The paper discusses some aspects of real-time control with microcomputers and commerc-ially available computer-process interface hardware and accompanying software. A library of Turbo Pascal CALLable routines written to control the DT 2801 I/O board is described. In order to achieve on a microcomputer a real-time multitasking environment, MS DOS was combined with an inexpensive real-time executive. Development of a multivariable process control is discussed. Complete Turbo Pascal programs performing controlling and alarm generating functions are presented.

State transition techniques have shown the greatest potential as a synthesis technique for sequential control; however, to maximize the efficiency of these techniques, a new programmable controller software architecture must be developed. The sequential controller design described in this paper utilizes a state machine and state table architecture. The sequential controller is capable of implementing control algorithms based on either Petri net, state transition diagram, or functional state table descriptions.

A microcontroller based low-cost, flexible Smart Control Cell (SCC) was developed. The Smart Control Cell can be used to simplify the design of control systems. The design lends itself naturally to stand alone control schemes and distributed control methods, allowing for intelligent and flexible control solutions.

This paper presents the design, analysis, and experimental evaluation of a fault-tolerant multiprocessor for use in systems requiring real-time, microprocessor-based control. Example applications of the fault-tolerant system are found in robotics, process control, manufacturing, and factory automation. The architecture for the multiprocessor is presented and analyzed for reliability, availability, and safety. A prototype of the fault-tolerant multiprocessor has been constructed, using Intel 8088 processors, and experimentally evaluated in the laboratory. Both hardware and software descriptions of the system are provided, and an example application to the control of an electric wheelchair is presented.

In this paper we introduce the design and implementation of a testable and reconfigurable interrupt controller circuit that provides an efficient interface for working with many standard 8- and 16-bit microprocessors. The proposed architecture differs from the conventional systems in terms of fast interrupt response time, connection capability of a large number of peripheral devices without any performance degradation, programmability, and reduced hardware complexity. In addition, it incorporates testable and fault-tolerant techniques making it reconfigurable in case of a fault. This circuit finds attractive in many real-time computation critical applications in industrial control environment that require highly reliable operation.

The paper describes the experience made in using a Personal Computer (PC) equipped with an interface system for real time control of electric drives. After reviewing the use of PC in the indirect and direct control of a drive, hardware and software requirements for this application are addressed. An interface system is illustrated and measured values of its performance are given. An example of direct PC control of a dc motor drive is described and experimental results are shown.

A multimicrocomputer system for fast response supervisory monitoring of different technical systems is presented in this paper. The system concept is basically a hierarchial one, with several levels of decision making. Special features of this system are: distributed monitoring, with each part of the system having all the relevant data regarding the overall system operation; interrupt communication between different parts of the system; and specially designed hardware providing a reasonable performance/cost trade off.

We have developed the industrial-use personal computer system which is equipped with real-time and multi-task operating system(OS). This paper describes the method how to apply to a laser marking system using this personal computer and characteristics.

A framework for writing computer programs is described. Following this framework, efficiency in communications to machines is obtained. Simple programs written in this framework, as well as in popular programming-languages, are given. This framework developed originally from the architecture of special-purpose machines, and it is now applied to general-purpose computers.

An engineering workbench is a software system to make an engineer free from routine pro-gramming work by supporting matrix and complex calculations, graphic display of various data and so on. The characterristics of the system are summarized as, (1) it is implemented on a personal computer by using C language, (2) the system can easily be extended by a user, (3) it has a strong interpreter which can handle separate source files, (4) it has a pre-processor which produces C source files from the source program for the interpreter, (5) it is possible to make a history file which records the user's actions.

Th9, switched reluctance motor (SRM) has recently gained considerable attention in the variable speed drive market. Two important factors that have contributed to this are, the simplicity of construction and the possibility of developing low cost con-trollers with minimum number of switching devices in the drive circuits. This is mainly due to the state-of-art of the present digital circuits technology and the low cost of switching devices. The control of this motor drive is under research. Optimized performance of the SRM motor drive is very dependent on the integration of the controller, converter and the motor. This research on system integration involves considerable changes in the control algorithms and their implementation. A Personal computer (PC) based controller is very appropriate for this purpose. Accordingly, the present paper is concerned with the design of a PC based controller for a SRM. The PC allows for real-time microprocessor control with the possibility of on-line system parameter modifications. Software reconfiguration of this controller is easier than a hardware based controller. User friendliness is a natural consequence of such a system. Considering the low cost of PCs, this controller will offer an excellent cost-effective means of studying the control strategies for the SRM drive intop greater detail than in the past.

This paper presents the structural design and the Petri-net modelling of a real-time distri-buted image analysis/synthesis system (TALOS). The TALOS system receives image data, in parallel using a 2-D photoarray of NxN cells, from the environment and applies on them parallel segmentation (region analysis) by using a set of hardware distributors. The output data segments feed to a set of m microprocessors, where m is the number of the grey levels that the system uses. The m processors communicate exchanging information packages by using a common high speed bus.

The paper treats a microcomputer station for acquisition and recording of pulse data acquired from the electrical energy meters, intended for metering and billing purposes. Presented station concept provides its efficient use in different configurations of metering systems, regardless the number of the measuring points. Within the metering system it can work either as an autonomous unit or as a telemetering system outstation, performing at the same time numerous functions. Existance of the function table in EEPROM memory enables, through the exploitation period, easy and quick reconfiguration of the station on site, or remotely from the central station. The realized organization of the data base, as well as, the concept of real and derived measuring points made possible the high flexibility of the station regarding the selection of data which is to be logged, the RAM-buffer size for data logging, as well as, the possibility to transmit these data to other memory media and devices.