Copy of PA TBD: Interfacing USB devices with Bachmann SPI

As part of the Collaborative Research Center (SFB), project A07 is concerned with the development of miniature Lagrangian sensors to determine process variables in fluidized bed reactors in order to enable process control. The sensors are also to be swirled around in the reactor during the process in order to measure parameters such as temperature, humidity and process progress. In contrast to temperature measurement, which can be realized with conventional sensors, the measurement of moisture and process progress is not directly possible. These sensors in development are miniature spheres called Smart Particles.

To determine these parameters, the change in electrical conductance during the process is used. The conductance depends on the increasing coating layer thickness and the varying water content of the coating layer. Conductance is measured using electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), in which a defined current is passed through a substrate while measuring the voltage. A subsequent comparison with a previously measured conductance behavior provides insight into the current reactor state.

With a final diameter of 5mm, assembling all components (shell, electrodes, electronics, battery etc.) becomes a challenging task. The chosen approach for the assembly process is a telemanipulation setup consisting of 2 robots (delta kinematic and rotational kinematic) and 2 USB-controllers (Haply Inverse 3, Joystick) respectively. All devices are to be controlled using a Bachmann MC220 PLC device that only allows Ethernet and simple DIO operations.

This task is about designing an interface to enable access of the USB devices from the Bachmann PLC, where the PLC is programmed using Matlab/Simulink Real-Time. The interface must fulfill requirements for haptic human-machine interactions.