AUTOMATION & CONTROL INSTITUTEINSTITUT FÜR AUTOMATISIERUNGS-& REGELUNGSTECHNIK

Utilizing Lego Mindstorms nxt(tm) as Teaching and Training

Platform for IEC 61499

4DIAC Users’ WorkshopETFA, Bilbao, SpainSeptember 16, 2010

Alois Zoitlzoitl@acin.tuwien.ac.at

Lego Mindstorms nxt(tm) with 4DIAC 2September 16, 2010

Motivation

Inexpensive starting kits (~300€): Processor (Arm 7) 64kB Ram, 256kB Flash 3 Motors Sensors (color, 2 push-button, ultrasonic) ~600 Lego-Blocks

ECOS port available (open source real-time operating system)

FORTE port included on SourceForge

Lego Mindstorms nxt(tm) with 4DIAC 3September 16, 2010

USB

ATMEL AT91 ISP/SAM-BA®

Vision

arm-elf-gcc

Applicationdownload

FBFB FBFB

Device specific Hardware & Operating System

Device

MAL = MARTE Abstraction Layer

Type-Library

Device Log

Interrupt-Handling Device I/O Memory

Remote-Resource (Firmware)

FB’s

Res.

Data

Conn.

E_RESTARTE_RESTART

External Event Manager

Event Chain Executor

Timer Network

Server_2_1Server_2_1 DEV_MGRDEV_MGR

E_SRE_SR

Device specific Hardware & Operating System

FORTE

FAL = FORTE Abstraction Layer

Type-Library

Device Log

Interrupt-Handling Device I/O Memory

Remote-Resource (Firmware) Resource 1 Resource n

SIFBSIFB

SIFBSIFB

SIFBSIFB

FBFB FBFB

FB’s

Res.

Data

Conn.

Event-Connections Data-ConnectionsFirmware or User FB’s

E_RESTARTE_RESTART

External Event Manager

Event Chain Executor

Timer Network

Server_2_1Server_2_1 DEV_MGRDEV_MGR

E_SRE_SR …

Resource 1 Resource n

SIFBSIFB

SIFBSIFB

SIFBSIFB

FBFB FBFB …

FORTEfirmware typefile generation

FB.h

.h /.cpp

FORTE source files /eCos

libraries

IEC 61499 Ethernet to USB

Converter

USB serial profile

forte.bin

Lego Mindstorms nxt(tm) with 4DIAC 4September 16, 2010

Planned Training Scenarios

Typical applications in industrial automation Built on each other Increasing difficulty Deepening main IEC 61499 concepts Currently tutorials are

beeing developed

Lego Mindstorms nxt(tm) with 4DIAC 5September 16, 2010

Tutorials Under Development

Light blinking application Goal: usage of sensors and actuators (light); understand

application timing

Line following robot Goal: understand Basic Function Blocks; Closed Loop Control

(Motors); Management of resources

Car Wash Goal: develop Service Interface Function Blocks; Improved

Closed Loop Control (e.g., PID)

Part Sorting and Packaging Goal: timed buffers; Position control (Pick and Place);

Monitoring of conveyor belt

Lego Mindstorms nxt(tm) with 4DIAC 6September 16, 2010

Current State

FORTE runs on Lego Controller 4DIAC-IDE can download via

Java-proxy and USB FBs for

Push-Sensor Buttons LED / Light-Sensor Sound Sensor Motors

Needs JTAG connector for debugging voids guarantee

Lego Mindstorms nxt(tm) with 4DIAC 7September 16, 2010

Example Line Following Robot

Lego Mindstorms nxt(tm) with 4DIAC 8September 16, 2010

Next Steps

Develop FBs for Ultra-sonic sensor Display Sound

Testing and improvements Work without JTAG Use binary XML for improving performance and memory

usage

Will be released to public via 4DIAC-Wiki: http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/fordiac

Additional tutorials, examples and suggestions are warmly welcome

Lego Mindstorms nxt(tm) with 4DIAC 9September 16, 2010

Further Developments

Utilizing Lego’s Bluetooth for distributed applications

Connecting 4DIAC with Virtual Lego