Odd use of Eagle as a visual programming environment

[HwAoRrDk]

I was browsing around an aftermarket auto-parts vendors website the other day, and happened across a kit from them that contained (among other parts) what they termed a 'Micro CAN PLC' unit to perform some CAN bus integration. Intrigued, as I had not heard of such a thing before, I looked up the manufacturer and visited their website. The manufacturer was a German company, MRS Electronic.

They have a range of what they describe as PLC controllers for automotive use, with these 'micro' units being in the form factor of a common automotive relay, so that it can be inserted in a spare space in a vehicle's fuse box.

All very interesting, but not the main point of this post. So, if it's a PLC, it needs a development environment with which to write programs, yes? Of course! So they offer something called 'MRS Developers Studio'. Upon arriving at the web page describing it, I was immediately distracted by the main screenshot image.



Is... is that Eagle? Yes! They even specifically mention it by name in the accompanying blurb.

They are, via the use of a custom component library, using Eagle as a visual programming environment. You place down 'components' which are logic blocks, inputs, outputs, etc. and wire them up like any normal schematic. They then have a custom ULP that does some kind of parsing of the schematic, generates C code and then compiles it into a firmware binary which you upload to the device.

Wow.

[ataradov]

This is actually pretty smart for simple PLC-like tasks. You can easily parse Eagle file and extract a netlist to program the device. Plus if your workflow is based on Eagle already, you can have programming of the device next to the schematic of the system.

[DerekG]

This is actually pretty smart for simple PLC-like tasks.

MRS Electronic license this (as a cut down version) from Actum Solutions:

http://www.actum.com/realizer/specials

I have been using Actum Solutions "Realizer" graphical programming software since 1998. I use it regularly & it enables me to develop programs very quickly & easily. You can use it without a "State Machine", but if you want things done in a very specific order, then you add a State Machine to the existing schematic. Once you connect up your schematic you can simulate your program by placing "probes" on any connection line in the schematic to visually confirm what is happening in your program as the generated code is running.

Can be used with STM & Microchip Micros:

http://www.actum.com/realizer

It is great if you don't have keypads & LCDs etc. If your design includes LCDs & Keyboards & you don't like the cryptic programming of C, then move over from Realizer to Great Cow Basic which is free.

Can be used with Atmel & Microchip Micros:

http://www.elproducts.com/chucks-blog/great-cow-basic-assembly-files

http://gcbasic.sourceforge.net/Typesetter/index.php/Home

[HwAoRrDk]

Hmm, it seems MRS use both Realizer and the Eagle-based MRS Developers Studio for different parts of their product range.

The CAN-based stuff appears to use a Freescale HCS08 and the programming environment is MRS Developers Studio, whereas their non-CAN PLC stuff uses TI MSP430 and Realizer.

I wonder why they went with a 'home grown' Eagle solution when they already had something that does the same job. To avoid licensing fees, perhaps?

[1276-2449-1-ND]

Ha ha. That's awesome.

I wrote a ULP to generate the .DXFs for front-panels that I get laser-cut by a local company. Eagle generates perfect .DXFs, unlike everything else I tried that was scriptable.