High Performance Industrial Diagnostic Systems

Abstract: CC-Systems has developed a diagnostic system used to monitor the operation of crane-spreaders, called Diagnostics Runtime Engine (DRE). The system monitors signals from the spreaders’ control system and performs different actions when needed. The system can for example send an e-mail to an operator if a problem occurs. The control system is implemented in a softPLC named CoDeSys. A softPLC is a kind of virtual machine for running PLC programs on a normal computer, while the diagnostic system is a normal computer program that runs under the host operating system. The system is currently operational and in use, but there have been concerns with the system’s ability of performing well under a large signal load, preventing it from being used in large systems. Tests have shown that a large amount of time is spent copying signals from the control system in the virtual machine to the diagnostic system that runs directly under the host operating system. In this Master’s Thesis a new design for the diagnostic system was developed and implemented as a prototype under the name CoDeSys Diagnostics Runtime Engine (CODRE). This new design eliminated the need of copying signals from the control system and thus allowed for much better scaling. Testing showed that CODRE was capable of handling almost twice as many signals as DRE within the same time constraints.