Development of a distributed control application platform for embedded controllers

Abstract

A prototype was developed of a generic platform which can be used for building reconfigurable distributed embedded controllers. The platform provides the tooling for assembling a component-based controller framework for distributed control and for generating Control Applications (CApps), which can run on such a controller and execute certain control functions. The Object Model was used for device drivers, as well as for non-mandatory components and implemented by respectively a Common Device Model (CDM) and a Component Management Model (CMM). By incorporating CDM and CMM into the framework's architecture it is possible to reconfigure the controller by plugging or unplugging components and drivers-remotely and on-the-fly-e.g. to cater for different hardware or to implement different control strategy. A case study, wherein a Distributed Control Application Platform was used to control a robot for production cell simulation, demonstrated the concept of remote configuration and control of applications developed with the platform.