Generic and reconfigurable IEC 61499 function blocks for advanced platform independent engineering

This paper presents two new function block types for the IEC 61499 compliant 4DIAC runtime (FORTE). The function blocks are created in an attempt to increase the possibilities of reconfiguring function block applications during operation, without having to recreate the function block networks or recompile the FORTE runtime. The first block-type is created for generic I/O, and demonstrates how a single, platform-independent function block can be used to access the I/O subsystems of multiple PLC platforms. The second block-type allows the functionality of a block to be completely specified in the Lua scripting language, and thereby to be changed at runtime. Both block-types have been successfully tested, and appear to be a usable step in creating a more dynamic and flexible IEC 61499 implementation.