MERKUR: A real-time and fault tolerant communication system for mechatronic applications

: A mandatory condition for mechatronic systems to be realized in a unified manner is a communication system interconnecting the different, spatially distributed subsystems. In the last few years so called fieldbusses have been proposed to fulfill this task. A new communication concept presented in this paper provides the means to integrate sensors, actuators and computers to a complete mechatronic system. The requirements are analyzed and discussed in this paper. The article also explains, how these requirements are taken into account to realize MERKUR. The last part outlines the main aspects of the hardware implementation. 1 Introduction Distributed real--time computer systems are replacing conventional centralized control techniques especially in this field of mechatronic systems, e.g. process control systems or hardware--in--the--loop simulations. Typical distributed systems are characterized by a controlled object (the mechanical system) and a control system (the computers). Thes..