Arduino & Elipse E3 - General Purpose Automation

In this instructable, my first ever instructable, I'm just sharing an application I have developed using the software Elipse E3, which is able to communicate to the Arduino board.

I decided to share it because when I googled for some Elipse applications with Arduino I haven't found many things, which was really hard in the beginning since there were few explanations about how to interface Arduino with Elipse E3.

For now I'm just sharing an application, but soon i'm planning on posting an instructable with details about how to interface Arduino and Elipse E3, since the Arduino's code until the Elipse's configurations.

The application is really simple compared to the possibilities that Elipse E3 provides, since it's just a general use one, that's why you can change it however you want, but just don't use it as if it was your creation since I developed it, so be honest when using it.

By using this application you are able to control the Arduino UNO I/O's, which means you can write or read them (except the I/O's 0 and 1 that are busy because of the serial communication with the computer), you can also read the AnalogInputs and write the PWMOutputs, through a visual interface of switchs and potentiometers in your computer screen.

The Elipse E3 software is commonly used for developing applications for the industries, in order to control processes and automatize them, but this application could in the maximum be used to house automation with a few changes and increments.

In order to connect Arduino and Elipse E3, some steps must be followed, which are listed below:

1. Check if your Arduino is connected to the COM3 port of your computer, so type "COMPUTER MANAGEMENT" in the search bar of the STARTMENU and enter the option "DEVICE MANAGER" and look for the option "PORTS (COM & LPT)", in which your arduino will be listed since it's properly connected to your computer, if it's connected to he COM3 port that's OK, you can go to the next step, else right click "ARDUINO UNO" and enter its "PROPERTIES" and enter the menu "PORT SETTINGS" and then click in "ADVANCED" in which there will be the option "COM PORT NUMBER" and finally set it as COM3.
2. After connecting your Arduino to the COM3 port of your computer, it's time for uploading the program to your Arduino, so download it, but before uploading it make sure to add the library Modbusino to your Arduino IDE, so go to "C:\ProgramFiles(x86)\Arduino\Libraries" and then paste the Modbusino Library there.
3. After adding the library to your Arduino IDE, open the Arduino code that is called "Supervisorio" and upload it to your Arduino, and now you can open the application "Projeto1" in the folder "SupervisorioArduino", since you already have the Elipse E3 software downloaded.
4. If you don't have the software just access "http://www.elipse.com.br/port/download_e3.aspx" and download the option "E3 Server, Studio, Viewer com Demo".
   1. OBS: A tip to check if the connection between Elipse E3 and Arduino is working is the following, take a look at the Tx and Rx Led's of your Arduino board, if both are ON or maybe blinking, its probably working well, but if they aren't even blinking of if only one of the LED's is ON or blinking, maybe there is a problem with the connection, so you are supposed to check it again.
   2. OBS: It's realy important to pay attention while setting up the communication, since it only works if it was corrrected set
   3. OBS: I don't know if it works for Arduino Mega since I don't have one, I just tested the application With Arduino UNO, but I think it's likely to work.

• The first picture represents the Digital I/O's page:
  
  1. In this page you can write and read the Arduino Digital I/O's. There is a button called "EN.OUT", it's responsible for setting the Arduino I/O's as INPUT or OUTPUT depending on its state, if it's green then the I/O is set as OUTPUT or if it's red then the I/O is set as INPUT, which means you just can read values if "EN.OUT" is disabled as well as you just can write values if "EN.OUT" is enabled;
  2. For changing the state of the I/O just click over the "EN.OUT" circle, and wait for it to change the color, each circle is responble for setting up each I/O.
  3. If you want to set an I/O just click over the black button, and each you click it the OUTPUT will invert its value(0 or 1), since the "EN.OUT" is enabled.
  4. The value that is being written or read will be shown in two diferent modes, as numbers (1 or 0) or as colors (green or red).
• The second picture represents the AnalogInputs pages:
  1. In this page you can read all the analog inputs of your Arduino board and there is also a button to enable the reading of the Analog Inputs, which is called "EN.READ".
  2. For changing the state of the reading just click over the "EN.READ" circle, and wait for it to change the color, when it's green the reading is enabed, but qhen it's red the reading is disabled.
• The third picture represents the PWM outputs:
  1. In this page you can write the PWM outputs of your Arduino, since the "EN.PWM" is enabled and futhermore the correspondent "EN.OUT" in the Digital I/O's page also has to be enabled for this function to work, for example if you want to use the PWM~3 the Digital I/O 3 has to be enabled.
  2. For increasing or decreasing the PWM value just move the linear potentiometer UP or DOWN, by clicking the small gray square and moving it upwards or downwards.