Development System
The NEV Development System is the engineering software of the platform. An application is configured, programmed, compiled and deployed from here, and the same environment connects to a running target to read its values and load changes into it. It runs on any PC, separate from the target.
What is done here, and what is done on the machine
Section titled “What is done here, and what is done on the machine”Three machines make up a working system, and each has one job:
| runs | holds | |
|---|---|---|
| Development PC | the Development System | the project, and what a build produces from it |
| Target PC | the Runtime | the deployed application, executing in real time |
| Operator panel | the HMI | the screens the project defines, bound to the machine’s own variables |
The application is authored only on the development PC. What is created on the machine is the work of running it: part programs, tool and work offsets, and the values an operator sets while cutting. Nothing an operator does changes the application, and nothing you change in the project takes effect until it is deployed.
What a build produces
Section titled “What a build produces”Compiling turns the project into one set the target takes in a single step:
| what it carries | |
|---|---|
| Machine configuration | the axes with their limits and kinematics, the channels, and the fieldbus network compiled from the vendors’ device descriptions |
| PLC | the compiled program, and the symbol table the environment reads live values through |
| Alarm text | the words behind the PLC’s alarm and event numbers |
| Interfaces and access | what the target exposes to the plant, and which access level may do what |
Deploying transfers the set and then activates it, so the target takes a new configuration as one change rather than a field at a time. The Runtime maps the compiled configuration into memory as it starts, which is why a machine comes up without reading and parsing its own settings first.
A project with no alarm catalogue still deploys and still runs, and its PLC alarms then reach the operator as class and event numbers instead of words. Nothing fails, so it is found on the shop floor rather than at the deployment.
Where to go next
Section titled “Where to go next”- The Project: what a project holds, and how it is organised on disk.
- Building & Deploying a Project: compiling, getting onto a target, and getting back onto it to debug.
- The NEV Platform: how the Runtime, the Development System and the HMI relate.