About ProviewR

General
ProviewR is an Open Source Process Control System. It is modern, powerful and general and contains all functions normally required for successful sequential control, adjustment, data acquisition, communication, supervision, etc.

 

The configuration of a ProviewR system is done graphically, making the application adaptation simple, reliable, and flexible. ProviewR is a distributed system, which means that the system can consist of several computers, connected via a network, preferably ethernet. A typical ProviewR system consists of one process control system and one or more operator stations. It is easy to configure one operating station to become the HMI-system of several control systems.

 

Programming is possible both with a graphical PLC-editor and with high level programming languages (such as C, C++, Java or FORTRAN). The concept of Proview is based on a soft-PLC solution which runs on standard computers with Linux as operating system.

 

Performance
The great advantage of using standard hardware and soft-PLC is that system size, properties and performance is mainly limited by the hosting operating system and its hardware. In Proview there are no limits in number of I/O, PID loops, PLC programs, counters etc. The minimum cycle time for a PLC loop is less than 1 ms.

 

Communication
ProviewR can communicate with other computers both via ethernet network (ip) and via serial mechanisms. ProviewR supports several different protocols, such as UDP or TCP sockets via ethernet and Siemens 3964R on serial links.

 

I/O system
The most common used I/O system in Proview is Profibus/DP, a robust and well-tested field bus. There are also support for Profinet, Ethernet Powerlink, Modbus TCP and RTU, PSS9000, 1-wire, some USB I/O cards etc. The Modular design of the I/O system and the fact that ProviewR is based on Linux and high level languages makes it easy to implement other I/O systems with available drivers or develop new ones. 

Object Orientation
ProviewR is the only control system on the market that can work in a truly object oriented way. Programming can be made in a traditional way with simple function blocks and simple signals. ProviewR though has support for creating complex objects and function objects that work upon them.

Object oriented concepts such as inheritance, methods and aggregates are supported.

Open Source
ProviewR is probably the first Open Source system for process control in the world. Originally developed in Sweden by Mandator and SSAB Oxelösund as a process control system based on standard computers, the system has become a fully-fledged, integrated and low-cost solution that is running on standard PC's with Linux operating system.

ProviewR is Open Source and the license is GNU/GPL. You can download ProviewR, use it, modify it and redistribute it as much as you like as long as you follow the license terms.