Python in Process Control?

[Carlos Ribeiro]

On Fri, 01 Oct 2004 09:14:40 -0400, Peter L Hansen <peter at engcorp.com> wrote:
> Wolfgang Keller wrote:
> > There seem to be some Python bits out there, for example MatPLC and
> > Lintouch use Python and some commercial products as well (PyDACHS), but
> > unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a more or less consistent library
> > for industrial automation or a coordinated effort to build up one.
> 
> What, in your opinion, would it take to start one?  I'm able to
> offer the use of a server to host a web site, and would be happy
> to register a domain name or something, but those are the easy
> bits.  Some kind of core group to get it off the group is likely
> more important than a name, though sometimes threads in this
> group might lead one to suspect otherwise. ;-)

I did work on software development for remote monitoring devices in
the mid 90's, using C and ASM. I worked with serial communication, and
in *all* cases, I had to implement some "brad-new" proprietary
protocol, or emulate a twenty-year-old one that was poorly documented,
if documented at all. I sincerely don't understand why is this market
so reluctant to progress. All parties involved are *so* reluctant to
share information as to make real progress impossible. It may be
because of their business model, where they expect to make some money
out of "services" -- customization, selling drivers and development
kits -- but even so, the industry as a whole seems to be stuck in the
past.

I now have a related interest that would probably benefit HUGELY from
this effort, and in fact, could help to "bootstrap" it: residential
automation. Yes, I know that the protocols are different, and the
needs are different, but the situation is pretty much the same as for
both fields: too much closed solutions, bad documentation, and people
still stuck at ten-years old technology. A good forum could bolster
the discussion, and the development, of new technology for residential
automation, which has the kind of mass appeal that can make things
scale up better.


-- 
Carlos Ribeiro
Consultoria em Projetos
blog: http://rascunhosrotos.blogspot.com
blog: http://pythonnotes.blogspot.com
mail: carribeiro at gmail.com
mail: carribeiro at yahoo.com