C
Hi All
We have seen another attempt at standardization derailed by proprietary interests on the fieldbus front, I have several types of automation equipment, none of which will interoperate, and the various "Open" initiatives all involve Microsoft and Microsoft only. The major vendors
seem to go out of their way to prevent interoperability and the market is years behind the state of the art , because the state of the art is "Customer Driven".
What this industry needs is a truly open alternative, designed with open architecture, open protocols and "what is good for the customer" in mind. From the research I have done, all the pieces are in place to build a solution for the community, controlled by the community and owned by the community. I am seeking volunteers who are interested in giving some of their expertise and talent to make this possible. Worst case, it would be a great free educational package to teach Automation basics. How good it could become is virtually unlimited.
It goes without saying that everyone, whether they contribute or not would have access to the result. I'm sure there is enough talent reading
these words to build an excellent system or suite of products.
Here's an outline on how it could be done:
The system would be PC based and aimed at generic hardware. The Operating System would be Linux. If real time performance becomes necessary, it would incorporate either the RTLinux system or the KURT
system for hard or soft realtime respectively. The I/O would be either PCI I/O cards or MODBUS/TCP for remote I/O. The reference software
implementation would be a state language or possibly ladder logic PLC with SCADA, HMI, etc., etc. added as people want them. The first
pieces to be coded would be modules that map I/O to a common shared memory map. This would abstract the differences between remote and
attached I/O allowing a PLC to be built that will work with new modules interchangebly. It will be coded in C for speed and to expand the programmer pool.
Q&A
Why?: Because we can. The comments I have read on the list indicate a desire to do things better. Call it a hobby, Make a tool you can give to your local high school. Because it'd be fun.
Why Linux: It's free, all the tools are there and they're free. And the huge amount of stuff that comes with it would save a lot of reinventing wheels. And there are no license fees or royalties. And most, important, the
GPL would keep it open and free to all.
Why Modbus/TCP: It works on commodity ethernet hardware and the spec and example code are free. It is supported by at least two I/O systems,
Opto22 and Modicon Momentum with bridges to others. TCP/IP will take over eventually. It's truly open,cheap, fast, and already there.
What is needed:
I have committed to doing the I/O and PLC myself. I will gladly accept help on any of it or give parts to others to do. Whatever you're
interested in doing is welcome. I am not a professional coder so, the best code wins. Code and ideas are welcome. Someone with disk space
and bandwidth would be helpful as I live in a rural area and can't get a fast connection. Someone with experience in Flex and Bison to help or code. I/O hardware is needed now (Opto 22 EIEIO, or Modicon Momentum with an Ethernet adapter.). All are welcome to contribute.
Curt Wuollet, Owner, Wide Open Technologies.
We have seen another attempt at standardization derailed by proprietary interests on the fieldbus front, I have several types of automation equipment, none of which will interoperate, and the various "Open" initiatives all involve Microsoft and Microsoft only. The major vendors
seem to go out of their way to prevent interoperability and the market is years behind the state of the art , because the state of the art is "Customer Driven".
What this industry needs is a truly open alternative, designed with open architecture, open protocols and "what is good for the customer" in mind. From the research I have done, all the pieces are in place to build a solution for the community, controlled by the community and owned by the community. I am seeking volunteers who are interested in giving some of their expertise and talent to make this possible. Worst case, it would be a great free educational package to teach Automation basics. How good it could become is virtually unlimited.
It goes without saying that everyone, whether they contribute or not would have access to the result. I'm sure there is enough talent reading
these words to build an excellent system or suite of products.
Here's an outline on how it could be done:
The system would be PC based and aimed at generic hardware. The Operating System would be Linux. If real time performance becomes necessary, it would incorporate either the RTLinux system or the KURT
system for hard or soft realtime respectively. The I/O would be either PCI I/O cards or MODBUS/TCP for remote I/O. The reference software
implementation would be a state language or possibly ladder logic PLC with SCADA, HMI, etc., etc. added as people want them. The first
pieces to be coded would be modules that map I/O to a common shared memory map. This would abstract the differences between remote and
attached I/O allowing a PLC to be built that will work with new modules interchangebly. It will be coded in C for speed and to expand the programmer pool.
Q&A
Why?: Because we can. The comments I have read on the list indicate a desire to do things better. Call it a hobby, Make a tool you can give to your local high school. Because it'd be fun.
Why Linux: It's free, all the tools are there and they're free. And the huge amount of stuff that comes with it would save a lot of reinventing wheels. And there are no license fees or royalties. And most, important, the
GPL would keep it open and free to all.
Why Modbus/TCP: It works on commodity ethernet hardware and the spec and example code are free. It is supported by at least two I/O systems,
Opto22 and Modicon Momentum with bridges to others. TCP/IP will take over eventually. It's truly open,cheap, fast, and already there.
What is needed:
I have committed to doing the I/O and PLC myself. I will gladly accept help on any of it or give parts to others to do. Whatever you're
interested in doing is welcome. I am not a professional coder so, the best code wins. Code and ideas are welcome. Someone with disk space
and bandwidth would be helpful as I live in a rural area and can't get a fast connection. Someone with experience in Flex and Bison to help or code. I/O hardware is needed now (Opto 22 EIEIO, or Modicon Momentum with an Ethernet adapter.). All are welcome to contribute.
Curt Wuollet, Owner, Wide Open Technologies.