A programmable controller

Abstract

This utility model relates to the field of Internet of Things (IoT) teaching equipment technology, and provides a programmable controller, including a multi-layer integrated structure composed of a display interaction module, a core control module, and a sensing expansion module. The display interaction module is located on the upper layer and is equipped with a touch screen. The core control module is located on the middle layer and is equipped with a microcontroller, a voice recognition sensor interface, a voice synthesis sensor interface, and a wireless communication module. The structure is reasonable, can independently complete network configuration, and uses color to distinguish interfaces to prevent users from mis-plugging, significantly improving ease of use.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of Internet of Things (IoT) teaching equipment technology, and in particular to a programmable controller. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, in the field of STEAM education, programmable logic controllers (PLCs) are a core tool for cultivating computational thinking and innovation abilities in young people. Existing products in this technology can be mainly categorized as follows: Basic development boards are essentially bare circuit boards, offering high openness but lacking a user-friendly interface. All user operations, including program downloads, device configuration, and status checks, must be performed by connecting to a PC via a data cable. This cumbersome process is not user-friendly for beginners and hinders rapid deployment in a classroom environment.

[0003] Highly integrated kits, while highly integrated and sometimes featuring simple dot matrix or OLED screens for status display, have extremely limited configuration capabilities. Furthermore, their ecosystems are relatively closed, restricting hardware expansion and creativity.

[0004] Existing utility model patent CN206574350U discloses a "dual-core teaching experimental board supporting graphical programming." Its solution uses an ARM processor core board as a "graphical programmer" to control another MCU core board. This is a "master-slave control" concept, where the screen on the device is only used for programming and downloading, not for configuring the device's own network connectivity, thus failing to solve the problems of independent device configuration and convenient network connectivity.

[0005] In summary, existing technologies generally suffer from problems such as reliance on external computers for configuration, unintuitive human-computer interaction, and limited external interfaces. There is an urgent need for a programmable controller that can independently complete configuration, provide intuitive teaching, and maintain a high degree of openness. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and provide an educational programmable controller with a reasonable structure, capable of independently completing network configuration, and using color-coded interfaces to prevent users from inserting the wrong parts, thus significantly improving ease of use.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, this utility model provides a programmable controller, characterized by: a multi-layered integrated structure comprising a display interaction module, a core control module, and a sensing expansion module stacked together; the display interaction module being located on the upper layer and equipped with a touch screen; the core control module being located on the middle layer and equipped with a microcontroller, a voice recognition sensor interface, a voice synthesis sensor interface, and a wireless communication module; the touch screen being electrically connected to the core control module via a serial port; and the sensing expansion module being located on the bottom layer and equipped with multiple sensors and multiple signal input and output interface sockets, electrically connected to the core control module via a pin header connector; the core control module receives network configuration commands from the touch screen and controls the wireless communication module to access the wireless network according to the network configuration commands.

[0008] Furthermore, the wireless communication module on the core control module is an ESP32 WiFi module, which is connected to the microcontroller via a UART serial interface.

[0009] Furthermore, the sensors on the sensing extension module include: a temperature and humidity sensor, a light intensity sensor, a six-axis sensor, and a buzzer.

[0010] Furthermore, to prevent incorrect insertion, the multiple signal input interface sockets and multiple signal output interface sockets are distinguished by different colors.

[0011] Furthermore, the sensors on the sensing expansion module communicate with the microcontroller of the core control module via the I2C bus.

[0012] Furthermore, the sensing expansion module also integrates a motor drive chip, and the control terminal of the motor drive chip is connected to the PWM output pin of the microcontroller of the core control module.

[0013] Furthermore, the microcontroller on the core control module is also configured to receive and execute programming instructions sent by an external computing device through the wireless communication module, the programming instructions including graphical programming language instructions and text-based programming language instructions.

[0014] Furthermore, the core control module and the sensing expansion module are physically fixed and electrically connected through a pin header connector.

[0015] The beneficial effects of this utility model are: users do not need to connect to a PC and can directly complete key configurations such as WiFi networking through the top touch screen, which greatly simplifies the usage process. By setting different color labels for the input and output interface sockets, students can easily distinguish the interfaces with different functions by color alone, effectively avoiding device damage or functional abnormalities caused by incorrect insertion, and lowering the learning threshold. Attached Figure Description

[0016] For ease of explanation, the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the preferred embodiments and accompanying drawings.

[0017] Figure 1 This is a schematic block diagram of a programmable controller according to the present invention; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a programmable controller according to the present invention; Figure 3 This is a microcontroller circuit block diagram of a programmable controller according to the present invention; Figure 4 This is a circuit block diagram of the power supply module of a programmable controller according to the present invention; Figure 5 This is a circuit block diagram of a WiFi module of a programmable controller according to the present invention; Figure 6 This is a circuit block diagram of a touch screen display of a programmable controller according to the present invention; Figure 7 This is a circuit block diagram of a motor drive chip for a programmable controller according to the present invention; Figure 8 This is a block diagram of a six-axis sensor circuit for a programmable controller as described in this utility model.

[0018] In the diagram: 1. Display and interaction module, 2. Core control module, 3. Sensing extension module. Detailed Implementation

[0019] The following description, with reference to the accompanying drawings, further illustrates an embodiment of the programmable controller according to the present invention: like Figure 1 , 2 As shown in Figure 3, a programmable controller includes a multi-layer integrated structure consisting of a display interaction module, a core control module, and a sensing expansion module stacked together.

[0020] The display interaction module is located on the upper layer of this integrated structure and serves as the system's main human-machine interface. In this embodiment, this module is an HMI serial port touch display screen that supports touch operation. The main function of this touch display screen is to display various status information of the system, such as sensor data and network status, and to receive user touch commands, especially commands for device configuration. The touch display screen is electrically connected and communicates with the core control module via a serial port.

[0021] The core control module is located in the middle layer of this integrated structure and is the control core of the entire system. A microcontroller is mounted on the circuit board of this module; in this embodiment, the microcontroller is an AT32F403RCT6 chip. The module also includes a wireless communication module and two dedicated sensor interfaces: a voice recognition sensor interface and a voice synthesis sensor interface. These are used to convert speech into control commands and information into speech for playback. To prevent students from misconnecting the devices, these two sensor interfaces are physically distinguished by different colors, and the corresponding cable plugs are also the same color.

[0022] The wireless communication module is a WiFi-enabled module, and in this embodiment, it is an ESP32 chip module. This WiFi module is connected to a microcontroller via a UART serial interface. The microcontroller can control all functions of the WiFi module, including searching for networks, connecting, and sending / receiving data, by sending AT commands.

[0023] The sensing extension module is located at the bottom layer of this integrated structure. It is the sensing and execution extension layer of the system. This module is electrically connected and physically fixed to the core control module through a board-to-board pin header connector. This hard connection method ensures the stability of the three-layer structure after stacking. The sensor expansion module's circuit board directly integrates various commonly used sensors. In this embodiment, these sensors include: a temperature and humidity sensor, an illuminance sensor, a six-axis sensor for measuring acceleration and gyroscope data, and a buzzer for audible alerts. The temperature and humidity sensor, light intensity sensor, and six-axis sensor mentioned above all communicate with the microcontroller of the core control module via the I2C bus. The microcontroller acts as the host of the I2C bus and can read data from each sensor in a time-sharing manner.

[0024] The sensor expansion module also integrates a motor driver chip. In one specific embodiment, the chip can be the TB6612 model, which can drive two DC motors. The control pins of this motor driver chip, such as the speed control pin, are connected to the PWM output pin of the microcontroller on the core control module, thereby achieving precise control of the motor speed and direction.

[0025] To further enhance usability and prevent user errors, the multiple signal input and output interface sockets on the sensor expansion module are designed with color differentiation. For example, all input interface sockets can be uniformly white, while all output interface sockets can be uniformly black, or the input and output interface sockets can be distinguished by any other color with significant visual differences. This allows students to easily identify the interface type and avoid accidentally inserting the sensor into the output interface, which could cause damage.

[0026] This invention enables convenient network configuration. After the user starts the controller, the microcontroller drives the touch screen of the display interaction module to display a configuration interface. On this interface, the user can select the wireless network to connect to and enter the password through the virtual keyboard on the touch screen. These inputs are combined into network configuration commands and sent to the microcontroller of the core control module through the serial port. After receiving the command, the microcontroller immediately controls the wireless communication module to perform the operation of accessing the specified wireless network. In this way, the user can independently complete the network configuration of the device without connecting to any external computer. After the device successfully connects to the wireless network, the microcontroller on the core control module is configured to receive programming instructions from external computing devices via the wireless communication module. These programming instructions can be generated by two mainstream programming software programs: one is a graphical programming software for beginners; the other is a text-based programming language such as Python for advanced users. Users can complete programming on a PC and send program instructions to the controller with a single click via WiFi for immediate execution, achieving convenient wireless programming and debugging.

[0027] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present utility model and is not intended to limit the present utility model. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present utility model should be included within the protection scope of the present utility model.

Claims

1. A programmable controller, characterized in that: The system comprises a multi-layered integrated structure consisting of a display interaction module, a core control module, and a sensing expansion module. The display interaction module is located on the top layer and includes a touch screen. The core control module is located on the middle layer and includes a microcontroller, a voice recognition sensor interface, a voice synthesis sensor interface, and a wireless communication module. The touch screen is electrically connected to the core control module via a serial port. The sensing expansion module is located on the bottom layer and includes multiple sensors, multiple signal input interface sockets, and multiple signal output interface sockets. The sensing expansion module is electrically connected to the core control module via a pin header connector. The core control module receives network configuration commands from the touch screen and controls the wireless communication module to access the wireless network based on these commands.

2. A programmable controller according to claim 1, characterized in that: The wireless communication module on the core control module is an ESP32 WiFi module, which is connected to the microcontroller via a UART serial interface.

3. A programmable controller according to claim 1, characterized in that: The sensors on the sensing extension module include: a temperature and humidity sensor, a light intensity sensor, a six-axis sensor, and a buzzer.

4. A programmable controller according to claim 1, characterized in that: To prevent incorrect insertion, the multiple signal input interface sockets and multiple signal output interface sockets are distinguished by different colors.

5. A programmable controller according to claim 3, characterized in that: The sensors on the sensing expansion module communicate with the microcontroller of the core control module via the I2C bus.

6. A programmable controller according to claim 1, characterized in that: The sensing expansion module also integrates a motor drive chip, and the control terminal of the motor drive chip is connected to the PWM output pin of the microcontroller of the core control module.

7. A programmable controller according to claim 1, characterized in that: The microcontroller on the core control module is also configured to receive and execute programming instructions sent by an external computing device via the wireless communication module. The programming instructions include graphical programming language instructions and text-based programming language instructions.

8. A programmable controller according to claim 1, characterized in that: The core control module and the sensing expansion module are physically fixed and electrically connected through pin header connectors.

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