From: Luke Graham <spoooq@...>
Date: 2005-03-10T11:29:33+09:00
Subject: Re: scada: killer app for ruby

On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 10:51:11 +0900, Tom Willis <tom.willis@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 09:59:42 +0900, Luke Graham <spoooq@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I look forward to being proved wrong.
> >
> > On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 09:42:53 +0900, jm <jeffm@ghostgun.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > On 10/03/2005, at 10:41 AM, Luke Graham wrote:
> > >
> > > > I think gnu scada systems are unlikely for a few reasons.
> > > > Customers want support more than anything, costs for
> > > > a broken scada can be calculated in wheelbarrows of
> > > > cash per minute. Scada is boring. Scada is hard.
> > > > The cost of integration can be more than the cost of
> > > > the software anyway. Finally, anyone who knows
> > > > anything about it is probably already doing it for a living.
> > > > Would you run your control systems on some kids
> > > > part-time experiment?
> > > >
> > > > One last thing.. ruby is fine for the windows end, all the
> > > > protocols can be implemented.. but its just not going
> > > > to work on the embedded end.
> > >
> > > There is already some work in this area (non-ruby through).
> > >
> > > http://pvbrowser.org/pvbrowser/index.php
> > >
> > >  From the web page (introduction section),
> > >
> > > SCADA
> > >
> > > SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) is a category of
> > > software application program for process control, the gathering of data
> > > in real time from remote locations in order to control equipment and
> > > conditions. SCADA is used in power plants as well as in oil and gas
> > > refining, telecommunications, transportation, and water and waste
> > > control.
> > >
> > >   SCADA systems include hardware and software components. The hardware
> > > gathers and feeds data into a computer that has SCADA software
> > > installed. The computer then processes this data and presents it in a
> > > timely manner ( HMI ). SCADA also records and logs all events into a
> > > file stored on a hard disk or sends them to a printer. SCADA warns when
> > > conditions become hazardous by sounding alarms.
> > >
> > > ProcessViewBrowser
> > >
> > > The concept is similar to an internet browser. But it is intended for
> > > the use in industrial process visualization. It is based on Qt
> > > http://www.trolltech.com which is a platform independent GUI toolkit.
> > > ProcessViewBrowser is platform independent, because only posix calls
> > > and Qt are used. ProcessViewBrowser runs on Linux/Unix, OpenVMS and
> > > Windows. The browser can display nearly all standard Qt widgets
> > > (labels, buttons, editfields, comboboxes, ...) and other widgets for
> > > bmp images, diagram widgets for displaying xy-graphs, OpenGL and VTK.
> > > The widgets can be arranged on your masks. You can specify the position
> > > and size of the widgets.You can place one widget on top of another
> > > widget. I have seen many process visualization systems, which define
> > > their masks in the clients (I think this is not the right way to go).
> > > Instead of this, the masks in ProcessViewBrowser are defined in the
> > > appropriate process computer itself. The user can jump from one process
> > > computer to the other and see all masks. When masks are updated nothing
> > > has to be done in the clients.
> > >
> > >
> > > J.
> > >
> > >
> >
> > --
> > spooq
> >
> >
> 
> I had to integrate a shipping system written in vb6 with something
> like a SCADA system once. It was not fun. Most of the time was spent
> in integration it was impossible to test before hand, and due to the
> geniuses in sales, the schedule and deadline(week before xmas rush)
> left very little room for fixing errors.
> 
> If I was asked to do it again under the same circumstances, I'd rather
> jump off a cliff.

This is what I mean when I say the integration is more costly than the
software itself.

-- 
spooq