Evaluation of Linux rt-preempt for embedded industrial devices for Automation and Power technologies - A case study

Title

Evaluation of Linux rt-preempt for embedded industrial devices for Automation and Power technologies - A case study

Authors

Morten Mossige, Pradyumna Sampath, Rachana Rao

Author Information

ABB Corporate Research, India

Abstract

ABB is one of the leading solution providers for Industrial automation, Power technologies and Robotics. This makes ABB a vendor of several mission critical embedded devices. Most of these devices are characterized by stringent real time requirements. Real-time patches/extensions to Linux open up new possibilities to applying open source SW in industrial real-time embedded applications. This paper presents a case study, where Linux rt-preempt is evaluated in the context of an industrial controller. The paper will reveal the methodologies used in this evaluation in terms of the test setup in detail and the parameters measured from an industrial control perspective. This evaluation has had focus on Linux in a distributed environment over Ethernet connectivity with corresponding time synchronization and real-time capabilities.

Keywords

Robotics, RT-Preempt, Linux , Automation, Power, ABB  Evaluation