Low cost distributed control system with protocol implemented by software

The technology used in process automation is evolving towards distributed control systems, both as physical and functional characteristics and structures. In this paper, we present a prototype oriented to distributed process control with a set of special characteristics: low computational load, low requirements of bit rate, medium reliability and very low cost. A system based on general purpose microcontrollers can support the communications system and specific application load. In a larger volume of production of these systems, the software is the element that helps to reduce the cost of the system. This is the reason to design a distributed control system in which every possible function has been developed by software. Finally, an analysis has been done to evaluate the real limitations