Fuzzy Logic Gains a Bigger Presence in PC-Based Process Control
Wonderware Corp. (Irvine, CA) and Inform Software Corp. (Oak Brook, IL) now offer a plug-in ActiveX module for the Wonderware FactorySuite automation software package that adds fuzzy logic capabilities for PC-based control and process visualization applications. The announcement was made the opening of the Hannover Fair (Hannover, Germany, Apr. 20-25).
According to the companies, fuzzy logic enables the use of engineering knowledge and experimental results in addition to standard user data for application execution. In contrast to traditional control engineering methods, fuzzy logic does not require rigorous mathematical modeling but lets designers express control strategies in everyday language as well. Fuzzy logic has already been widely applied in industrial automation and process control applications such as chemicals production, food processing, paper making, power plants and plastics extrusion.
"Many of our FactorySuite customers can benefit from fuzzy logic control techniques, thus we have worked with Inform Software to help them develop a seamless, third-party ActiveX-based solution that simply plugs-and-plays with our visualization and control components of the FactorySuite," said Dave Emery, Wonderware product manager.
"This new fuzzyTECH logic module looks much like an editor within InControl," Emery added. InControl is the process control interface of FactorySuite. "All users have to do is double click on the Fuzzy Logic FactoryObject with their PC mouse, which opens the Fuzzy Logic Editor that allows them to create the application and store it as part of the InControl project. When the project is downloaded from the development mode to the runtime application, the fuzzy logic object is downloaded within the InControl and InTouch code and is executed in the fuzzy logic engine within those modules."
"There is no limit to how many fuzzy logic controllers can be used in a FactorySuite application," explained Thomas Haase, Inform Software fuzzy logic application specialist. "Any running fuzzy logic controller can be linked to the new module in real-time for on-line analysis and tuning. Remote tracing functions allow long-term performance monitoring of controller performance. The module's unique 'on-the-fly' system modification technique lets users optimize a running fuzzy logic controller without halting the FactorySuite system operation."
The new Inform Fuzzy Logic Module has been designed specifically for the Wonderware FactorySuite 2000 product using Wonderware's external ActiveX-based development interfaces. The module is list priced at $2,390 for both the InTouch and InControl runtime components. It is available directly from Inform and will be available at a future date from Wonderware as part of the FactorySuite Partners program. There is no limit to the size and number of fuzzy logic systems that can be deployed with each runtime license.
Wonderware is a unit of British-based Siebe plc. Wonderware pioneered Windows-based ease of use for developing industrial automation applications with the introduction of the InTouch operator interface software in 1989. The FactorySuite is the first integrated suite of easy-to-use software tools for creating any factory application, providing the broadest range of functionality at the lowest price on the market.
Inform Software develops and markets a variety of fuzzy logic and neural-fuzzy application tools, including the fuzzyTECH development system, one of the industry's leading software design tools. The company has been involved in extensive research and development of fuzzy logic technology for 20 years. The company is headquartered in Aachen, Germany.
Edited by Nick Basta
For more information:
Don Allen, Director of Corporate Relations, Wonderware Corporation, 100 Technology Drive, Irvine, CA. 92618. Tel: 714-453-6652.
Inform Software Corporation, 2001 Midwest Road, Oak Brook, IL 60523, Tel: 800-929-2815 or 630-268-7550. In Germany contact, INFORM GmbH, Pascalstraße 23, D-52076 Aachen, Tel: (+49-2408) 945680.