Software simplifies machinery development

March 22, 2007
Designing mobile equipment with user-friendly software, such as Plus+1 GUIDE (Graphical User Integrated Development Environment) 3.0 from Sauer-Danfoss, Ames, Iowa, allows vehicle manufacturers to increase productivity and machine performance.

GUIDE 3.0 for electrohydraulic machine control offers new levels of rich graphic displays for use with PLUS+1 microcontrollers, I/O modules, and PLUS+1-compliant components.

The latest version contains more than 30 new basic components for building more-powerful applications in the programming environment, as well as features that increase development productivity, improve security, and open new possibilities for rich graphical displays.

The software's new preview display simulator, for example, eliminates the need for a CANbus connection to a physical display before a graphical program (developed in a screen editor) can be viewed. Using the simulator, programmers can check and debug display functionality swiftly and efficiently from their desktop computer.

The display screen editor is able to associate control-signal values with text strings and images. Combined with new text fonts, this feature improves versatility when designing displays.

A modular toolbox within the 3.0 Service Tool lets programmers select which specific data are shown on individual service screens. This helps programmers develop separate, customized screens for final vehicle calibration in production, maintenance tasks, or control-system development.

A new data-logging feature records vehicle and operator productivity and monitors machine performance by supporting extraction and analysis of data gathered from predefined checkpoints during operation.

"The developer can also tag critical system components during application software development, then use GUIDE to verify that required programmed devices are properly connected," said Fred Bezat, Sauer-Danfoss' application-software product-portfolio manager.

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