PROVIEW, A FREE AND OPEN SOURCE CONTROL SYSTEM

Proview is more than a programmable logic controller ( PLC ) open source software system.

« Proview » is a complete package of open source process control software.

This set of automation software acts as a flexible, robust, safe, powerful, multilingual, low cost control system solution of industrial quality and well documented.

It is distributed with many different communication interface drivers, with many different input-output interface drivers, and with a consequent object library.

« Proview » allows to develop all the automation applications intended to drive machines, industrial plants, entire manufacturing sites and even the whole factories of an industrial company.

It is also convenient for laboratories and research and development departments, in order to design and to test prototypes, to build automated tools or to install benchmarks.

Automation applications are programmable logic controller applications, operator interfaces ( MMI and HMI ) applications, supervisory control and data acquisition ( SCADA ) applications, plus data storage with one or more MySQL based real time data base.

« Proview » is a versatile and opened control system which benefits of all the richness of the Linux environment, running on many different hardware and software platforms ( including open source hardware platforms ), what increases its features and improves its capacities.

So, « Proview » can benefit to non industrial automation applications such as interactive terminals, home automation, drone control etc.

Well, the door is wide opened to the creativity and to the imagination of its users.

Congratulations and great thanks to the Proview development team ( Hallå, hallå ! ) and to the SSAB Oxelösund company to have developed a so amazing product, and to be so generous by sharing a so complete, so professional and so powerful tool.

www.proview.se

The first quality of Proview, generating all the others, is probably to be a control system developed by industrial users for their own usage, the initial goal being to control plants in metallurgy manufacturing, which is a so requiring and a so restraining environment.

That warrants that :

• In association with the existence of an excellent development team, this process control system is perfectly appropriate to industrial needs and to industrial usage.
• The control system is very documented and well documented.
• The system is maintained and is evolving continuously.

At the end of 2014, SSAB Oxelösund ( the company which initiated the project ) has installed more than 500 controllers in its own factories, without taking in account installations in factories of some other companies in Sweden, in China and in the USA.

There is no better warranty according to the quality and the efficiency of this process control system.

« Proview » is an object oriented control system, as well as for its own development and for the automation programming.

The Proview distribution ( versus 5.1.0-4 ) provides all the compiled modules for following operating systems : Linux Debian, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 13.10, Android and Raspbian ( Linux Debian for Raspberry PI ).

The source codes are provided, thus « Proview » can be compiled for any version of any open source operating system.

So, « Proview » has already been compiled and is currently operating over systems such as Open VMS, LynxOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Mac OS X et Cygwin.

It has already been implemented for many different hardware platforms such as Vax, Alpha, Power PC, Intel x86 32 and 64 bits and ARM environment for instance.

Programming an application is done by using a graphical editor for the sequential functions ( Grafcet language ) and for the logical functions, for the computing functions, for the networking functions etc. ( by programming and calling function blocks ).

It is possible to program in a high level language such as C++, C, Fortran and Java. In this case, the function is called as a function block within the graphical editor.

It is possible to build real objects communicating among themselves, with graphical objects or with data base objects.

These objects support several specific features of the object oriented programming languages, such as inheritance and methods for instance.

The program can operate stand alone in a personal computer or in a dedicated controller.

The PLC application can also be executed in parallel to the HMI or SCADA application in the same computer.

The functions library contains all the functions usually needed ( timers, counters, computing, networking etc. ).

It also contains programmed objects ( relays, breakers, motors, valves, drives, level measuring, temperature measuring, control loop etc. ).

It is to notice that the size of the code, the amount of inputs and outputs, the amount of control loops, the amount of timers etc do not have any limitation.

The only limits of the control system are the host system capabilities and the resources ( memory and processing ) it serves.

Some other features :

• PLC applications templates.
• Multi-tasking, multi-threading.
• Reentrant functions.
• Cross references.

• Program animation.
• Program testing functionalities.
• Program simulation.

The data base of the communication drivers and of the inputs and outputs drivers groups the interfaces used to communicate with inputs and outputs, with interface cards, with racks, with networks and with programmable devices ( the so called « smart » devices ) such as drives, inverters, axis control, measuring transmitter etc.

The driver data base included in the Proview distribution is increasing regularly. It is already quite big, and allows to communicate with currently used devices from well known manufacturers in the automation world.

• Communication drivers.

  Ethernet, GPIO, IOPC, Modbus TCP ( request Nr 99 to be blocked for security reasons ) and Modbus RTU, OPC, Powerlink, Profibus, Profinet, and finally USB.

• Inputs and outputs drivers.

  Siemens, ET200 Siemens, USB.

• Miscellaneous devices drivers.

  ABB, Arduino, Danfoss, Eurotherm, Hilsher, Legrand, Omron, Raspberry PI, SEW ( Movidrive ), Siemens and Velleman.

The documentation is complete for all the drivers included in the distribution.

The most important thing is that the IO documentation includes an entire section which guides you for writing your own IO interfaces, when those you wish to use are not in the data base yet.

The operator interface application can run in parallel either with the PLC application, in the same controller or computer, or stand alone in a dedicated controller.

The application displays directly the animations on one or more screens, or it can be implemented as an internet application server, serving interactive web pages by using the Java technology.

The development environment provides a complete graphical editor with curves ( trends, stored measures ), data storage, alarms management, event management and operator management.

It is also possible to program scripts.

The graphical editor is published with well supplied object library and programmable component collection ( buttons, input fields, indicators, electricity, hydraulics, pneumatics, process devices etc ).

• Whether an application is quite small, intended to support one machine for instance, the generated interface will be in the range of the operator interfaces ( MMI or HMI ).
• Whether an application is pretty large, intended to cover an entire workshop or to cover a complete factory, the interface will be on the whole in the range of the supervisory control systems ( SCADA ).

There are no difference according to the application point of view. It is only the size of the supervised area ( and consequently the size and the complexity of the application ) which make the difference.

One other feature is the possibility to configure SMS and emails to inform remotely about events and alarms automatically.

The applications generated in order to be executed on Android smartphone act as remote operator interfaces and as remote developer interfaces ( in order to debug and to test the PLC programs, the MMI programs and the real time database applications ).

All the operator interface screens are displayed ( animations, screens, drawing, curves, alarm lists etc ).

The developer can display the PLC application, with animations ( colours, values, states ) according to the current status of the program and its environment.

One important thing among 10 000 others is that Proview is essentially a safe control system, since it is open source and Linux based ( Linux being essentially a safe operating system ).

According to these solid bases, it is possible to improve the digital security of the control systems, depending on what is wished and depending on what is needed ( see the section about cyber-security and digital threats in the industrial environment ).

Thus, the Proview system offers both the possibility to strongly decrease the digital threats due to hacking, by benefiting of resources supported in the Linux environment ( and by benefiting of the fact that Proview is open source, thus anyone involved in digital security can improve the system ).

Shortly, for all which concerns the digital security in the control systems according to the cyber-criminality in the industry, Proview is a very convenient solution.

Mister Dale PETERSON, according to your paper about PLC hacking ( dale-peterson.com ), do you really wish to get safe and secure control systems ?

The potentially « hard to hack » control systems you are looking for are located at SSAB in Oxelösund, near Stockholm in Sweden.

Enjoy it, life is a miracle ( Thanks to Emir Kusturica and to the « No Smoking Orchestra » ).

Proview is a low cost control system for at least four reasons :

• Proview is an open source automation software package which is published freely, without fees.
• Proview can run on personal computers ( PC ) which do not need to offer high performances, whether the process control applications to operate do not require neither many resources, nor high performing resources.

  It could be a pleasant opportunity to recycle obsolete computers, that may be leads « Proview » to be the first ecological control system in the world like SYR, the first ecological robot in the world.

• The programmable logic controllers, the operator interfaces and the real time data base can be implemented over economical hardware platforms.

  They can be embedded micro computers such as the « Raspberry PI » platform for instance, Arduino platforms, smartphones or tablets operating Android.

• Proview is also distributed with economical USB IO cards drivers, supplied by Velleman, an electronic kit provider, for instance.

In all cases, Proview is a complete process control system. Not a nano PLC.

Consequently, Proview has been designed to operate complex process controls, and it is naturally more complex than a PLC toy.

First, even how economical is Proview, the beginners need time and must invest themselves to learn how Proview is structured and how to use all its numerous features ( and how to appreciate them ), even though the graphical editors help to make some part of programming quite easy.

Second, for those who do not know the system, it is necessary to learn at least how to use the Linux operating system, then how to develop applications into different Linux environments, when the applications to design are becoming more subtle.

This amazing web site is dedicated to people interested in electronics and automation matter.

It presents educational projects based on open platforms with Proview as main application software, and MySQL or some other free open software when necessary.

The hardware kits hosting Proview are ( for the moment ) Arduino, Raspberri PI, Beaglebone Black, UDOO, AVR, Odroid, Ibox and GertBoard.

These projects are educational kits, allowing anyone to learn about Proview embedded in low cost open hardware solutions ( and may be some other are coming soon, please follow « maba.dk » to know about ).

More, Marc publishes useful Proview educational videos, which illustrate how to install a Proview system, and which show some Proview based projects running on various platforms. Thank you Mark for all the jobs you have done and for all the time you have past !

http://maba.dk/