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<== Date ==> <== Thread ==>
Subject: Re: EPICS PLC5 Support
From: Josh Fiddler via Tech-talk <tech-talk at aps.anl.gov>
To: Josh West <Josh.West at lcra.org>
Cc: tech-talk at aps.anl.gov
Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2024 08:15:44 -0500
Hey Josh, fellow Josh here I can speak to React Automation Studio specifically. For two years it ran a simple set of PLC and custom embedded circuits and prototypes on integrated circuits and SOCs like raspberry pis, hosting in docker containers
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Hey Josh, fellow Josh here

I can speak to React Automation Studio specifically. For two years it ran a simple set of PLC and custom embedded circuits and prototypes on integrated circuits and SOCs like raspberry pis, hosting in docker containers and deployed as a swarm to mixed environments of Windows and Linux environments. 

I can say without a doubt that EPICS is the gold standard for stability. Any “instability” as such will arise from the database and driver programming that you will do so clear simple interface design and integration testing is a must and William Duckitt who designed RAS has all the experience and expertise to aid with implementation as he did for me when I was tossed/leaped into the deep end at Fuse Energy Technologies and designed the controls and DAQ system with very limited experience and expertise. The UI and custom and builtin react components are in my opinion superior to the other offerings that rely on mixing stacks to an unwieldy degree. Keeping the stack to a stack that any web developer has in their back pocket, that a full stack developer could integrate EPICS knowledge quickly to get you going on any hardware. 

Understanding your hardware is largely PLCs, there StreamDevice is your friend for standard interfaces but there are other options for devices with novel communications interfaces as well. I tried to have uniform communications as much as possible favoring TCP/IP based solutions as my background in networking and HPC eliminated having to fiddle too much with more sophisticated DAQ hardware like VME bus, isolating that to a different problem and a different container. 

I was responsible for the code, and built prototypes with RPi-based integrated circuits for remote and local control and DAQ. I had a partner who designed the PCBs and worked on power systems another who built the analog circuits and plc based systems. I was the only person with any development experience having built REST APIs for other data laden applications. 

If it weren’t for React Automation Studio and docker multi architecture builds that project would have been way harder. Recently they released V5 so lots of good new stuff too!

The systems ran flawlessly for my time there and as far as I know they are still part of the infrastructure. Any issues we encountered were due to our implementations. 

I hope that helps. 

Josh Fiddler
Problem Solver
Polymath
Accidental DAQ and Control Systems Architect 


On Feb 22, 2024, at 9:44 AM, Josh West via Tech-talk <tech-talk at aps.anl.gov> wrote:


Good Morning, I am evaluating the use of EPICS in a non-physics/laboratory industrial control system. The control system requires exceptional stability and reliability and primarily interfaces PLCs and RTUs on an ethernet network. The system
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Good Morning,

                I am evaluating the use of EPICS in a non-physics/laboratory industrial control system. The control system requires exceptional stability and reliability and primarily interfaces PLCs and RTUs on an ethernet network. The system also requires support for some aged equipment (Allen-Bradley PLC5).

 

  1. Is the current build stable enough to run indefinitely with no EPICS-caused outages?
  2. Is Control System Studio or React Automation Studio stable and reliable similar to question 1?
  3. Can the ether_ip module support greater than 10K points distributed across multiple PLCs and physical sites?
  4. Has anyone successfully deployed a module to support Ethernet/IP interface with an Allen-Bradley PLC5 processor?
  5. Are there any plans/projects to implement more stringent information security mechanisms into the system (e.g., something consistent with NIST, IEC, etc. for critical infrastructure)?

 

I have done a thorough review of the mailing list, EPICS training materials, and data I could find through internet searches. I was not able to find much in the way of PLC 5 support. I believe the best current answer is to install an Allen-Bradley MicroLogix Controller as an intermediate device and forward PLC5 data via the MicroLogix controller and the ether_ip module.  I have also implemented a build in a test environment to prove general functionality, but I do not have a good feel how the system would scale. I am very excited by what I perceive the capabilities of this system to be, and I think it could easily replace a very large, closed source, and expensive software suite we have in production today.

 

V/R

 

Joshua West

Lower Colorado River Authority | Control Systems Administrator

 

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RE: EPICS PLC5 Support Josh West via Tech-talk
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