Protocol simulators help create virtual representations of industrial assets. Protocol simulators not only simulate the communication/connectivity aspects, but can simulate functional aspects of an industrial asset by virtue of simulating field conditions. Protocol simulators can be part of the bigger simulation landscape (hi-fidelity and other simulators), and are instrumental to test digital twin models. Industrial Protocol Simulators have significant benefits for industrial OEMs of hardware or software systems.
Manufacturing industries with complex systems and supply chains hugely benefit from simulators. Simulator tools like master simulators and slave simulators can help simulate field conditions in the luxury of the lab, or during R&D or engineering. This way the control systems or other master system that communicate with these field devices can be tested for a variety of scenarios. Not only this, the fact that the protocol simulators run on desktops (unless the communication protocol demands a specific physical interface not available in a desktop), multiple field devices can be simulated using a single protocol simulator. This way the infrastructure cost to procure, deploy, store and maintain actual physical devices is considerably reduced. Further, field device simulators can simulate multiple field devices with limited resources to stress/load test a control system.
Protocol simulators can also aid in training of service and operational personnel. Complex functionalities can be tested and learned by these people in the luxury of a lab. Such real world training sessions prepare the service and operational staff for the actual real-world usage.
A digital twin is also a powerful model to measure data that can influence the design, build and operation of a industrial field device. It acts as a virtual representation of a field device and encompasses the elements and dynamics of a field device’s operation throughout its lifecycle. A digital twin is more than just a local model. It is a mega model that offers a complete understanding of the physical device along with the magnitude, various functional aspects and mechanical elements, which it encompasses. When it comes to the industrial internet of things, rich data from thousands of sensors and instrumentation are passed on to the models for the creation of digital twins of factories, facilities, processes or systems.
Utthunga’s uSimulate is a framework for developing simulators for simulation of communication protocols, field devices, control systems, process flow and network traffic. This framework expedites the development of simulators with a set of pluggable software modules like protocol handler, simulation engine, device model etc. The accelerated development of customized solution with uSimulate framework ensures better ROI due to faster time-to-market, low development and testing cost.
The uSimulate framework is very powerful. Creation of a new protocol simulator is as easy as a protocol driver drop-in into the uSimulate framework. Currently, the following specific protocol simulators have been created using the uSimulate framework:
One of the major roadblocks in the quest to build reliable and error-free industrial products and devices is the failure to test them during the different stages of its engineering and production. Testing helps save time, cost and also improves the performance of the product. A product tested using a simulator is likely to be far more robust and stable compared to other inferiorly tested systems. Utthunga’s protocol simulators that can help you simulate complex field conditions that are impractical with real devices. We have deep expertise in the industrial domain. The protocol simulators from Utthunga, which are built on top of a world-class simulation framework uSimulate, are easy to configure, field proven, and high performance.
Introduction Wired sensors connected to control systems via industrial communication protocols like HART or even a simple 4–20 mA loop take up the required energy supplied over the cabling. It is estimated that wiring takes up majority of the total sensor installation cost. On the other hand, wireless sensors used for industrial control and automation […]
What are Protocol Simulators? The term “simulator” means “imitator of a situation or a process”. In the digital sense, we can say that a protocol simulator or a network simulator is a computer-generated simulation of a protocol before bringing the product to the market. There is a paradigm shift in industries like industrial OEMs, discrete, […]
As the Industrial Internet of Things is taking hold, we are seeing more and more desktop/software electronics being used to build smart devices, machines, and equipment for manufacturing OEMs. These devices are the “things” in IIoT and form a connected ecosystem and are at the core of the digital thread Desktop/software product development, therefore, holds […]
Industrial revolution 4.0 has already set in, and industrial automation is a profound part of it. One of the crucial aspects of implementing a successful automation ecosystem in any industry is seamless communication between devices. For a long time, the traditional field buses like PROFIBUS, HART, FF, Modbus and a few others have been the […]
