C
The following is an email I attempted to send but forgot to check the attachment size, the mail "bounced" (actually it is sitting in the list moderator's inbox for review, if he/she could kill it, thanks in advance)
David Campbell (very embarrassed)
> Brian Dodge wrote:
>
> > Hi David,
> >
> > I'm not sure if this belongs to the main PLC mail-list. I have been
> > following the thread for a while now and want to contribute. I am
> > new to the PLC / factory automation world and want to learn more
>
> <Disclaimer>
> I am immediately forwarding this to the list, unfortunately for me I
> work for one of the "borgs" of the industrial control world. I have had
> previous involvement in GNU projects (Linux driver for parallel port
> ZIP drive) but this is a little close to the day job so I there is a
> need for me to be perfectly impartial. I am not the list maintainer
> and my effort for the FAQ so far has been to write the table of contents.
> <End of Disclaimer>
>
> > You mentioned editors here. I have one that I wrote which is much more
> > like modern Windows like editors (such as Visual C++), that I would be
> > glad to contribute (open source) to the project.
> >
> > It is multi-platform (windows 9x, nt, linux, sunos, solaris, etc.) and
> > is quite programmable and flexible, I have attached the recent Windows
> > version for your amusement. (bed = "brians editor)
> > Let me know if you want the Linux/X windows version!
>
[*snip* 2MB executable]
> I am very impressed!! (for a general purpose editor).
>
> What I am looking for is a GUI editor which will allow entry of PLC
> programming. I previously stated my intention was for educational
> institues, hence something a student who had just learnt the basics
> of ladder logic or function block diagrams could quickly build their
> own PLC configuration. I have attached PID.PDF showing what a random
> commerical package can do for function blocks. Similarly MOTOR.PDF
> is a sample of ladder logic, while MOTOR.TXT is the structured text
> generated by the package for the example ladder logic.
>
> <<example.zip>>
> At approx USD$5,000 per copy of the program, it is not exactly
> cheap for the few occasions that I need it (too expensive for
> University budgets). I was attempting to place the issue of a
> configuration editor on the TODO list, I was not expecting anyone
> to attack the problem this year.
>
> Once the PLC configuration issue is resolved I expect there will
> be more involvement from other parties in the area of PLC device
> drivers.
>
> "In a nutshell":
> ==========================================
> [Config Editor] => Config.txt => [IEC translator] => "C" code
> "C" code => [GCC] => Control Algorithm
> Control Algorithm + PLC Driver(s) => Working PLC system
> ==========================================
>
> > I am currently working on Web enabling embedded devices in the
> > scada/mmi/hmi context, and also developing UPnP (universal plug
> > and play) for devices. This is an interesting world!
>
> This is an area that probably needs more work before the editors
> are required. Like yourself I am fairly new to this area of PLC.
>
> When I wrote the FAQ table of contents I was thinking of some
> method to have a PLC interface server (bridge) program that
> communicated between device drivers (and attached PLC devices)
> and programs such as control algorithms, data historian and
> MMI interfaces.
>
> David Campbell
David Campbell (very embarrassed)
> Brian Dodge wrote:
>
> > Hi David,
> >
> > I'm not sure if this belongs to the main PLC mail-list. I have been
> > following the thread for a while now and want to contribute. I am
> > new to the PLC / factory automation world and want to learn more
>
> <Disclaimer>
> I am immediately forwarding this to the list, unfortunately for me I
> work for one of the "borgs" of the industrial control world. I have had
> previous involvement in GNU projects (Linux driver for parallel port
> ZIP drive) but this is a little close to the day job so I there is a
> need for me to be perfectly impartial. I am not the list maintainer
> and my effort for the FAQ so far has been to write the table of contents.
> <End of Disclaimer>
>
> > You mentioned editors here. I have one that I wrote which is much more
> > like modern Windows like editors (such as Visual C++), that I would be
> > glad to contribute (open source) to the project.
> >
> > It is multi-platform (windows 9x, nt, linux, sunos, solaris, etc.) and
> > is quite programmable and flexible, I have attached the recent Windows
> > version for your amusement. (bed = "brians editor)
> > Let me know if you want the Linux/X windows version!
>
[*snip* 2MB executable]
> I am very impressed!! (for a general purpose editor).
>
> What I am looking for is a GUI editor which will allow entry of PLC
> programming. I previously stated my intention was for educational
> institues, hence something a student who had just learnt the basics
> of ladder logic or function block diagrams could quickly build their
> own PLC configuration. I have attached PID.PDF showing what a random
> commerical package can do for function blocks. Similarly MOTOR.PDF
> is a sample of ladder logic, while MOTOR.TXT is the structured text
> generated by the package for the example ladder logic.
>
> <<example.zip>>
> At approx USD$5,000 per copy of the program, it is not exactly
> cheap for the few occasions that I need it (too expensive for
> University budgets). I was attempting to place the issue of a
> configuration editor on the TODO list, I was not expecting anyone
> to attack the problem this year.
>
> Once the PLC configuration issue is resolved I expect there will
> be more involvement from other parties in the area of PLC device
> drivers.
>
> "In a nutshell":
> ==========================================
> [Config Editor] => Config.txt => [IEC translator] => "C" code
> "C" code => [GCC] => Control Algorithm
> Control Algorithm + PLC Driver(s) => Working PLC system
> ==========================================
>
> > I am currently working on Web enabling embedded devices in the
> > scada/mmi/hmi context, and also developing UPnP (universal plug
> > and play) for devices. This is an interesting world!
>
> This is an area that probably needs more work before the editors
> are required. Like yourself I am fairly new to this area of PLC.
>
> When I wrote the FAQ table of contents I was thinking of some
> method to have a PLC interface server (bridge) program that
> communicated between device drivers (and attached PLC devices)
> and programs such as control algorithms, data historian and
> MMI interfaces.
>
> David Campbell
