122-28176 Parallax Inc, 122-28176 Datasheet - Page 7

• Manufacturer Part Number: 122-28176
• Description: GUIDE STUDENT PROCESS CONTROL
• Manufacturer: Parallax Inc

Specifications of 122-28176

• Accessory Type: Manual
• Product: Microcontroller Accessories
• Lead Free Status / RoHS Status: Contains lead / RoHS non-compliant
• For Use With/related Products: Propeller Education (PE) Kit
• Lead Free Status / RoHS Status: Lead free / RoHS Compliant, Contains lead / RoHS non-compliant

Preface · Page iii
Preface
Industrial process control (PC) is a fascinating and challenging area of electronics
technology and nothing has revolutionized this area like the microcontroller. The
microcontroller has added a level of intelligence to the evaluation of data and a level of
sophistication in the response to process disturbances. In this respect, you may hear that
microcontrollers are embedded as the “brains” in much of our manufacturing equipment
and consumer electronic devices. But in reality, the real “brains” of the system is the
process control technician.
Although embedded process control centers around the microcontroller, it is only one
piece of the total control system. The process control technician must be part control
engineer, electronics technician, and computer programmer. This Process Control text
uses its experiment-based chapters to build a good foundation from which to analyze and
understand the many facets of embedded control technology.
The text builds this foundation through hands-on laboratory circuits and experiments that
reinforce short, relative discussions of control theory. You will experiment with event-
based and time-based sequential control as well as various open-loop and closed-loop
continuous control modes. You will understand the characteristics of these modes of
control and how they lend themselves to different types of control applications.
Converting the control scenario and the mode of control chosen into a program flowchart
is the first major step toward bringing automated intelligence into the system. Clear,
well-commented PBASIC programs demonstrate how the Basic Stamp can be
programmed to provide the control action.
An exciting and powerful software application comes with this text to help you visually
understand the dynamics of a system as well as allow you to develop computer-based
monitoring and control of your Basic Stamp. StampPlot’s multiple-channel graphing
feature is used throughout the text to allow you to monitor and compare input and output
relationships to better understand the dynamics of the control system. You will also see
how virtual controls, such as gauges, pushbuttons, sliders, textboxes, etc. can be used to
build interactive visual interfaces for supervisory control and data acquisition of your
Basic Stamp projects.
The hardware needed in the experiments to simulate the process has been kept to a bare
minimum. While the microcontroller is programmed to be the “brains” of the process, it