<s>
EICASLAB	B-Application
is	O
a	O
software	B-Application
suite	I-Application
providing	O
a	O
laboratory	O
for	O
automatic	O
control	O
design	O
and	O
time-series	O
forecasting	O
developed	O
as	O
final	O
output	O
of	O
the	O
European	O
ACODUASIS	O
Project	O
IPS-2001-42068	O
funded	O
by	O
the	O
European	O
Community	O
within	O
the	O
Innovation	O
Programme	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
facilitate	O
such	O
a	O
knowledge	O
transfer	O
,	O
EICASLAB	B-Application
was	O
equipped	O
with	O
an	O
“	O
automated	O
algorithm	O
and	O
code	O
generation	O
”	O
software	O
engine	O
,	O
that	O
allows	O
to	O
obtain	O
a	O
control	O
algorithm	O
algorithm	O
even	O
without	O
a	O
deep	O
knowledge	O
of	O
the	O
theory	O
and	O
the	O
methodology	O
that	O
are	O
otherwise	O
normally	O
required	O
with	O
traditional	O
control	O
design	O
methodologies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
EICASLAB	B-Application
has	O
been	O
and	O
is	O
actually	O
adopted	O
in	O
other	O
European	O
Research	O
Projects	O
dealing	O
with	O
robotics	O
(	O
ARFLEX	O
IST-NMP2-016880	O
and	O
PISA	O
Project	O
NMP2-CT-2006-026697	O
)	O
and	O
automotive	O
(	O
HI-CEPS	O
Project	O
TIP5-CT-2006-031373	O
and	O
ERSEC	O
Project	O
FP7	O
247955	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
EICASLAB	B-Application
is	O
used	O
in	O
European	O
industries	O
,	O
research	O
institutes	O
and	O
academia	O
to	O
design	O
control	O
systems	O
and	O
time	O
series	O
forecasting	O
documented	O
in	O
the	O
scientific	O
and	O
technical	O
literature	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
EICASLAB	B-Application
includes	O
tools	O
for	O
modelling	O
plants	O
,	O
designing	O
and	O
testing	O
embedded	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
systems	O
,	O
assisting	O
the	O
phases	O
of	O
the	O
design	O
process	O
of	O
the	O
control	O
strategy	O
,	O
from	O
system	O
concept	O
to	O
generation	O
of	O
the	O
control	O
software	O
code	O
for	O
the	O
final	O
target	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
EICASLAB	B-Application
is	O
a	O
software	B-Application
suite	I-Application
composed	O
by	O
a	O
main	O
program	O
,	O
called	O
MASTER	O
,	O
able	O
to	O
assist	O
and	O
manage	O
all	O
the	O
control	O
design	O
steps	O
by	O
means	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
tools	O
,	O
respectively	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
EICASLAB	B-Application
includes	O
the	O
following	O
features	O
to	O
support	O
the	O
system	O
concept	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
control	O
function	O
has	O
its	O
own	O
sampling	O
frequency	O
and	O
a	O
time	O
window	O
for	O
its	O
execution	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
scheduled	O
by	O
the	O
designer	O
by	O
means	O
of	O
the	O
EICASLAB	B-Application
scheduler	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
final	O
“	O
application	O
software	O
”	O
generated	O
in	O
C	B-Language
is	O
subdivided	O
into	O
files	O
each	O
one	O
related	O
to	O
a	O
specific	O
processor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
EICASLAB	B-Application
includes	O
specific	O
working	O
areas	O
for	O
developing	O
,	O
optimizing	O
and	O
testing	O
algorithms	O
and	O
software	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
“	O
plant	O
controller	O
”	O
,	O
including	O
both	O
the	O
“	O
automatic	O
control	O
”	O
and	O
the	O
“	O
trajectory	O
generation	O
”	O
and	O
the	O
"	O
disturbances	O
"	O
acting	O
on	O
the	O
plant	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
EICASLAB	B-Application
includes	O
the	O
following	O
tools	O
and	O
features	O
to	O
support	O
the	O
control	O
algorithm	O
design	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
EICASLAB	B-Application
Automatic	O
Code	O
Generation	O
tool	O
provides	O
the	O
ANSI	O
C	B-Language
source	O
code	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
control	O
algorithm	O
developed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
final	O
result	O
of	O
the	O
designer	O
work	O
is	O
the	O
“	O
application	O
software	O
”	O
in	O
ANSI	O
C	B-Language
,	O
debugged	O
and	O
tested	O
,	O
ready	O
to	O
be	O
compiled	O
and	O
linked	O
in	O
the	O
plant	O
control	O
processors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
EICASLAB	B-Application
includes	O
the	O
following	O
tools	O
to	O
support	O
the	O
control	O
tuning	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
plant	O
input	O
and	O
output	O
and	O
the	O
host	O
commands	O
sent	O
to	O
the	O
controller	O
are	O
recorded	O
during	O
experimental	O
trials	O
and	O
then	O
they	O
can	O
be	O
processed	O
by	O
EICASLAB	B-Application
as	O
follows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
the	O
control	O
function	O
running	O
in	O
the	O
EICASLAB	B-Application
is	O
strictly	O
the	O
same	O
one	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
running	O
in	O
the	O
actual	O
plant	O
controller	O
,	O
then	O
,	O
the	O
commands	O
resulting	O
from	O
the	O
simulated	O
control	O
function	O
and	O
sent	O
from	O
the	O
simulated	O
control	O
to	O
the	O
simulated	O
plant	O
should	O
be	O
strictly	O
the	O
same	O
of	O
the	O
recorded	O
plant	O
inputs	O
(	O
unless	O
there	O
are	O
numerical	O
errors	O
depending	O
on	O
the	O
differences	O
between	O
the	O
processor	O
where	O
the	O
EICASLAB	B-Application
is	O
running	O
and	O
the	O
one	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
actual	O
plant	O
controller	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
experience	O
has	O
shown	O
that	O
the	O
effects	O
of	O
such	O
differences	O
are	O
negligible	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Then	O
,	O
the	O
recorded	O
experimental	O
trial	O
performed	O
by	O
the	O
actual	O
plant	O
controller	O
is	O
completely	O
repeated	O
in	O
the	O
EICASLAB	B-Application
,	O
with	O
the	O
difference	O
that	O
now	O
the	O
process	O
can	O
be	O
performed	O
in	O
slow-motion	O
and	O
,	O
if	O
useful	O
,	O
step	O
by	O
step	O
by	O
using	O
a	O
debugger	O
program	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Automatic	O
Code	O
Generation	O
tool	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
insert	O
the	O
controller	O
code	O
in	O
a	O
Linux	B-Application
Real-time	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
system	I-Operating_System
(	O
RTOS	B-Operating_System
)	O
(	O
in	O
two	O
available	O
versions	O
,	O
namely	O
,	O
Linux	B-Application
RTAI	B-Application
and	O
Linux	B-Application
RT	O
with	O
kernel	B-Algorithm
preemption	I-Algorithm
)	O
,	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
test	O
the	O
control	O
algorithm	O
in	O
the	O
PC	O
environment	O
instead	O
of	O
the	O
final	O
target	O
hardware	O
,	O
performing	O
Rapid	O
Control	O
Prototyping	O
(	O
RCP	O
)	O
tests	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
EICASLAB	B-Application
RCP	O
includes	O
a	O
real-time	O
scheduler	O
based	O
on	O
multithreading	B-Operating_System
programming	O
techniques	O
and	O
able	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
a	O
multi-core	B-Architecture
processor	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
performed	O
such	O
operation	O
,	O
Hardware	B-Application
In	I-Application
the	I-Application
Loop	I-Application
(	O
HIL	O
)	O
tests	O
may	O
be	O
performed	O
,	O
consisting	O
in	O
piloting	O
–	O
instead	O
of	O
the	O
actual	O
plant	O
-	O
the	O
plant	O
simulated	O
in	O
EICASLAB	B-Application
and	O
running	O
on	O
your	O
PC	O
,	O
suitable	O
configured	O
and	O
connected	O
through	O
the	O
necessary	O
hardware	O
interfaces	O
with	O
the	O
final	O
Hardware	O
Target	O
.	O
</s>
