A RESEARCH PROTOTYPE OF A CONTROL-SYSTEM BASED ON SMART TRANSDUCERS

A research prototype of a control system based on smart transducers is described. The smart transducers are self-configuring and support a w ide variety of sensors and actuators. Closed loop control has been dem onstrated based on peer-to-peer communications. Each smart node consis ts of three modules: 1. A communication transceiver allows selection o f wired or wireless communication media. 2. A common core execution mo dule performs configuration, conversion and management of data, and ru ns optional application-specific software such as control algorithms. 3. A transducer interface module conditions the transducer output sign al and contains an ''electronic data sheet'' which describes the trans ducer to the common core module. The contributions of this system are in three areas: 1. A network interface which defines a common data mod el, a set of node operations, and a consistent way to add application- specific behavior. 2. A set of node behaviors which simplify the insta llation and use of the system. 3. A transducer interface which support s the ''electronic data sheet''. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.