This research will investigate the feasibility of and techniques for creating a connection, or bridge, between a manufacturing computer network using the Manufacturing Automation Protocol (MAP) protocol and a Computer Automated Measurement and Control (CAMAC) data acquisition and control system. The MAP standard has received wide support because it provides the means by which a diverse variety of computers can be interconnected to communicate with one another in the manufacturing environment. The CAMAC system is an internationally standardized method of collecting data and exercising control functions under computer control. The CAMAC system has been in wide use for two decades in physics laboratories around the world and has proven useful for process control and robotics. There is a tremendous amount and variety of compatible CAMAC hardware available from numerous manufacturers, much of which is directly applicable to factory automation. The CAMAC standard does not, however, address itself specifically to the subject of communication between computers. The physical connection can, nevertheless, be made using hardware that conforms to the CAMAC specification. Specifically, a suitable CAMAC auxiliary crate controller could theoretically be used to provide the necessary electrical bridge between a CAMAC controlled "island of automation" and the MAP "backbone." The electrical design of such an auxiliary crate controller will be investigated, along with the software design necessary to implement the appropriate layers of the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) protocol.Anticipated Results/Potential Commercial Applications as described by the awardee:If a practical bridge can be provided between CAMAC and the new MAP computer network, a large amount of existing measllrement and control technology can be incorporated in this widely accepted distributed control system. Laboratory CAMAC systems could communicate in a standard way over long distances, and CAMAC would find wide application in process control and factory automation.
