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RTiC-Lab for the Impatient

Controller implementation in the Real Time Controls Laboratory (RTiC-Lab) entails the creation of two distinct files in the ``user'' directory in the main source tree of the RTiC-Lab source distribution. These are used to define two distinct parts of a controller: the embedded part (the part that must meet hard deadlines) and the reactive part (the part that interfaces to the user via a graphical user interface) in accordance with the Real Time Linux paradigm ( www.rtlinux.org ). The files and their use are enumerated in what follows:

  1. user_controller.c: code written in this file is run in the embedded real time controller. For example, a user may write a PID controller to run in this file. Then, via the use of some pre-specified tokens, the user can update and retrieve information passed to and from the reactive systems.

  2. user_GUI.par: this file is based on a simple scripting language designed explicitly for RTiC-Lab. It allows the users to easily design the graphical user interface which will be used to pass parameters to the real time tasks. It also allows the user to bypass some RTiC-Lab default values and features2.1.

Then, the entire RTiC-Lab source tree is recompiled with these files within the source tree. Upon completion of the compilation, two files will be generated:

  1. rtic.o: this is the embedded part of the controller. This must be inserted into kernel memory.

  2. xrtic: this is the graphical user interface. Through this interface, the user can update parameters, start tasks, stop tasks, change run-time frequency, sample data, store data to disk, and plot data.

Several other utilities will be created for the benefit of the user:

In the following subsections, the information will be presented necessary to get started using the RTiC-Lab software.



Subsections
next up previous
Next: Installing RTiC-Lab Up: User's Manual for the Previous: RTiC-Lab Design
Michael Barabanov 2001-06-19