Experimental Physics and
Industrial Control System
| 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 <2006> 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 | Index | 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 <2006> 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 |
| <== Date ==> | <== Thread ==> |
|---|
| Subject: | Re: Knob Controls |
| From: | Eric Bjorklund <[email protected]> |
| To: | Robert Emery <[email protected]> |
| Cc: | [email protected] |
| Date: | Fri, 1 Sep 2006 17:10:56 -0600 |
I think we may have something close to what you are looking for. It's kind of like the "Knob Manager" except that it runs on an IOC, which makes it convenient for controlling VME-based knob hardware. What is not so convenient is that EPICS is not a particularly "knob-friendly" system and it takes a lot of work to get a control knob system implemented that operators will actually want to use (at least our operators anyway). Consequently, our system is pretty complex, featuring the following elements:
o Knob Record: EPICS record that handles the mechanics of assigning a PV to the knob, commanding the control PV when the knob is turned and displaying the values of the control and readback PVs.
o Knob Server: IOC process that associates knob hardware with OPI screens and can handle requests of the form "assign the next available knob located at my console (or workstation) to this PV. Communicates with applications via Sun RPC interface.
o Knob Monitor: IOC process that handles the Channel Access connection management and monitoring for control and readback PVs.
o Knob Advisor: Ubiquitous IOC process (needs to run on every IOC containing "knobable" PVs. Uses static database access to associate command and readback PVs with each other and retrieve important information about these PVs such as command limits, display units, and scaling (e.g. what is the minimum change I can make to an engineering value). Communicates with the Knob Server process via Sun RPC.
The knob record makes it possible to assign and deassign PVs, monitor their values, and even control them with any display manager you want (dm, medm, dm2k, edm, etc.). It also makes it possible to assign a group of knobs to a "console" and even associate different knobs with different screens on the "console" via a "Left", "Center", "Right" association (this mostly affects the order in which knobs are assigned in the "get me the next available knob" scenario.
So the bad news is that it is a pretty complex system, and so it probably won't be "plug-and-play". It's also not OSI at the moment, so you can only run it under vxWorks. The good news, however is that most of the hard work is already done (you just have to understand it a little). The main thing you would need to do would be to write a Knob Record device support module for your DIO board and "knobbify" your database (which mostly consists of connecting your readback and command PVs through their SIOL links).
The code is pretty well documented, however, there is not a good "overall API" document describing who does what to whom and how.
I can send you the code, however, if you are interested (of if this is the best offer you get).
-Eric Bj.
On Sep 1, 2006, at 1:15 PM, Robert Emery wrote:
I am looking for a way to control system PV's by using six knob encoders (from a VME DIO board) and display their values and associated system (read back) values on an edm screen. I think that this would be similar to "Knob Manager" but without the SunDials.
Thanks
Robert Emery
Clinical Neutron Therapy System
UW Medical Center
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Eric Björklund
Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE)
phone: 505-667-6031 email: [email protected]
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
TSPA :: DUSA=ADTO
- References:
- Knob Controls Robert Emery
- Navigate by Date:
- Prev: Re: OSI Replacement for rebootHookAdd ??? Andrew Johnson
- Next: Re: OSI Replacement for rebootHookAdd ??? Eric Bjorklund
- Index: 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 <2006> 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
- Navigate by Thread:
- Prev: Knob Controls Robert Emery
- Next: Equipment Availability David Dudley
- Index: 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 <2006> 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
·
Home
·
News
·
About
·
Base
·
Modules
·
Extensions
·
Distributions
·
Download
·
· Search · EPICS V4 · IRMIS · Talk · Bugs · Documents · Links · Licensing ·