Validation, off-line programming and optimisation of industrial control logic

This article proposes a classification of different methods for validation, off-line programming and optimisation of control logic. The classification is an overview of different methods available and includes advantages and disadvantages for each method. The method overview points out a superior method, control system emulation, which is the most cost-effective and flexible method. The control system emulation method is also general and may be applied to validate and optimise control logic in various applications. Further, the method is compared with several other methods for validation of industrial control systems. However the method requires a standardised system architecture. This article proposes such architecture for the control system emulation method. Here, a control system emulator has also been implemented with the specific system architecture described in this article. An application case is also provided to demonstrate an approach to the integration of a control system emulator into a virtual manufacturing system. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.