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programming for embedded/control systems

S

scot

Jan 1, 1970
0
I setup a lot of temperature control systems for various furnaces but I am getting into more complicated/custom installations that require more than what the manufacturer of my temp controllers can provide (i.e. Eurotherm). Is there any particular product that someone might recommend which has someof the features of a standard temp controller but provides the ability to develop some custom code and doesn't charge an arm and a leg for adding additional inputs? Are there any PLC's that allow you to write custom code?

Scot
 
S

Spehro Pefhany

Jan 1, 1970
0
I setup a lot of temperature control systems for various furnaces but I am getting into more complicated/custom installations that require more than what the manufacturer of my temp controllers can provide (i.e. Eurotherm). Is there any particular product that someone might recommend which has some of the features of a standard temp controller but provides the ability to develop some custom code and doesn't charge an arm and a leg for adding additional inputs? Are there any PLC's that allow you to write custom code?

Scot

What kind of control algorithms do you require?

You may be better off doing coms to a dedicated controller or
controllers.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
 
J

Jamie

Jan 1, 1970
0
scot said:
I setup a lot of temperature control systems for various furnaces but I am getting into more complicated/custom installations that require more than what the manufacturer of my temp controllers can provide (i.e. Eurotherm). Is there any particular product that someone might recommend which has some of the features of a standard temp controller but provides the ability to develop some custom code and doesn't charge an arm and a leg for adding additional inputs? Are there any PLC's that allow you to write custom code?

Scot

All PLC's allow you to write custom code, that is the whole idea
behind it.

PLC's are expensive in nature but they offer lots of things you can
do.
You can use a cheap PLC or intelligent programmable rely module to
interact with the Heat controller or, you can go full out and use a
PLC to do it all.

Most venders of PLC's offer TC/RTD etc. modules to be added and a
variety of IO. Code is done in ladder format for most.. Some use
basic and others use a form of gate array logic.

Some of the low end PLC's do not have TC/RTD modules, but you can get
signal transmitters to convert a TC/RTD over to RS485/232 to send
data to these low end units.

What a lot of people do is use a heat control unit like you are now,
but they link to it via RS323/485 over to a PLC to control and monitor
set points.

For you, you maybe interested in things like this..

http://www.unitronics.com/Content.aspx?page=ProductOverview3

Also, look at http://www.automationdirect.com

They have lots of signal conditioners and PLC's to work with at a low
price..

Jamie
 
R

Roberto Waltman

Jan 1, 1970
0
scot said:
... Are there any PLC's that allow you to write custom code?

All of them - The 'P' in 'PLC' stands for 'Programmable'.
Of course that may not help if you need complicated math functions and
the device's programmability is only for simple ladder logic.
There are many PLC's in the market, with wide differences in computing
power, functionality, etc. Try to define what you need exactly to
narrow the search.
 
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