This is a bit of a vague question, but I am just starting on this, and
wonder if anyone has ideas of where to start.
I have a program that controls some external equipment. It sends messages in
various flavours to cause the equipment to turn signals on and off, and
change voltages and such like.
Attached to this external equipment, is another piece of equipment that
responds to these changes in signals and voltages.
What I need to do is automate the way in which my program turns these
signals on and off, and changes voltages in the external equipment. I also
need to do it in such a way that it is configurable without changes to
source code.
My first thoughts are towards some kind of script that I interpret and use
to determine what actions my program must take. The script would need to be
flexible enough to allow me to specify what signals are controlled, in real
time, and what voltages are set and over what time period they should
change. It would also need to allow me to monitor status from the external
equipment in a given time frame to determine if actions had been successful
or not.
That is as far as I have got. Is this type of application familiar to
anyone, and does anyone have any suggestions regarding how to go about this?
Some examples of scripts that make this type of operation possible?
As I say, it is a bit vague at this stage, and this is probably not the very
best place to be asking, so if anyone knows where I would be better asking
that would be helpful too. Otherwise, any pointers welcome.
TIA
Charles
Jul 21 '05
12  1619 
Hi Hal
We (the company I am working with) are the manufacturers of the external
equipment, so we have our own comms protocol for this. The equipment is
connected via a simple serial/USB link. you said the equip does all the voltage changing - depending on the signal
you send to it - and that equipment talks to (controls) other equipment -
It's actually the other way around: we send commands to the external
equipment, and it changes signals and voltages to the devices on the end.
The actual mode of communication is not so much the problem as we already
have that in place. It is the automation of the control that we are looking
at now, and from earlier suggestions it looks like the Command pattern is a
good avenue.
Do you have any experience of that pattern (or others) in this type of
application?
Sounds like a distributed control system (DCS) - common to PLCs and some
Instrumentation
You are on the right lines; it is actually ATE (automatic test equipment)
for use in a production test environment.
Charles
"Hal Rosser" <hm******@bells outh.net> wrote in message
news:xx******** ********@bignew s2.bellsouth.ne t... Charles,
What methods of communication is available to the equipment ? TCP/IP?
Does the equipment connect through a hub to a lan?
The mfg should provide some info - like "if you send "X" signal - the
equipment wil do 'so-n-so' does the equip have a network card? can you
telnet to it?
This sounds interesting. but mo info
you said the equip does all the voltage changing - depending on the signal
you send to it - and that equipment talks to (controls) other equipment -
Sounds like a distributed control system (DCS) - common to PLCs and some
Instrumentation
Fisher Controls, Allen Bradley, Modicon are a few of the players
"Charles Law" <bl***@nowhere. com> wrote in message
news:uB******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP10.phx.gbl... This is a bit of a vague question, but I am just starting on this, and
wonder if anyone has ideas of where to start.
I have a program that controls some external equipment. It sends
messages in various flavours to cause the equipment to turn signals on and off, and
change voltages and such like.
Attached to this external equipment, is another piece of equipment that
responds to these changes in signals and voltages.
What I need to do is automate the way in which my program turns these
signals on and off, and changes voltages in the external equipment. I
also need to do it in such a way that it is configurable without changes to
source code.
My first thoughts are towards some kind of script that I interpret and
use to determine what actions my program must take. The script would need to
be flexible enough to allow me to specify what signals are controlled, in
real time, and what voltages are set and over what time period they should
change. It would also need to allow me to monitor status from the
external equipment in a given time frame to determine if actions had been
successful or not.
That is as far as I have got. Is this type of application familiar to
anyone, and does anyone have any suggestions regarding how to go about
this? Some examples of scripts that make this type of operation possible?
As I say, it is a bit vague at this stage, and this is probably not the
very best place to be asking, so if anyone knows where I would be better
asking that would be helpful too. Otherwise, any pointers welcome.
TIA
Charles
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.732 / Virus Database: 486 - Release Date: 7/29/2004
"Charles Law" <bl***@nowhere. com> wrote in message news:<#$******* *******@TK2MSFT NGP12.phx.gbl>. .. Hi Hal
We (the company I am working with) are the manufacturers of the external
equipment, so we have our own comms protocol for this. The equipment is
connected via a simple serial/USB link.
you said the equip does all the voltage changing - depending on the signal
you send to it - and that equipment talks to (controls) other equipment -
It's actually the other way around: we send commands to the external
equipment, and it changes signals and voltages to the devices on the end.
The actual mode of communication is not so much the problem as we already
have that in place. It is the automation of the control that we are looking
at now, and from earlier suggestions it looks like the Command pattern is a
good avenue.
Do you have any experience of that pattern (or others) in this type of
application?
Sounds like a distributed control system (DCS) - common to PLCs and some
Instrumentation
You are on the right lines; it is actually ATE (automatic test equipment)
for use in a production test environment.
Charles
"Hal Rosser" <hm******@bells outh.net> wrote in message
news:xx******** ********@bignew s2.bellsouth.ne t... Charles,
What methods of communication is available to the equipment ? TCP/IP?
Does the equipment connect through a hub to a lan?
The mfg should provide some info - like "if you send "X" signal - the
equipment wil do 'so-n-so' does the equip have a network card? can you
telnet to it?
This sounds interesting. but mo info
you said the equip does all the voltage changing - depending on the signal
you send to it - and that equipment talks to (controls) other equipment -
Sounds like a distributed control system (DCS) - common to PLCs and some
Instrumentation
Fisher Controls, Allen Bradley, Modicon are a few of the players
"Charles Law" <bl***@nowhere. com> wrote in message
news:uB******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP10.phx.gbl... This is a bit of a vague question, but I am just starting on this, and
wonder if anyone has ideas of where to start.
I have a program that controls some external equipment. It sends messages
in various flavours to cause the equipment to turn signals on and off, and
change voltages and such like.
Attached to this external equipment, is another piece of equipment that
responds to these changes in signals and voltages.
What I need to do is automate the way in which my program turns these
signals on and off, and changes voltages in the external equipment. I also need to do it in such a way that it is configurable without changes to
source code.
My first thoughts are towards some kind of script that I interpret and use to determine what actions my program must take. The script would need to be flexible enough to allow me to specify what signals are controlled, in real time, and what voltages are set and over what time period they should
change. It would also need to allow me to monitor status from the external equipment in a given time frame to determine if actions had been successful or not.
That is as far as I have got. Is this type of application familiar to
anyone, and does anyone have any suggestions regarding how to go about this? Some examples of scripts that make this type of operation possible?
As I say, it is a bit vague at this stage, and this is probably not the very best place to be asking, so if anyone knows where I would be better asking that would be helpful too. Otherwise, any pointers welcome.
TIA
Charles
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.732 / Virus Database: 486 - Release Date: 7/29/2004
Anything you can do manually, you can automate with AutoIt http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/
The forum is magnificent for help...
Lar.
Hi Lar
Thanks for the link. However, it is not the UI that I need to automate, but
objects at a much more lower level. The user will see progress indications
on the screen of the schedule that has been automated, and be able to stop
and start it, repeat bits of it and such-like.
Charles
"larrydaloo za" <la**********@y ahoo.com> wrote in message
news:41******** *************** ***@posting.goo gle.com... "Charles Law" <bl***@nowhere. com> wrote in message
news:<#$******* *******@TK2MSFT NGP12.phx.gbl>. .. Hi Hal
We (the company I am working with) are the manufacturers of the external
equipment, so we have our own comms protocol for this. The equipment is
connected via a simple serial/USB link.
you said the equip does all the voltage changing - depending on the
signal you send to it - and that equipment talks to (controls) other
equipment -
It's actually the other way around: we send commands to the external
equipment, and it changes signals and voltages to the devices on the
end.
The actual mode of communication is not so much the problem as we
already have that in place. It is the automation of the control that we are
looking at now, and from earlier suggestions it looks like the Command pattern
is a good avenue.
Do you have any experience of that pattern (or others) in this type of
application?
Sounds like a distributed control system (DCS) - common to PLCs and
some Instrumentation
You are on the right lines; it is actually ATE (automatic test
equipment) for use in a production test environment.
Charles
"Hal Rosser" <hm******@bells outh.net> wrote in message
news:xx******** ********@bignew s2.bellsouth.ne t... Charles,
What methods of communication is available to the equipment ?
TCP/IP? Does the equipment connect through a hub to a lan?
The mfg should provide some info - like "if you send "X" signal - the
equipment wil do 'so-n-so' does the equip have a network card? can you
telnet to it?
This sounds interesting. but mo info
you said the equip does all the voltage changing - depending on the
signal you send to it - and that equipment talks to (controls) other
equipment - Sounds like a distributed control system (DCS) - common to PLCs and
some Instrumentation
Fisher Controls, Allen Bradley, Modicon are a few of the players
"Charles Law" <bl***@nowhere. com> wrote in message
news:uB******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP10.phx.gbl...
> This is a bit of a vague question, but I am just starting on this,
and > wonder if anyone has ideas of where to start.
>
> I have a program that controls some external equipment. It sends
messages
in > various flavours to cause the equipment to turn signals on and off,
and > change voltages and such like.
>
> Attached to this external equipment, is another piece of equipment
that > responds to these changes in signals and voltages.
>
> What I need to do is automate the way in which my program turns
these > signals on and off, and changes voltages in the external equipment.
I also > need to do it in such a way that it is configurable without changes
to > source code.
>
> My first thoughts are towards some kind of script that I interpret
and use > to determine what actions my program must take. The script would
need to be > flexible enough to allow me to specify what signals are controlled,
in real > time, and what voltages are set and over what time period they
should > change. It would also need to allow me to monitor status from the
external > equipment in a given time frame to determine if actions had been
successful > or not.
>
> That is as far as I have got. Is this type of application familiar
to > anyone, and does anyone have any suggestions regarding how to go
about this? > Some examples of scripts that make this type of operation possible?
>
> As I say, it is a bit vague at this stage, and this is probably not
the very > best place to be asking, so if anyone knows where I would be better
asking > that would be helpful too. Otherwise, any pointers welcome.
>
> TIA
>
> Charles
>
>
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.732 / Virus Database: 486 - Release Date: 7/29/2004
Anything you can do manually, you can automate with AutoIt
http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/
The forum is magnificent for help...
Lar.
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I have a program that controls some external equipment. It sends messages in
various flavours to cause the equipment to turn signals on and off, and
change voltages and such like.
Attached to this external equipment, is another piece of equipment that
responds to these changes in signals and voltages.
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