Object-oriented operating system for a spray controller

• US 20040260429A1
• Filed: 06/17/2003
• Published: 12/23/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Spraying Systems Company
• Original Assignee: Spraying Systems Company
• Inventors: Saelens, Hans
• Granted Patent: US 7,024,285 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/283
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 12/085 responsive to flow or pressure of liquid or other fluent material to be discharged B05B1/3006, B05B1/323, B05B7/1254 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23255 Object oriented programming, OOP

Abstract

A method and system for implementing a spray controller uses object-orientated software code and an interrupt-driven operating system for processing and interpreting the code.

Claims

1. An interrupt-driven system for controlling a spray system including a plurality of spray nozzles, a fluid supply, and a spray controller having a processing unit and memory, said system comprising:

an application file residing in the memory, the application file being a binary version of a functional block representation created using an object-oriented software program, the block diagram including a plurality of software objects representing the physical and logical properties of the spray system, the plurality of objects being interconnected to create the functional block representation; and

a runtime engine residing in the memory for processing the application file, said runtime engine enabling communication between the plurality of objects and for processing interrupt signals provided by at least one of the plurality of objects, the interrupt signals being responsive to a stimulus detected by the spray controller.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of software objects comprises a data structure having internal data representative of a corresponding concept and an external interface implemented as a method.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the object-oriented software program is capable of accessing a function block library for providing the plurality of objects and interconnecting the objects to create the functional block representation.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein at least certain of the plurality of software objects are capable of generating output data in response to a data input, the data being generated during execution of the runtime engine.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein one or more of the plurality of software objects are capable of invoking an action in response to a command input.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the runtime engine facilitates the exchange of commands between one or more of the plurality of software objects according to a unique reference value assigned to the command, the command and corresponding reference value being specified in the application file.

7. A method for implementing the physical and logical operations of a spray controller using object-oriented code and programmable logic having instructions for processing interrupts, the method comprising the steps of:

generating an application file specifying one or more data structures having internal data representative of a corresponding concept and an external interface implemented as a method, the data structures corresponding to at least certain of the physical and logical properties of the spray controller;

loading the one or more data structures specified in the application file into the memory of a programmable logic control device;

activating a run-time engine located within the programmable logic control device having instructions for interpreting the one or more data structures and associated parameters in the application file.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of generating is performed by an object-oriented configuration program capable of processing instructions for logically interconnecting the one or more data structures to create a functional block diagram.

9. A method for enabling the operation of a spray controller according to the contents of an application file loaded into a storage medium located on the spray controller, the application file comprising one or more data structures and associated parameters that are representative of the physical and logical properties of the spray controller, wherein the system is capable of responding to interrupts generated during runtime, the method comprising:

initializing the one or more data structures specified by the application file for execution by a runtime engine; and

executing a set of function block code that corresponds to the one or more data structures executed by the runtime engine, wherein the function block code includes instructions for interacting with a physical component of the spray controller in response to the processing of the one or more data structures and associated parameters that are representative of the physical and logical properties of that component.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of executing further comprises transferring data from one data structure to another data structure, wherein the data being transferred includes the associated parameters of an object.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of transferring includes specifying the unique logical address of the data structure in which the data is to be transferred from by the data structure requesting the transfer.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of transferring further includes validating the command sent by the one data structure.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of transferring further includes transferring the command from the one data structure to the data structure intended to receive the command in accordance with the unique logical address of the data structure intended to receive the command.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein each data structure specified in the application file has a unique logical address for being referenced by other data structures.

15. A control system for a sprayer of the type comprising a plurality of spray nozzles a fluid supply system, and a spray controller including a processing unit and memory and being operable to provide output signals for controlling said plurality of spray nozzles, comprising:

means for receiving and storing in the memory spraying system characteristic data;

means for transmitting command signals to said plurality of spray nozzles to thereby control the flow of fluid;

an application file compiled from an object-oriented software program including a plurality of software objects, said objects being accessible from a function block library and representing certain physical and logical properties of the spraying system, said objects exchanging, with other of said objects, messages indicative of an operation to be carried out or a status of a sending object, said object-oriented software program being compiled into an application file located in the memory of the spray controller; and

a runtime engine residing within the memory of the spray controller for processing the application file, said runtime engine enabling communication between the plurality of objects and for processing interrupt signals provided by at least one of the plurality of objects, the interrupt signals being responsive to a stimulus detected by the spray controller.

16. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable components comprising:

an object-oriented configuration program having a graphical user interface for developing a functional block representation of a spraying system, the block representation comprising a plurality of software objects that are interconnected to represent the physical and logical properties of the spray system, each object being implemented as a data structure for storing data that characterizes the physical and logical properties of the spraying system; and

a function block library for storing the plurality of software objects, each object being accessible from the library by a user of the configuration program.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 further comprising a set of default characteristic data, the characteristic data being supplied to the plurality of software objects by the configuration program for enhancing the ability of the user to create the functional block representation.

18. A method for implementing the logical and physical properties of a spray system using an object-oriented configuration program having a graphical user interface, the spray system including a plurality of spray nozzles, a fluid supply, and a spray controller having a processing unit and memory, the memory having stored therein a set of function block code corresponding to each of a plurality of software objects provided by the configuration program, the method comprising the steps of:

placing one or more of the plurality of software objects onto a drawing area provided by the graphical user interface, each object being implemented as a data structure for storing data that characterizes the physical and logical properties of the spraying system;

interconnecting the one or more software objects to create a functional block representation of the spray system; and

generating an application file specifying the one or more data structures, the application file being a binary representation of the functional block representation.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of placing includes retrieving the one or more software objects from a function block library that resides within a memory storage medium.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the memory storage medium is accessible by a computer upon which the configuration program is executed.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of placing further includes storing characteristic data into the one or more software objects by a user of the configuration program.

22. The method of claim 18 further comprising the step of creating a functional block representation using a configuration wizard, the configuration wizard prompting the user of the configuration program for information descriptive of the physical and logical properties of the spray system, the information being extrapolated and interpreted by the wizard to generate a functional block representation of the spray system corresponding to the information provided by the user.

23. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable components comprising:

an object-oriented configuration program having a graphical user interface for developing a functional block representation of a spray system including a plurality of spray nozzles, a fluid supply, and a spray controller having a processing unit and memory, the block representation comprising a plurality of software objects that are interconnected to represent the physical and logical properties of the spray system, each object being implemented as a data structure for storing data that characterizes the physical and logical properties of the spray system; and

a function block library for storing the plurality of software objects, each object being accessible from the library by a user of the configuration program.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 23 further comprising a set of default characteristic data, the characteristic data being supplied to the plurality of software objects by the configuration program for enhancing the ability of the user to create the functional block representation.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 23 wherein the configuration program converts the block representation into a binary application file for being interpreted and executed by a runtime engine residing on the spray system, the application file comprising one or more data structures and associated parameters that are representative of the physical and logical properties of the spray controller.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 23 wherein at least certain of the plurality of software objects stored within the function block library are capable of generating output data in response to a data input, the data being generated during execution of the runtime engine.

27. The computer-readable of claim 23 wherein at least certain of the plurality of software objects stored within the function block library are capable of invoking an action to be carried out by the spray controller in response to data representing a command input.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 23 further comprising a runtime engine for execution upon the spray system, the runtime engine having instructions for interpreting and executing the application file generated by the configuration program.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 28 wherein the runtime engine executes a set of function block code corresponding to the one or more data structures and associated parameters that are representative of the physical and logical properties of the spray controller as specified in the application file.

30. The system of claim 28 wherein the runtime engine facilitates the exchange of data between one or more of the plurality of software objects according to a unique reference value assigned to the data, the data and corresponding reference value being specified in the application file.

31. The system of claim 28 wherein the runtime engine facilitates the exchange of commands between one or more of the plurality of software objects according to a unique reference value assigned to the command, the command and corresponding reference value being specified in the application file.

32. A method for implementing the logical and physical properties of a spray system using an object-oriented configuration program having a graphical user interface, the spray system including a plurality of spray nozzles, a fluid supply, and a spray controller having a processing unit and memory, the memory having stored therein a set of function block code corresponding to each of a plurality of software objects provided by the configuration program from a function block library, the method comprising the steps of:

placing one or more of the plurality of software objects onto a drawing area provided by the graphical user interface, each object being implemented as a data structure for storing data that characterizes the physical and logical properties of the spraying system;

interconnecting the one or more software objects to create a functional block representation of the spray system; and

generating an application file specifying the one or more data structures, the application file being a binary representation of the functional block representation.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein the step of placing includes retrieving the one or more software objects from a function block library that resides within a memory storage medium.

34. The method of claim 32 wherein the function block library comprises a plurality software objects, one or more of the software objects representing composite function objects.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein the composite function object is comprised of a group of interconnected function objects for representing a specific physical or logical property of the spray controller.

36. The method of claim 32 wherein the memory storage medium is accessible by a computer upon which the configuration program is executed.

37. The method of claim 32 further comprising the step of creating a functional block representation using a configuration wizard, the configuration wizard prompting the user of the configuration program for information descriptive of the physical and logical properties of the spray system, the information being extrapolated and interpreted by the wizard to generate a functional block representation of the spray system corresponding to the information provided by the user.