Background
With the addition of a hardware design group at Prism Systems, Inc., our capabilities have greatly increased. To assist our controls engineers, we set out to create the Process Test Equipment, a portable, versatile device that can simulate other equipment with which a PLC could connect. The goal of the Process Test Equipment is to make development, testing, and troubleshooting of controls software faster and easier. The idea to make this equipment came from various employees coming to us for specialized test set-ups. After this happened a number of times, we polled people to find out if they needed additional equipment. We also discovered that only a few people have Process Meters and they cost over $600 to purchase.
User Benefits
- Upgraded Operator Interface provides more specific fault notifications
- Streamlined code provided along with easy trouble shooting for maintenance
- Adding/Removing equipment was made simple using Modular programming with virtually no programming support
- Hardware readily available when needed
Technologies
- ARM Cortex M3 microprocessor
- C programming language
- Keil uVision IDE
Solution
Prism Systems, Inc. designed and built a number of Process Test Equipment Devices to assist in the development and testing of PLC software. The Process Test Equipment provides an all-in-one set of functions in a small package so that a controls engineer does not have to gather and set up multiple pieces of equipment each time they are writing software. It can be used to simulate current or voltage controlled sensor signals at adjustable frequencies. It can generate a digital pulse train to simulate a flow sensor, counter, etc. It also provides a portable voltage source, voltage divider, and a manually controlled current loop. All of these tools can be used in various ways in the field or in the office. As our controls engineers use the Process Test Equipment in the, we hope to receive feedback in order to improve its existing features and possibly add new capabilities.
