=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-2590/short6
|storemode=property
|title=Simple Graphic Language Developed For Systems Serving Housing and Communal Services
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2590/short6.pdf
|volume=Vol-2590
|authors=Arkady Kluchev,Alexey Platunov,Vladislav Zhovnitsky,Vladislav Kluchev,Yaroslav Gorbachev
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/micsecs/KluchevPZKG19
}}
==Simple Graphic Language Developed For Systems Serving Housing and Communal Services==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2590/short6.pdf
Simple Graphic Language Developed For
Systems Serving Housing and Communal
Services
Arkady Kluchev1[0000−0002−3892−8424] , Alexey Platunov1[0000−0003−3003−3949] ,
Vladislav Zhovnitsky1[0000−0001−7673−3532] , Vladislav
1[0000−0002−3052−2200]
Kluchev , Yaroslav Gorbachev1[0000−0001−5419−6422]
kluchev@gmail.com
aeplatunov@gmail.com
vzhovnitsky@gmail.com
vakluchev@gmail.com
yaroslav-go@yandex.ru
1
ITMO University, 49 Kronverksky Pr., St. Petersburg, 197101, Russia
Abstract. As a means to solve a number of functional tasks of au-
tomation of housing systems, a special problem-oriented programming
language based on functional block diagrams (FDB) is proposed. The
proposed language will improve the quality of the system by offering:
-Reduction of entry threshold; -Limiting user capabilities to increase
security (protection against incompetence), providing an interface for
working with the system, and not an API for programming the system;
- Simplification of the perception of logic due to the simple logic of the
low level of abstraction and the number of operations ”if-¿ then”; - Ex-
tending the boundaries of functionality due to the flexibility of adding
algorithms.
Keywords: Graphic programming languages · Cyberphysical systems ·
Housing and utilities · Functional illiteracy · 1
Currently, there is the problem of introducing computer technology in various
areas of our lives. On the one hand, there is a generational conflict, expressed
in the fact that modern technologies are not always intuitive and accessible to
people of middle and older ages, and on the other hand, there is a problem with
programming among young specialists - the willingness to work with high-level
APIs without diving into low-level issues. This problem is relevant, in particular,
in the automation of housing and communal services in areas remote from large
cities, where due to natural causes a large number of people are washed out
who are able to master and maintain systems with a high entry threshold. We
have practical experience in implementing management systems for the housing
and communal complex (Housing and Communal Services) of various cities.
1
Copyright c 2019 for this paper by its authors. Use permitted under Creative Com-
mons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
2 Kluchev A. et al.
The main functions of such systems are: monitoring obsolete power substations,
controlling outdoor lighting, collecting data on the consumption of various energy
carriers. The beginning of work - 2003. The work was carried out by LMT LLC
with the active participation of ITMO employees. At the moment, systems for
housing and communal services are complex scalable cyber-physical systems that
allow solving problems both in large cities and in small cottage villages.
From our experience, the following were revealed:
– Management systems for housing and communal services are complex cyber-
physical systems that require highly qualified personnel during deployment
and operation;
– AOLCS (Automated Outdoor Lighting Control System) ”Luch” deployed in
about 30 cities of Russia and only two of them found such specialists.
The most painful places are:
– System configuration (setting up controllers, setting up server components);
– Application programming;
– Low level of training of local specialists.
A big problem is functional illiteracy [1, 6], which manifests itself even among
the senior staff of the units responsible for maintaining such systems. The habit
of local technical specialists to act within a limited number of templates makes
the introduction of modern technologies and automation systems problematic.
This report discusses the creation of a special programming language that would
allow, through high-level abstractions, to lower the entry threshold and help
employees solve simple problems of algorithmization and automation without
the need for serious retraining and advanced training courses.
What are the specifics of housing and communal services:
– There are no people with the necessary set of competencies (in fact, the
competencies of a system administrator, an entry-level programmer, and a
competent PC user are sufficient)
– There is no way to independently obtain the necessary knowledge;
– No higher education;
– Functional illiteracy is common;
– There is no desire to gain new knowledge (especially for local specialists
aged);
– The local administration is very far from the problems of using automation
systems.
Housing and communal services differs from such industries as the oil in-
dustry, finance, industry and retail in small financing.Regional small cities are
experiencing a constant outflow of specialists to large financial and industrial
centers. The local education system is limping. So it is necessary to abandon the
SGL for cyber-physical systems serving housing and communal services 3
classical approaches to configuration and applied, user programming of automa-
tion systems in favor of systems with the most simple, intelligent controls that
do not require the attention of specialists.
The aim of this work is to solve the problem of introducing computer tech-
nology into housing and communal services by using a tool - a language that
allows you to hide the high complexity of the system from the user by providing
an abstract interface.
Fig. 1. Examples of Interfaces That Have Understood Understanding
At present, there are a large number of such visual programming languages
that are designed to solve various problems:
– The Sequential Function Chart (SFC) is a graphical language for program-
ming industrial logic controllers PLC and structuring programs;
– FBD is the language of Functional block diagrams like LD language of VP
(visual programming), where each block represents a mathematical opera-
tion;
– And other languages that solve a variety of problems, from languages for
teaching children programming [2] and about the grammar of visual web
applications, to programming languages in rocket and space technology [3].
A number of articles describe the way of thinking that people use at the
initial stages of their development. This way of thinking is conditioned reflex
thinking, that is, to solve the problem, a person uses ready-made templates that
are described by a simple formula: “if something else”, going beyond such simple
recipes-algorithms, as a rule, drives a person into a dead end, absence the finished
template and the need for enumeration makes it difficult or impossible to solve
the problem. In order to solve problems using people with this way of thinking
described above, it is necessary to exclude all complex constructions that do not
fit into the behavior predictable for humans.
4 Kluchev A. et al.
The language should be described by simple verbal constructions and should
be accessible for explanation in terms of frequently encountered things, such as
a water supply system or a motorway. Also, the language should not contain
abstract objects and mechanisms that are difficult to understand that go be-
yond the everyday life of an ordinary person (for example: cycles, inheritance,
processes, queues, interrupts, and so on).
There are examples of similar tools that are used to solve the problems
of managing and controlling home automation systems: IFTTT (If This Then
That), Blynk and the like. When developing such a system or programming lan-
guage, it is worth remembering such an important problem as user errors that
arise during the compilation of algorithms and system programming [4].
In this work, we develop a language that allows combining various elements of
infrastructures and solve some problems of automation of objects, such as: turn
on watering plants depending on humidity and lighting, turn on and turn off
street lighting depending on precipitation and cloud cover, control thermostats
of an automated object when reaching user specified geographic coordinates, etc.
The proposed language is a set of square-functional blocks representing any
action and having the following parameters: two inputs, one of which is inverse,
two outputs and some applied parameters. As a computation model for imple-
menting such a programming language, a process network computation model is
proposed [5], based on the interaction of processes through FIFO queues (first
in, first out). The programming process consists in connecting the squares with
each other, when the faces of the squares are in contact - two processes are con-
nected, the output of one process is combined through queues (blocking queues,
if there is no data, the process is blocked until the data appears) with the input
of the other.
SGL Key Ideas:
– The SGL language is based on the discrete event model;
– The operators of the language are logical elements, and the connections
between the elements are the faces of square elements;
– SGL does not have Turing completeness, that is, it is impossible to implement
any computable function on it. Feedback for the implementation of automata
cannot be done.
Language Features:
– Readability (ease of reading and understanding programs) and simplicity
(language consists of several types of constructions) come first;
– Lack of cycles;
– Reliability;
– Low cost.
The programming process consists in connecting the squares with each other,
when the faces of the squares are in contact - two processes are connected, the
SGL for cyber-physical systems serving housing and communal services 5
output of one process is combined through queues (blocking queues, if there is no
data, the process is blocked until the data appears) with the input of the other.
SGL language constructs are function blocks. The function block is presented as
a square with two inputs and two outputs.
Function Block Composition:
– Inputs (DIN, AIN, MODBUS cell, MQTT topic, etc.);
– Outputs (DOUT, AOUT, MODBUS cell, MQTT topic, etc.);
– Elementary logical elements (AND, NOT, OR-NOT, etc.);
– Filters (averager, median filter, level limiter, etc.);
– Complex functional blocks (annual schedule, control algorithm, etc.);
Fig. 2. Function block of SGL
As shown in the figure 2, X1, X2 - inputs, Y1, Y2 outputs Inputs X1 and X2
can have different meanings, for example, X1 - input for receiving data, X2 -
settings.
6 Kluchev A. et al.
Each unit is responsible for a specific process, for example, determining the
user’s location using geolocation or receiving data from a temperature sensor
installed on the object. The list of such blocks includes: geolocation, temperature
sensor, switch, triggers, inputs and outputs, message / notification generator,
timers, counters, etc. The list of tasks that can be solved is mainly limited by
the user’s imagination, and the extension of this language by Adding a specific
function block is not a high cost task.
Fig. 3. Graphical configuration interface with configuration “wizard” for cyber-
physical systems serving housing and communal services.
And also it is very important to notice that the most popular electronic device
available to the widest segments of the population is an Android smartphone.It
is logical to assume that the IDE for programming and tuning systems should
also be placed in a familiar environment for the user.
An example of solving one of the problems of automation of a housing and com-
munal services object can be heating the room before the arrival of the system
user directly to the object. Such a problem is solved within the framework of the
developed language by connecting three blocks. The coordinate determination
unit (or constant geolocation specified in the unit settings) and the temperature
SGL for cyber-physical systems serving housing and communal services 7
sensor transmit data to the thermostat inputs, as shown in Figure 2, which in
turn transmits signals to the relay control unit at the output.
Fig. 4. Programming automation of heating the housing and communal services facility
using a visual programming language
Implementation of local automation tools (if it is not an oil rig or a large
plant) requires a sufficiently large investment related to the need for field techni-
cians to travel expenses for business trips, maintenance, adjustment and main-
tenance, as well as separation from the work process. There are two possible
solutions to this problem. Further training of field staff is one of such solutions
that is not always effective and often costly. And the second option is to lower
the threshold of entry and risk management, described above at the stage of
development of these systems.
In conclusion on the findings:
– Outside of successful industries, it is very difficult to build a competent IT
infrastructure for servicing modern systems;
– The programming tools used in conventional process control projects are too
complex for existing staff;
– To automate such an area as housing and communal services, it is necessary
to create as simple as possible, and preferably even completely automatic
cyberphysical systems;
– SGL language allows you to reduce the entry threshold for creating simple
configuration systems; it is well accepted by service personnel accustomed
to working with electric networks;
8 Kluchev A. et al.
The visual programming language proposed as part of the development of cy-
berphysical systems serving the housing and communal services allows expanding
the system’s functionality through user programs, simplifying user interaction
with a complex engineering system and lowering the entry threshold for the
system.
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