ProDef, from Futuristix Advanced Control Systems, is an application that provides a common development environment for the design, programming and documentation of control systems. Through its standardised approach to process logic development, it is eliminating the necessity for tedious, hardware-dependent, lengthy and error-prone generation of complex code.
ProDef is designed to allow developers and engineers to become more productive and, therefore, more valuable in the industrial automation marketplace while providing corporate management the cost-effective, standardised and proven process control solutions they are looking for.
ProDef allows process engineers and programmers to rapidly develop industrial applications that integrate their existing or new control system resources. It is used to write functional specifications and control code as well as to configure HMIs (such as Wonderware's InTouch) and PLCs. It is also used to integrate with batch controllers (eg, InBatch) and to document projects with HTML using XML and XSL style sheets.
"ProDef is a significant leap forward in the generation of control system applications," says Futuristix MD, Mike le Plastrier. "It not only provides for the capturing of the intellectual property of process experts but also reduces coding and coding errors to the minimum while automatically generating project documentation which becomes an integral part of the control application."
The application is said to be setting the pace in industrial automation just as CNC (computerised numerical control) did in the machine tool industry. CNC allowed programmers to code the geometry of the parts to be machined quite independently from the lathe or milling machine that would eventually be used. The link between universal geometry and machine-specific code was handled by postprocessors. Similarly, ProDef allows users to define structured functional specifications and logic blocks that define the project at the highest level before being compiled for any chosen platform. This allows the control strategy to be independent of the target platform, whether it is a PLC, DCS or soft logic controller. The compiled output code is in the proprietary format of the chosen controller and also makes optimal use of that controller's capabilities.
The same approach is used for the automatic creation of HMI (eg InTouch) tag database information for display, alarming and trending purposes. Similarly, structured functional specifications can be transformed into S88 batch phases by the inclusion of a single-phase logic block, eliminating the need to learn and programme the batch interface (eg InBatch).
"The phrase: the devil is in the detail applies well to the development of control systems," says le Plastrier. "A large proportion of the development cost has to do with the complexities and details of controller-specific coding - an exercise in which there is no room for error because the success of the process depends on it. By automating this, ProDef generates error-free and verified code which can be tested instantly and used in process simulations as well as in integrated environments which may include HMIs or batch applications."
While rapid, standardised and predictable project development without dependency on any single individual appeals to management, the same may not be said of developers and programmers who see the automation of their jobs as a threat. "This is entirely understandable," says le Plastrier. "We should, however, learn from the lessons of the past in other disciplines. Twenty years ago, computer- aided draughting (CAD) systems had a similar reception with draughtsmen, until they saw that they could improve their personal income by becoming CAD system operators and by recognising that they could contribute towards projects and ideas rather than drawing lines on paper. The same happened with computer-aided software engineering (CASE) where programmers feared that their creativity would be stifled by imposed rigidity and mechanistic methodologies. They found instead that their creativity was enhanced because they could now focus on developing modules that could be used in many applications and developing applications that could better address the increasingly sophisticated needs of end-users. Today, no one would dream of developing unstructured and undocumented programmes in a software development company that wanted to stay in business. Yet, this seems to be prevalent in industrial control applications. ProDef can help set matters right by allowing engineers and programmers to win through their contributions at the application and project level rather than at the coding level."
ProDef was designed to provide system integrators and end users the control, productivity and predictability they have been looking for when designing projects by allowing them to focus on the problem rather than on the intricacies of the supportive technologies.
For more information contact Mike le Plastrier, Futuristix, 011 723 9900, [email protected], www.futuristix.co.za
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