Simulation System with Multi-Channel RTD Capability

Brown Controls had been assisting one of our larger customers with developing PLC code for various air and gas industrial dryers that involved many PLC brands. The customer had limited testing capability, only being able to source RTD and thermocouple signals one or two channels at a time and no way to realistically simulate an actual NEMA cycle which could last up to a couple of days and also necessitate many flavors of analog sourcing along with discrete signals. BCI proposed automating the testing process, which was quickly embraced.

The most challenging aspect was to provide multiple RTD sourcing channels of both pt100 and pt1000 type that could be fully automatically controlled. Initially, we attempted to find equipment already out there to do this. Nothing was available that could meet the customer’s specification and include the quantity of channels and level of automation that was required, so we designed our own
 
The result was a custom board solution that provides a broad range of temperatures and superior resolution. These are commanded with discrete Ethernet I/O.

Additionally, we developed multichannel thermocouple sourcing cards that are capable of simulating both J & K type thermocouples. These included sample and hold circuitry to allow for a few of our analog signals to control multiple T/C channels.
  
All of these boards are housed in a removable rack, which itself is housed in a convenient cabinet that is equipped with a Stealth industrial PC and 17” Touchscreen.
Screens and Programming
The system can operate both in a manual mode - in which signals are commanded through screen input as needed - or in completely automatic mode in which the sequence of operation is commanded through a recipe system. In addition to the time savings of automatic testing and saving of data, the system also streamlines your process by allowing for repeated use of recipes once the first one has been set up. We will first detail the control screens and show how they can be used for manual simulation and then show how the system is set up for automatic operation.

Temperature Simulation:
Below is a screenshot of the Temperature Simulation Screen. There are (6) RTD channels that are freely selectable as pt100 or pt1000 type. You can name each of the channels for keeping track of them and also populating the trend screens. Settings can be made either by the slider bar or directly entering the desired temperature output equivalent resistance. The program performs a lookup of data from NIST standards whenever any change is made. You can work in either degrees C or F.
To the right there are (16) thermocouple channels that are similarly laid out to the RTD channels. Here you select J or K type and enter a name and make adjustments with the slider or direct entry just like the RTD channels.

Analog Simulation:
Below is a screenshot of the Analog Simulation Screen. There are (6) Voltage channels and (6) Current channels. To use the voltage channels, first select one of the various voltage types (-10 to 10, 0 to 10, 0 to 5, 1 to 5V). Then, you can enter high and low engineering units that will rescale the slider bar limits and allow you to work in these units instead of the raw units, if desired. Do the same for the current channels, where raw units are 4 to 20, or 0 to 20mA.
Discrete Simulation:
Here is the DC discrete simulation screen. Simply click or touch the output indicators to change state. Output power must be sourced from the Unit-Under-Test and can be from 5 to 60VDC. Inputs are polarity insensitive. Use the text fields to name your channels. Naming them also populates the trend chart (shown later).
The AC discrete screen operates similarly. The outputs are relay and the inputs are also polarity insensitive.
Real Time Trend Screen:
This is the Real-Time Trend Screen. It is useful as a historical log of what happened during simulation. In addition to plotting the simulation outputs, it will also log the outputs from the Unit-Under-Test if they are wired to inputs of the simulation system. The trend is scalable in every way and you can select which channels to see with the check boxes on the left. You can also pan the trend in all directions.
Historical Trend Screen:
This is the Historical Trend Screen. Here you can recall data from disk for a date range that is specified from a virtual calendar. You can also retrieve data by serial number. As with the real time trend, you can select which channels to see - particularly useful if the trend gets busy. Again, the trend is scalable and pan-able in every way.
Recipe System - Recipe Select Screen:
Here is the Recipe Screen where you can select from pre-programmed recipes. Recipes are built in convenient MSAccess forms shown later. As you type in a recipe name, similar items appear in the list-box. Just make a selection and click or touch the Start Simulation button. The system will automatically populate the values in the above screens as defined by the recipe forms that I will detail below.
Recipe System - Recipe Entry Database:
This is the main switchboard for the recipe database. Form links are laid out for step by step entry. Just click or touch to open the forms. You populate the forms in such a way that will exercise your Unit-Under-Test as needed. Being able to automatically perform tests and collect the data is one big advantage of this system, while another is only having to set up a recipe once for a particular type of unit to test.
(Our customer’s logo is covered up)
This is the main recipe setup form where you can setup the channel names and define physical channels of the simulator to suit your particular test. Do this for all the output types as needed - RTD, T/C, discrete - and also the discrete inputs to the simulator, if desired. For this customer, the process to be tested is defined in steps, so here you can define the step duration as well.
This is the Discrete Steps form. Here you can setup functionality for discrete simulation outputs for each step. The name is selectable by drop-down list of the items that were entered in the main form that defines the channels. You can set outputs to be on or off for the duration of the step, or slave the output off of some other input (output from UUT) as same polarity or inverse and give a delay. You only have to setup channels that need to change during a step to exercise your UUT as needed.
This is the Temperature Steps form. Here you can setup functionality for temperature simulation outputs for each step. The name is selectable by drop-down list of the items that were entered in the main form that defines the channels. You can define units to be C or F and set two temperatures to oscillate between at a time interval or select a slave channel from a drop down list of inputs and outputs and give an On Target and Off target to attain at defined Interval. You only have to setup channels that need to change during a step to exercise your UUT as needed.
This is the Analog Steps form. Here you can setup functionality for Analog simulation outputs for each step. The name is selectable by drop-down list of the items that were entered in the main form that defines the channels. You can set two Analog values to oscillate between at a time interval or select a slave channel from a drop down list of inputs and outputs and give an On Target and Off target to attain at defined Interval. You only have to setup channels that need to change during a step to exercise your UUT as needed.
If you have read this far, thank you for your interest in our extremely complete and competent simulation system. While it is somewhat customized for the particular customer, any variation is possible. We are confident that this system will provide you with huge time savings for your engineering, quality and technical personnel that are involved with testing as it can test your machine or process automatically and also will prevent costs from returns or field service due to the ease of use and completeness of testing possible.

Please consider Brown Controls and Integration for your simulation needs.