In the past it was quite complicated to realize a state machine in BORIS. With the new State Machine Workbench this becomes very easy. In the following the realization of a control strategy with the State Machine Workbench is demonstrated by the example of a machine for the drilling of workpieces.

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The system to be controlled

The graphic on the left shows the drilling machine:

The machine can operate in different modes. The workpiece (in the graphic represented by an orange rectangle) has at first to be fixed. For that the cylinder Z1 has to be extended. Afterwards the drilling unit has to be moved into the workpiece by the cylinder Z2. In reversed order the machine gets back into its original state as it is shown here.

The state chart

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The state chart is designed within a special editor which is based on the Eclipse platform. The graphic on the right shows the editor as an application embedded in Eclipse.

On the right side are the elements which can be used within the state chart. These are:

	Region (see below)
	Transition
	State
	Initial State
	Final State
	Choice
	Junction

The state chart can be designed almost intuitively. Because the state machine can also process parallel state charts the single state charts are subdivided into regions. The graphic shows three regions on the lowest level: two on the top of which the left region contains one state chart with two states and the right region one with one state. The third region is very large and consists of two states. Both contain further charts.

It is:

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	One region can contain one state chart.
	A state chart consists of at least one state.
	A state may contain any number of regions.

Because of this very simple structure complex state charts can be designed and any control problem can be solved.

In addition to the state chart variables and events are defined with the help of the element explorer. Later on these are set by the simulation resp. supplied to it. The graphic on the right shows the element explorer on the left side. In the region of the lower part of the graphic the currently selected elements are displayed.

The state machine in BORIS

By the declaration of the file created in the editor the block is configured with all in- and outputs which were specified in the editor as input resp. output. The in- and outputs of the block can be assigned very easily because the corresponding name is displayed when they are touched with the mouse.

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While the simulation is running a connection to the editor is established so that during the simulation the user can watch which state of the state chart is active. BORIS and also the state chart editor are applications which need much space on the screen. Therefore the communication is realized via TCP/IP. So the user can run the editor on another computer and watch the functioning of the state chart there.

In the graphic on the right the BORIS window has been scaled down so that only the visualization of the drilling machine can be seen in front of the state chart.

When everything has been tested successfully the state chart-block can be generated to ANSI-C-code if necessary together with other blocks.

Demo-version:

For a demo-version the following files are required: Before the installation it is essential to read the corresponding installation instructions for a trouble-free interaction of all components! For using the demo-version WinFACT 7 (at least the demo-version) has to be installed first.

Product information "WinFACT State Machine Workbench" (German/English)

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