Automation Master is an open sourceAutomation Master Open Source Project, Link community maintained project. Automation Master was created to assist in the design, implementation and operation of an automated system.
The installation and startup of any automated system is very time-consuming and costly. Much of the time spent starting up an automated system can be traced to the difficulties in providing an effective test of the computer based system in the integrator's laboratory.
Traditional testing techniques required staging as much of the equipment as practical in the laboratory, and wiring up a simulator panel containing switches and indicator lights to all of the I/O modules on the PLC. The operator stations would be connected up to this "rats nest" of wires, switches, indicator lights, and equipment for the test.
PLC software would be tested by sequencing the toggle switches to input the electrical signals to the input cards on the PLC, and then observing the response by software on the indicator lights and operator consoles. For small simple systems, this type of testing was manageable, and resulted in some degree of confidence that the control software would work once it was installed. However, the amount of time spent performing the test was relatively high, and a real-time test could not be achieved.
As systems become larger and more complex, this method of testing only achieves, at a significant cost, a basic hardware and configuration check. The testing of complex logic sequences, is an act of futility without the ability to accurately reproduce the timing relationships between signals. What was needed was the ability to exercise the control system's software in a real-time environment. Real-time simulation fills this void. Real-time simulators such as Automation Master are PC based software packages, which utilize a model to mimic the automated system's reaction to the control software.
History Max Hitchens and George Rote began working on Industrial Automation projects in the late 1970s. One of their first projects was an automatic guided vehicle system for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Lawton, Oklahoma. This system was to automatically transport material and finished goods around a massive tire factory.
Mr. Hitchens' and Mr. Rote's previous experience in software development was mainly in office environments where logic could be debugged based upon simple CRT or printed output. So, after four months of writing software for the automated system, they took the software to the field and thus got their "baptism" into the real world debugging of large automated systems. An automatic vehicle would be dispatched to do a task and it would not show up at its destination. First, they had to find the vehicle which could be anywhere in the massive facility, then try to figure out what went wrong. After 6 months of 16-hour days - 7 days a week, they finally got the system running.
Mr. Hitchens and Mr. Rote had other automatic guided vehicle projects and resolved to not repeat the Goodyear debugging experience. So, they build a custom simulator which attached to the guided vehicle system controller and pretended to be the factory floor. The activity of the guided vehicles was displayed on a color graphic display. The software could be debugged on their desks and with finished and debugged taken to the field and installed with minimum effort.
Sometime later, Mr. Hitchens and Mr. Rote were demonstrating their AGV simulator to Conco-Tellus, a conveyor system manufacturer, when they were asked if they could build a simulator for conveyor systems. Of course, the answer was yes and the Real Time Conveyor Simulator (RTCS) was born.Gould, Lawrence S., Computer Graphics -- a new tool for verifying system design. MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING, March 7, 1983, pp. 60-63. Link The RTCS was a custom system with 3 single-board computers. They were awarded a patentU.S. Patent 4,512,747, Material Conveying System Simulation and Monitoring Apparatus Link for it in 1985.
The RTCS was a specialty product which did not have a large market, but Mr. Hitchens and Mr. Rote continued refinement and development. Along this time the IBM PC was introduced and it was used to build the database necessary for the simulator. In the mid-1980s, a director for Bell Labs saw the simulator and wanted to try it out modeling software development projects. It was impractical on a custom hardware box. But since the code was written for Intel processors, it could possibly be converted to run on a PC.
In exchange for free use of the software, Bell Labs contributed a development system and two software engineers to help with the conversion. It turned out to be not very difficult and within a few weeks RTCS was running on a PC. Well almost, the PC did not have enough power to meet the real-time computing which the RTCS required. It did, however, make a great demonstration system. Now all was required was a disk and not 100 lbs of computer gear.
As the 8088 PC metamorphosed into the 80286, customers were increasingly reluctant to spend thousands of dollars on a custom piece of computer gear. By the time the 80386 personal computers came out, the RTCS ceased to have a market. Fortunately, the 80386 and subsequently the 80486 had enough power to run the simulation in real time and Automation MasterAutomation Master Trademark (abandoned), Link was born.
Development continued until the mid-1990s when for a myriad of reasons, mainly the death of George Rote, it ceased. By this time, Automation Master embodied many thousands of hours of development and use.
Automation Master languished until 2013 when Max Hitchens decided to create an open source project and release it into the public domain.
Description Automation Master is a comprehensive modeling and simulation software package designed specifically for design, implementation and operation of factory/warehouse automation.
After the testing is complete, the system will ship with confidence that, a real time test has been performed, and the system will work when it is installed. The installation will be faster and less costly and the system provided to the customer will be of higher quality and can be quickly placed into production.
Project Life Cycle Automation Master can also be used throughout the life cycleHitchens, Max W. & Ryan, Thomas K., Direct Connect Emulation and the Project Life Cycle. PROCEEDINGS OF THE 1989 WINTER SIMULATION CONFERENCE. Link of an automated factory, from the design phase, through the implementation phase, into actual production.
An automation project is a cycle of activities. The project starts as a concept, the system concept is used to develop a design, the system design is used to fabricate the system components, the fabricated components are installed, and the installed system will be operated. The installed system generates concepts for improvements or new systems and the cycle repeats. A real time simulator can assist in the entire life cycle of a project.
Design
Animating the System Concept A concept is usually just an idea, which needs to be funded to make it a reality. Automated systems are dynamic. A static picture or description of an automated system does not demonstrate the interaction of the components or show how the system functions as a whole. It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words; a corollary is that a moving picture is worth ten thousand words. An animated picture, as generated by a real time simulator, can communicate the concept and assist in selling the project to management.
Simulating the System Design Designing an automated system is a balancing act. You want the best possible results for the least cost. The system design is selected from several alternatives. Choosing the best alternative requires evaluation of the alternatives and how they interact with each other. A real time simulator allows the system designer to evaluate potential designs, by using a model, to select the best approach for the automated system.
An important element of automated system design is developing the overall strategy to be used in operating the facility. A simulation model allows the operating strategy to be developed interactively. A strategy is implemented in the model, the results viewed, and the strategy refined to improve performance. The operating strategy becomes increasingly important as the cost of system components escalates. The system efficiency can be improved by changing the operating strategy using the model without increasing the cost of the system.
Scenario testing or test cases may be set up to test and confirm proper system operation under varying conditions and collect statistical data on its operation.
Implementation Automation Master is used for software quality controlGould, Lawrence S., Quality of Software Is Manageable. MANAGING AUTOMATION, April 1989, pp. 55-57. Link during the implementation phase.
Testing the Control Logic The real time simulator may be connected directly to the automated system's programmable controllers and computers. The model is used as a replacement for the physical equipment. Thus, the control logic and system software can be exhaustively tested in a laboratory environment instead of on the plant floor. The control logic can be stress tested under full operational loading to verify that the system will meet production requirements.
System emulation reduces safety hazards and equipment damage during installation. Mistakes in the control logic and testing blunders are discovered using a model, not the live system. An emulation model contains more detail than the design phase simulation model. The simulation scenarios which exercised the system design may be rerun in emulation mode to verify that the detailed design and control logic implementation meet system production requirements. If it does not, it is far easier and less costly to modify the design or the control logic before the system is installed.
Creating an "As Built" Model A real time simulator may be used during installation to determine the variance between the system design and the actual installation. Field verification logs the differences between the "as built" system and the model. If a major mistake has been made in translating the system design into the installed system, it can be corrected prior to system start up.
The differences reported in the verification log are used to change the model to reflect the "as built" system. The control logic can then be retested to verify that the software will still meet the production requirements with the "as built" system. The simulation throughput scenarios can also be rerun to verify that the "as built" system meets all of the system design criteria.
Operation
Maintaining the Automated System The model may act as a diagnostic monitor. In this mode, the model is run in parallel with the operation of the installed system. The real time simulator displays the dynamic activity in the system and continuously compares the model with the actual operation. When a discrepancy, outside of specified tolerances, occurs between the operation of the system and the model, an error is reported, assisting maintenance personnel in diagnosing and repairing the system.
Closing the Loop Automated systems are never static. Changes are inevitable. Ideas for new systems are generated. Because an exact real time simulation model exists, proposed changes can be completely tested before they are implemented.
The changes required in the control software can be tested under emulation. The physical equipment modifications can be verified. The result of changes to the automated system may be tested before the changes are made in the production system, so that the changes can be made without halting production.
Automation Master Operating Modes
Simulation
Emulation