Keysight / Agilent E1415A Algorithmic Closed Loop Controller
Features
- Up to 32 Control Loops
- Multiple Inputs and Outputs per Loop (Analog, Digital, Discreet, Count)
- Up to 2.5kHz Update Rate
- User-Specified Control Algorithms
- Built-in PID Algorithms
Description
The HP E1415A is a self contained data acquisition and control platform in a single C-size VXIbus module. Once configured for operation and started (using its SCPI command set), the module’s DSP chip executes all currently defined algorithms. The algorithms have access to data acquired from input channels, and from these data they generate values that control the analog and digital output channels. It is the calculation and decision making capability provided by its Algorithm Language that makes the HP E1415A a unique closed loop controller. By placing the control “computer” (DSP chip) inside the data acquisition and control instrument, response to changing input data can be fast and deterministic without burdening an embedded computer with this task.
More powerful than PID controllers and easier to implement than large custom control systems, the E1415A fills a unique niche in the data acquisition and control field, providing both control and precise data acquisition.
Applications Include:
•PID control of stimulus loops such as hydraulic actuators, levers, rotational devices as in structural test
•PID control of temperature, position, velocity, acceleration etc
•Complex control such as cascade loops in thermal cooling jackets
•Independent loops with multi-level alarms
The design of the on-board, DSP firmware assures the user that all inputs, all calculations, and all outputs can be completed between scan triggers. This means there is no drift, or jitter in the critical time intervals that are used to calculate integrals and derivatives in control algorithms.
The firmware allows a user to employ pre-written Agilent PID control algorithms, modify them for specific application needs, or to write an application from scratch. Low duty-cycle connection to the host computer allows interaction between the host and real-time DSP so the user can update algorithms, change tuning constants, or do envelope control. Limited host computer interaction leads to very high performance (8-loops, update rate 1000/second per loop with simple PID calculation included).