A flexible fieldbus simulation platform for distributed control systems laboratory courses

A PC-based fieldbus simulation platform has been designed to be used as an educational tool for distributed control systems teaching. The FBSIMU (Foundation Fieldbus Function Blocks Simulator) tool can be used to highlight via hands-on activities some fundamental concepts of discrete control and control networks. The full platform has been written using LabVIEW due to its graphical interface and rapid development time. The simulator user interface is similar to a typical industrial fieldbus system interface and its operation configuration is fully flexible, experiments can be conducted for different physical communication parameters, medium access control mechanisms and controller and acquisition algorithms. This paper describes the design and development of the FBSIMU and the incorporation of the tool in the mechatronic engineering laboratory curriculum of

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