Schematic Control
Learn how to use the Schematic visualization in the Synnax Console.
A Schematic, short for piping and instrumentation diagram, is used to see a diagram of your physical or simulated system. It displays live sensor data and be used to exercise manual control by changing the values of channels tied to actuators. We’ve added a simple example of a Schematic below.
Creating a Schematic
Creating a Schematic is as simple as adding a new tab and selecting the Schematic visualization:
Modes
A Schematic has three modes: view, edit, and control. To change modes, use the controls in the bottom-left hand corner of the Schematic.
In edit mode, symbols can be added, moved, and their properties can be edited.
In view mode, live data from the system is displayed on the Schematic. Symbols are not editable and the user cannot affect the system state.
In control mode, the user can click on symbols such as valves and buttons to activate them.
The Symbols Library
A Schematic is assembled by dragging symbols out of the library and onto the screen. These visual representation of sensors, actuators, and other components on your hardware system. If the symbols are not appearing on the bottom of the screen, make sure to click the visualization icon in the bottom-right.
Synnax has a collection of built-in symbols including valves, live sensor values, buttons, and tanks.
Changing Symbol Properties
When selected, a symbol’s properties will appear in the bottom toolbar. There are several tabs that can be used to fine tune the look and behavior of the symbol.
The Style Tab
The style tab on allows users to edit the symbol’s label, size, orientation, color, and other visual properties.
The Data Tab
The data tab is available on symbols that receive data. After selecting a channel from the dropdown, the Schematic will fetch and display the live data from that channel.
For the value symbol, the data tab has the following properties:
- Input Channel determines which channel to stream data from.
- Precision sets the number of decimal places to display.
- Averaging Window can be used to display a rolling average of the last N samples. For example, a value of 2 will cause the screen to display the average of the last 2 samples
The Control Tab
The control tab is available on symbols that can be actuated. Controllable symbols have two main properties:
- Input Channel represents the display state of the symbol. If the input channel has a value of 1, the symbol will be display as solid (except for normally open pneumatic valves).
- Output Channel will be written to when you click on the symbol. If the symbol is de-activated, clicking on it will write 1 to the output channel (an activation command). If the symbol is activated, clicking on it will write 0 to the output channel (a deactivation command).
Connection Lines
Every symbol has locations to attach connection lines. When hovering over an symbol, these attachement points appear. To draw a connection line, click on an attachement point and drag the line to a different symbol.
Aligning Elements
To align elements, create a selection box by clicking and dragging on the canvas. Then, use the vertical or horizontal alignment buttons to align the selected elements.
Changing Colors
You can also change the color of multiple symbols together in the same manner.
Control Mode
In control mode, elements on the Schematic are able to be activated for manual control of the system. Clicking on an actionable element, such as a valve, switch, or button, allows you to activate the output channel on that element. The circle on the element shows what is in control. If the circle is blue, the current Schematic has control. If the circle is green, the current Schematic has absolute control. If the circle is red, the current Schematic does not have control as the element is part of an automated sequence or controlled by another Schematic.
The color of the bar indicates what is controlling the elements on the Schematic. There is a legend on the display indicating what controlling node is what color.