Automated verification of system configuration

Errors in field wiring can result in significant correction costs (if the errors are discovered prior to use), in erroneous or unusable data (if the errors are not discovered in time), or in serious accidents (if the errors corrupt critical data). Detailed field wiring checkout rework are tedious and expensive, but they are essential steps in the quality assurance process for large, complex instrumentation and control systems. A recent Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) development, the CONFiguration IDEnification System (CONFIDES) automates verification of field wiring. In CONFIDES, an identifier module is installed on or integrated into each component (e.g., sensor, actuator, cable, distribution panel) to be verified. Interrogator modules, controlled by a personal computer (PC), are installed at the connections of the field wiring to the inputs of the data acquisition and control system (DACS). Interrogator modules poll the components connected to each channel of the DACS and can determine the path taken by each channel's signal to or from the end device for that channel. The system will provide not only the identification (ID) code for the cables and patch panels in the path to a particular sensor or actuator but for individual cable conductor IDs as well. Onemore » version of the system uses existing signal wires for communications between CONFIDES modules. Another, more powerful version requires a single dedicated conductor in each cable. Both version can operate with or without instrument power applied and neither interferes with the normal operation of the DACS. Identifier modules can provide a variety of information including status and calibration data. 3 figs.« less