Group3 Control

Group3 Control is a fibre optically linked distributed control system. Data is sent over fibre optic cables to small outstations (Device Interfaces or DIs) that contain the I/O boards - ADCs, DACs, digital, motor drivers, etc.

A Loop Controller (or LC) card plugs into the control computer and handles all the communications on the fibre loop.

Communication with the device interfaces is by fiber optics, providing not only superior noise immunity and high voltage isolation, but fast data transfer as well.

Group3 Control's modular architecture produces a cost-effective, high-performance control system that is easily configured to a particular application.

PC Based Control Packages

Packages currently supported by Group3 are:

• InTouch, by WonderWare Corp
• LabVIEW, by National Instruments
• Linux Support
• C++ Toolkit

One huge advantage of using a PC as the control computer is that it allows use of any of a number of commercially available control software packages. These packages have had hundreds of man years of programming experience put into them - a level of input no single physics institution could hope to give to a project. The packages are also fully documented, come with on line help, and offer support and upgrades.

Using one of these commercial packages a complete novice can get a simple system under control in a week or two. It is useful to have someone in the organisation who has some previous knowledge of such packages, but by no means essential.

Most of the packages support networks of computers, so several computers can share control data.

For any software package to communicate with a Group3 loop controller, a driver must be installed on the computer. Drivers for all Microsoft operating systems are provided by Group3 on an installation CD with each loop controller.

The pricing of the commercial packages sometimes depends on the number of channels that are being monitored and controlled, but a small system can be upgraded to a bigger system at a later date.