The Design Of The Intelligent Relay Detecting Console

The Intelligent Relay Detecting Console (IRDC) is a device to repair, test and administer the railway signaling relays which are mainly used by the Testing Institute of Railway Signaling Relays in the Railway Electronical Affairs Departments. This console is entirely different from currently used relays in that it is totally controlled by industrial control computers, which could detect the characteristics of relays automatically and manage the inspection and original data of relays dynamically. This device enjoys a high integrity of performance, and as the upgrading product of the testing device used by the railway, it is also superb for its simple application and convenient maintenance. The fact that this console integrates the detection and management of the relays with computers make is possible for the Electronical Departments of the Railway to improve their management level of and it also offers the basis for their future network management.This console can be used to test mainly the AX-series relays and power supply panel series relays, and it also has the capacity to test other new kinds of relays. The hardware section of IRDC uses the computer control technology, viz., using computer as the control center, sending the testing messages to the computer by sensors, sampling circuit and A/D board, then feed backing these messages to the actuating mechanism. The testing section is programmed with C++, and uses the corresponding data of different relays as the controlling parameters. And finally the management section employs Visual FoxPro 6.0 which is an object-oriented programming language. The operating environment is the Chinese edition of Windows 98 OS, a software enjoying a friendly interface, simple operation and high performance, which could meet the practical operating needs of railway workers.This article discusses the design thought of IRDC, the general planning scheme and the implementing methods of the electrocircuit part of the hardware section and the functional modules of the software section. RIDC has been testified as efficient and has a high performance, which satisfactorily meets the needs of Electronical Affairs Departments.