The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Jun 23, 2015
Currently, industrial robots are decisive in modern production facilities, and in a near future, ... more Currently, industrial robots are decisive in modern production facilities, and in a near future, robots will also become essential in daily life. In fact, the main aim of robotic manipulator relies on the integration of robots into people’s daily. To this purpose, there are a great number of physical devices, such as sensors, actuators, auxiliary elements, tools etc. which can be incorporated into a robot. Although integration, reuse, flexibility and adaptability are crucial characteristics demanded by current robotic applications, there is a lack of standardization in terms of hardware and software platforms, providing incompatible task-specific and non-reusable solutions. Consequently, there is a need for a new engineering methodology to design, implement and execute software systems. This work explores the advantages that model-driven engineering provides for the development of applications for robotic manipulators’ platforms. Specifically, a modelling approach is developed to generate the target code automatically. To validate the proposal, a tool that allows the final code to be generated for most spread communication middlewares in the robotics field is also presented.
En esta Tesis Doctoral se plantea la aplicacion de tecnologias y metodologias de la Ingenieria de... more En esta Tesis Doctoral se plantea la aplicacion de tecnologias y metodologias de la Ingenieria de Software en el mundo de la automatizacion industrial. Concretamente, se hace uso de la Ingenieria conducida por Modelos para afrontar el diseno de sistemas de control industrial distribuidos, complejos, seguros, fiables, flexibles y que exhiben un alto grado de reutilizacion. En concreto, se plantea un Entorno de Desarrollo Integrado (IDE) que permite dar soporte al ciclo de desarrollo de este tipo de aplicaciones. El IDE esta constituido por el conjunto de herramientas especificas de dominio que colaboran en el diseno del sistema. Las herramientas gestionan el modelo del dominio al que pertenecen (Ingenieria de Control, Ingenieria Electrico-Electronica e Ingenieria de Software) y la colaboracion se consigue a traves del llamado Motor de Colaboracion de Modelos (MCM), nucleo del IDE, que gestiona el modelo de la aplicacion. Este incluye a los modelos de dominio y se va definiendo a lo largo de las distintas fases del ciclo de desarrollo. El MCM se basa en la implementacion de lenguajes de descripcion de arquitecturas, que definen el estilo arquitectonico y las reglas de composicion, tanto de los modelos especificos de dominio como de la aplicacion completa. Se propone una metodologia de diseno que el IDE implementa y que guia a los expertos de dominio en el diseno del sistema. En el diseno y desarrollo del MCM se ha hecho uso de la potencialidad de las tecnologias XML para la definicion de los meta-modelos (XML schema y reglas de shcematron), asi como para la integracion de herramientas (hojas de estilo, SAX/DOM). El MCM es independiente de las herramientas que forman el IDE, y se han propuesto los pasos a seguir para integrar cualquier herramienta. Estos pasos dependen del formato de importacion y exportacion que soporta. Se ha desarrollado un prototipo de IDE que usa el MCM y un conjunto concreto de herramientas y que se ha validado con el diseno de una linea de tratamiento en caliente.
Industrial Control Systems are used in most of the industrial sectors to achieve production impro... more Industrial Control Systems are used in most of the industrial sectors to achieve production improvement, process optimization and time and cost reduction. Integration, reuse, flexibility and optimization are demanded to adapt to a rapidly changing and competitive market. There is also a growing requirement that all software tools that support the different phases of the development process (design, configuration, management)
ABSTRACT Switched mode systems are defined as those represented by a finite set of linear subsyst... more ABSTRACT Switched mode systems are defined as those represented by a finite set of linear subsystems and a set of logic rules orchestrating the switching among them. Current Programmable Logic Controller (PLCs) and the IEC 61131-3 standard allows a systematic design of multi-controller architecture to improve the behavior of such type of industrial systems. This paper describes the implementation of Bumpless Transfer (BT) mechanisms within multi-rate control architecture for switched mode systems. By detecting the system state and the feasible next states, the supervisor decides the control algorithms that are active, in tracking mode or in wait state. The steps to design the complete architecture are presented and experimental results that validate the architecture are shown.
IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, Nov 1, 2013
ABSTRACT The present paper describes a methodology for the design and implementation of superviso... more ABSTRACT The present paper describes a methodology for the design and implementation of supervisors for switched-mode systems, a usual class of hybrid systems in industrial process applications. Many works can be found in the literature addressing formal modeling and control techniques for switchedmode systems, but they commonly deal with control design and simulation. The focus of this paper is to automate the design of supervisors for industrial switched-mode processes composed by multi-rate loops, in order to automatically generate the code of the supervisor. Its function is to detect changes in the process operation mode and to switch to the control algorithm accordingly. The target control equipment is the Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) and thus, the software architecture generated follows the IEC 61131-3 standard. The tool developed captures information related to the overall control system (inputs and outputs and control algorithms), as well as to the discrete dynamic of the switched-mode process from the simulation model and automatically generates the supervisor code as well as a timedriven schedule for every supervisor’s mode. The improvement of the overall system performance using the switched-mode supervisor is analyzed experimentally through a performance index.
Industrial control systems are used in most of the industrial sectors to achieve production impro... more Industrial control systems are used in most of the industrial sectors to achieve production improvement, process optimization and time and cost reduction. Integration, reuse, flexibility and optimization are demanded to adapt to a rapidly changing and competitive market. There is also a growing requirement that all software tools that support the different phases of the development process (design, configuration, management)
This work dials with the integration of online laboratories into Learning Management Systems. In ... more This work dials with the integration of online laboratories into Learning Management Systems. In fact, this work emphasizes the pedagogical advantages that could be achieved with this integration as well as the involved actors, being mainly: students, lecturers and laboratory owners. It also makes an analysis of each actor's requirements and how they can be satisfied by the integration. To achieve this, the use of standards is essential. Authors use an example of online laboratory and integrate it into LMSs by different paths but using the more widespread standards. Finally, the achieved advantages are discussed.
Current industrial applications demand the design of more and more complex, safe and trustworthy ... more Current industrial applications demand the design of more and more complex, safe and trustworthy control systems which exhibit a high degree of flexibility and reutilization. To achieve this, the engineering process has to be improved through the integration of the tools involved in the development process. To achieve this goal the definition of Markup Languages for factory automation has been proposed at different layers of the engineering process. They allow defining the application from different points of view. Each point of view uses a particular syntax and semantics. Applications are defined by means of a set of view models as well as their relationships. This paper proposes a further step as the mechanisms needed for exchanging information among models are analyzed. They are used in the design of a model collaboration prototype for distributed industrial control systems.
The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Jun 23, 2015
Currently, industrial robots are decisive in modern production facilities, and in a near future, ... more Currently, industrial robots are decisive in modern production facilities, and in a near future, robots will also become essential in daily life. In fact, the main aim of robotic manipulator relies on the integration of robots into people’s daily. To this purpose, there are a great number of physical devices, such as sensors, actuators, auxiliary elements, tools etc. which can be incorporated into a robot. Although integration, reuse, flexibility and adaptability are crucial characteristics demanded by current robotic applications, there is a lack of standardization in terms of hardware and software platforms, providing incompatible task-specific and non-reusable solutions. Consequently, there is a need for a new engineering methodology to design, implement and execute software systems. This work explores the advantages that model-driven engineering provides for the development of applications for robotic manipulators’ platforms. Specifically, a modelling approach is developed to generate the target code automatically. To validate the proposal, a tool that allows the final code to be generated for most spread communication middlewares in the robotics field is also presented.
En esta Tesis Doctoral se plantea la aplicacion de tecnologias y metodologias de la Ingenieria de... more En esta Tesis Doctoral se plantea la aplicacion de tecnologias y metodologias de la Ingenieria de Software en el mundo de la automatizacion industrial. Concretamente, se hace uso de la Ingenieria conducida por Modelos para afrontar el diseno de sistemas de control industrial distribuidos, complejos, seguros, fiables, flexibles y que exhiben un alto grado de reutilizacion. En concreto, se plantea un Entorno de Desarrollo Integrado (IDE) que permite dar soporte al ciclo de desarrollo de este tipo de aplicaciones. El IDE esta constituido por el conjunto de herramientas especificas de dominio que colaboran en el diseno del sistema. Las herramientas gestionan el modelo del dominio al que pertenecen (Ingenieria de Control, Ingenieria Electrico-Electronica e Ingenieria de Software) y la colaboracion se consigue a traves del llamado Motor de Colaboracion de Modelos (MCM), nucleo del IDE, que gestiona el modelo de la aplicacion. Este incluye a los modelos de dominio y se va definiendo a lo largo de las distintas fases del ciclo de desarrollo. El MCM se basa en la implementacion de lenguajes de descripcion de arquitecturas, que definen el estilo arquitectonico y las reglas de composicion, tanto de los modelos especificos de dominio como de la aplicacion completa. Se propone una metodologia de diseno que el IDE implementa y que guia a los expertos de dominio en el diseno del sistema. En el diseno y desarrollo del MCM se ha hecho uso de la potencialidad de las tecnologias XML para la definicion de los meta-modelos (XML schema y reglas de shcematron), asi como para la integracion de herramientas (hojas de estilo, SAX/DOM). El MCM es independiente de las herramientas que forman el IDE, y se han propuesto los pasos a seguir para integrar cualquier herramienta. Estos pasos dependen del formato de importacion y exportacion que soporta. Se ha desarrollado un prototipo de IDE que usa el MCM y un conjunto concreto de herramientas y que se ha validado con el diseno de una linea de tratamiento en caliente.
Industrial Control Systems are used in most of the industrial sectors to achieve production impro... more Industrial Control Systems are used in most of the industrial sectors to achieve production improvement, process optimization and time and cost reduction. Integration, reuse, flexibility and optimization are demanded to adapt to a rapidly changing and competitive market. There is also a growing requirement that all software tools that support the different phases of the development process (design, configuration, management)
ABSTRACT Switched mode systems are defined as those represented by a finite set of linear subsyst... more ABSTRACT Switched mode systems are defined as those represented by a finite set of linear subsystems and a set of logic rules orchestrating the switching among them. Current Programmable Logic Controller (PLCs) and the IEC 61131-3 standard allows a systematic design of multi-controller architecture to improve the behavior of such type of industrial systems. This paper describes the implementation of Bumpless Transfer (BT) mechanisms within multi-rate control architecture for switched mode systems. By detecting the system state and the feasible next states, the supervisor decides the control algorithms that are active, in tracking mode or in wait state. The steps to design the complete architecture are presented and experimental results that validate the architecture are shown.
IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, Nov 1, 2013
ABSTRACT The present paper describes a methodology for the design and implementation of superviso... more ABSTRACT The present paper describes a methodology for the design and implementation of supervisors for switched-mode systems, a usual class of hybrid systems in industrial process applications. Many works can be found in the literature addressing formal modeling and control techniques for switchedmode systems, but they commonly deal with control design and simulation. The focus of this paper is to automate the design of supervisors for industrial switched-mode processes composed by multi-rate loops, in order to automatically generate the code of the supervisor. Its function is to detect changes in the process operation mode and to switch to the control algorithm accordingly. The target control equipment is the Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) and thus, the software architecture generated follows the IEC 61131-3 standard. The tool developed captures information related to the overall control system (inputs and outputs and control algorithms), as well as to the discrete dynamic of the switched-mode process from the simulation model and automatically generates the supervisor code as well as a timedriven schedule for every supervisor’s mode. The improvement of the overall system performance using the switched-mode supervisor is analyzed experimentally through a performance index.
Industrial control systems are used in most of the industrial sectors to achieve production impro... more Industrial control systems are used in most of the industrial sectors to achieve production improvement, process optimization and time and cost reduction. Integration, reuse, flexibility and optimization are demanded to adapt to a rapidly changing and competitive market. There is also a growing requirement that all software tools that support the different phases of the development process (design, configuration, management)
This work dials with the integration of online laboratories into Learning Management Systems. In ... more This work dials with the integration of online laboratories into Learning Management Systems. In fact, this work emphasizes the pedagogical advantages that could be achieved with this integration as well as the involved actors, being mainly: students, lecturers and laboratory owners. It also makes an analysis of each actor's requirements and how they can be satisfied by the integration. To achieve this, the use of standards is essential. Authors use an example of online laboratory and integrate it into LMSs by different paths but using the more widespread standards. Finally, the achieved advantages are discussed.
Current industrial applications demand the design of more and more complex, safe and trustworthy ... more Current industrial applications demand the design of more and more complex, safe and trustworthy control systems which exhibit a high degree of flexibility and reutilization. To achieve this, the engineering process has to be improved through the integration of the tools involved in the development process. To achieve this goal the definition of Markup Languages for factory automation has been proposed at different layers of the engineering process. They allow defining the application from different points of view. Each point of view uses a particular syntax and semantics. Applications are defined by means of a set of view models as well as their relationships. This paper proposes a further step as the mechanisms needed for exchanging information among models are analyzed. They are used in the design of a model collaboration prototype for distributed industrial control systems.
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