcomes. A prototype sorting system with PLC for controlling was created as an OEE implementation. The API service acquires data from the plant and performs preliminary analysis in Odoo ERP. The analysis in Odoo ERP is conducted through the development of a manufacturing module that applies the OEE method calculations to monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of production procces. Once the calculation result is obtained, these data are monitored on Grafana in the form of pie charts and graphs. This research yielded insight into the design and implementation of an integration system for the bottle sorting process. The result also could be monitored in real-time using Odoo ERP and Grafana. Furthermore, the OEE analysis was matched with manual calculations in order to ensure its validity. Thus, this research enables the production process to be optimized and provides significant benefits to the company.

The power generation using solar energy has been used widely many years ago due to fuel shortage and its low cost. In this paper, a design and implement of dual axis solar tracking system has been implemented using programmable logic controller (PLC). This proposed system, keeps the solar panels aligned with the sun during the sunrise hours, in order to maximize solar power extracted from the sun. In this work an open loop control systems been designed and carried out using PLC, and direct current motors for solar cell sun tracking. The tracking has done in two manners, that is, the usual daily sun tracking vertically, and the seasonal sun tracking horizontally. The second tracking technique, computes the difference in the day hours per year in four seasons, with the aid of PLC program, which is the solar time of the day hours or the sunrise hours of the day. After the system has completely installed a suitable measurement has been carried out for the fixed and moving solar panel. As compared with usual fixed panels, the power that has been obtained from the solar system is 38% better than the fixed technique.

After investigating the conception and features of PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) and embedded system, in this paper the conception of a Quasi-PLC is proposed, which combine the advantages of PLC and embedded system. The architecture of Quasi-PLC and a Top-Down design method with collaboration design of software and hardware for Quasi-PLC embedded control system are researched then. Finally, setting the large-scale industrial valve control system as an example, the conception of Quasi-PLC and related technologies are used in industrial valve control system, and a satisfied application effect is obtained, which proves the rationality of the conception of Quasi-PLC and related technologies.

The powder-bed fusion (PBF) process is capable of producing near-fully dense metallic parts; however, various defects — particularly thermal abnormalities — can still be observed during the process. Some of these thermal defects — cracks, distortion, delamination of layers, and microporosity — cannot be removed by post-processing operations. The majority of these abnormalities are the result of residual stress, heat accumulation, lack of inter-track /inter-layer bonding, lack of powder fusion, or a combination of these factors. Modifying the scanning strategy (the topology of scanning tracks) can efficiently mitigate these abnormalities by adjusting the process parameters and adopting proper scanning patterns. The implementation of different scanning strategies significantly changes the ultimate quality of printed parts and manufacturing process lead time. Choosing a proper scanning strategy minimizes the residual stress and internal porosity, generates homogeneous microstructure, and avoids heat accumulation throughout the part during the printing process. In this work, we conducted a critical review of different scanning strategies, their pros and cons, limitations, and influence on the resulting properties of fabricated parts. Furthermore, we report the latest efforts for improvement of the current scanning strategies and introduce the-state-of-the-art strategies in the multi-laser PBF (ML-PBF) process. The insights provided here can assist scholars in evaluating existing scanning strategies and scanning patterns, and in identifying ways both to overcome scanning limitations and to modify them. On the other hand, it can assist manufacturers in selecting the best scanning strategies for their products based on their designs, demands, and resources.