Training and Education resources for Control system programming?

T

Thread Starter

T Laven

Hi I'm new to the forum, and am looking for a way to learn how to program HMI applications for control systems. I was a programmer in a financial services company for years, went through a mid-life career change and now am a wind turbine technician. I have become familiar with and very interested in the control systems for these machines, especially in the area of HMI.

I live in the Midwest USA, and I have a BS degree in a non-related field (Geography), and an AAS degree in Wind Energy.

Could anyone suggest where I might start looking? I'm particularly interested in developing HMI applications on Android-based tablets or the iPad.

Thanks very much for your advice/assistance.
 
> I'm particularly interested in developing HMI applications on Android-based tablets or the iPad.

Our http://pvbrowser.org runs on Android.
This is possible because it is based on http://qt.nokia.com/ which is a cross platform toolkit.
For Android support please have a look on
http://sourceforge.net/p/necessitas/home/necessitas/

Another option might be web based using a normal internet browser. But performance might be a problem then.

PS: Currently there is no port of Qt for iOS.
 
I have a cent's-worth of advice here, having been through some HMI- and control system development projects over many years.

An HMI is not a control system. It is a window into what the control system is doing, and it can be used to program the control system that is controlling the prime mover (wind turbine in your case) and driven device (generator) and any auxiliaries.

Trying to make an HMI be part of the control system, actually controlling the prime mover and driven device and auxiliaries is not a good idea.

Keep the HMI as simple as possible--not easy what with NERC and FERC and CIP. If you're just trying to use it to generate reports or display status, try to start with something already developed before trying to develop your own application/package.

And, understand the "process" as much as possible--the process being generating electrical power using a wind turbine and generator and the required auxiliaries. The HMI world is littered with extremely complicated applications that don't do a good job with the display of basic operating parameters and "controls" (being the "buttons" and "switches" used to interface with the control system to increase or decrease load, for example, or increase or decrease excitation, etc.).

Getting to know at least one existing package would help you to understand what's available and what's possible, as well as what's not possible. And you can then make a list of what is required by your organization or what you think other companies might be looking for (innovation and creativity).

Hope this helps!
 
"> The HMI world is littered with extremely complicated applications that don't do a good job with the
> display of basic operating parameters and "controls" (being the "buttons" and "switches" used to interface with the
> control system to increase or decrease load, for example, or increase or decrease excitation, etc.)."

Thanks! I think you are exactly right here, and that's what makes me excited about giving HMI design/development a try.

Just not sure how to get started - thinking I might buy a SONY tablet and some books on Android app development and dive in? So much to learn and I don't want to waste any time though.
 
this is interesting.

how is the interface developed for android devices, i mean, how would the android based HMI communicate with PLC?

can a controller be made with these devices? (regarding the I/O)
and most importantly, is it a one man's game?
 
> how is the interface developed for android devices, i mean, how would the android based HMI communicate with PLC?

You run your development environment on a PC and use an android emulator on that PC to test the android app.

Normally android apps are developed in Java using
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html

But you can also use C/C++ when you add
http://developer.android.com/sdk/ndk/index.html

You can even create the GUI in C/C++ with Qt http://qt.nokia.com/ which is available for android by the http://sourceforge.net/p/necessitas/home/necessitas/ project.

Our pvbrowser has been available as a PC app written on top of Qt. It has been very straight forward to run pvbrowser on android.

For more details about pvbrowser read
http://pvbrowser.org
 
Top