Remote Console system

This system has been used inside a research aircraft where outside air is ported into the aircraft and through the system, as well as in an under-wing pod with direct frontal airflow, as seen in Fig. 15.2. The system continuously measures and records the concentration of airborne photon-emitting radionuclides. The R-TARAC stores all collected data and can be automatically or manually controlled from a remote console to provide instant datareporting to the flight crew and an operations center. 

The experimental facility is a pilot-scale distillation column connected to an industrial ABB MOD 300 distributed control system, which in turn is connected to a VAX cluster. The control system consists of a turbo node (configuration, history, console) remote I/O, and an Ethernet gateway, which allows communication with the VAX-station cluster through the network. This connection allows time-consuming and complex calculations to be performed in the VAX environment. Figure 10 shows the complete setup. 

This approach makes the system simple to operate. The entire process is automatically monitored, recorded, and controlled. Operators can run the system from the central console, or from the local control units. And because of the distributed control, each of the local units will continue to do its job, and the waste treatment system will continue to function, even if the central control unit should became disconnected or malfunction. The system also includes a modem for remote diagnostics and program maintenance. 

Fig. 3. Near-range remote sensors of the German maritime surveillance aircraft and their spatial coverage. Also shown are the SLAR as a far-range sensor, the central operating console (COC) and the forward-looking infrared imaging system (FLIR) for ship identification...

Data values can be retrieved from the computer in five different ways. First, individual data items can be requested and displayed on the console unit. Second, multiple data items can be looked at by referring to the hourly and daily reports printed automatically. Third, data can be polled by a partner through an asynchronous serial communication link in an agreed format. Fourth, remote commands and data requests can be entered through a synchronous serial communication link over a microwave system. Gas control in... 

The Heysham 2/Tomess consoles will be similar to the one shown in Fig. 11 the main external difference being the deletion of the cooling gas control equipment (now to be provided within the various manipulator control panels) and the substitution of a remote operation interface module similar to that being purchased by Hlnkley Point B. This module in conjunction with a separate console permits remote operation of the TRIUMPH system. 

The Facility Engineering Support function is responsible for evaluating design, maintenance, and reliability problems at the HCF involving the ventilation system, manipulators, shield windows, remotely operated jigs and fixtures, and information display consoles. In the longer term, these responsibilities may also include facility structural modiflcations and robotically controlled chemical process routines for isotope processing. 

Descriptions of the controlled system can be presented at a number of levels of abstraction. These descriptions range from physical raw data from individual sensors up to higher order systems performance descriptions calculated through data fusion. SCADA has been around in one form or another for as long as the systems they represent and control have. Early SCADA systems were comprised of a series of readouts directly hardwired to the physical objects they represented. These hardwired display consoles were generally large, fixed, and difficult to modify. The advent of the microchip has allowed many of these systems to be digitized. It is now possible to remotely control these systems with mechanization, computers, and appropriate software. 

The three required channels (plus an additional channel installed in the console area) are connected to the AREA RADIATION HIGH (EVAC ALARM AFTER TIME DELAY) annunciator and to the external evacuation alarm system. The external evacuation alarm is actuated if a high alarm (red front panel light on) condition exists for more than 20 seconds unless the LOCAL/REMOTE switch is placed in the LOCAL position. This switch is left in REMOTE position except for testing of alarms or situations in which the reason for the high radiation level is known and which present no hazard to persons outside the Reactor Laboratory. 

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