Cheltenham, UK – April 4, 2007. Control Techniques is a global leader in the design, production and supply of intelligent electronic drives for the control of electric motors. Its intelligent drives, from simple standalone products to complex multi-drive solutions, are used for electric motor control in an extremely wide range of industrial applications. Constant innovation and rapid development is critical to ensure Control Techniques’ continued success in what is a highly competitive market.
To help achieve its product development goals, Control Techniques has adopted ARTiSAN Studio, the UML and SysML compliant real-time systems and software modeling tool suite from ARTiSAN Software Tools, to underpin its embedded software development process for future projects.
“We have set exacting requirements for our embedded software development environment and, as a consequence, they have been quite difficult to meet,” said Mike Cade, the control systems design manager at Control Techniques. “ARTiSAN Studio fitted our needs on several counts.”
One of the big issues for Control Techniques was that, although the company wanted to access the productivity benefits that a standards-based real-time modeling tool could offer, it also wanted one that was flexible and extensible enough to adapt to the company’s existing code generation standards and practices. “We have been able to mould ARTiSAN Studio to reflect the way we work customising the code generation process so that it adheres to the company’s coding standards,” continued Mike Cade. “Furthermore, we have been able to add compiler-specific options via the embedded software models that pass directly into the code.”
ARTiSAN Studio also successfully addressed the issue Control Techniques had in keeping its embedded software up-to-date with the design changes being made to the company’s intelligent electronic drives. “ARTiSAN Studio keeps the model and code absolutely in synch throughout the development cycle,” added Mike Cade. “With the automatic code generation capability, we know that, at any point in time, the model is a true view of the code and vice versa.”
Having proven its use of ARTiSAN Studio on several initial embedded software development projects designed to enhance and upgrade various existing products, Control Techniques now plans to instigate its use on all future new product development projects as well.
“The strengths that make ARTiSAN Studio the UML/SysML modeling tool of choice in the aerospace and defence world are now increasingly being transferred to other vertical markets like control and automation,” said Jeremy Goulding, President and CEO of ARTiSAN Software Tools. “ARTiSAN Studio enables teams of developers to visualize, design and validate complex mission critical systems before building them, and simplifies implementation with code generation and software reuse. It is highly scaleable and improves productivity and quality when used on both small and large technical projects. Studio’s underlying metamodel and repository technology provide a stable, robust working environment ensuring fast availability of model information, while securing all valuable data. Teams using Studio’s powerful extensions can model architectural frameworks, systems and software as well as document legacy systems for the complete project lifecycle from start to finish.”
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About ARTiSAN Software Tools
ARTiSAN Software Tools is the leading supplier of collaborative modeling tools for requirements analysis, specification, design and development of complex applications. The company provides standards-based, multi-user tool support from architectural frameworks through systems design to software implementation. ARTiSAN offers products, services and a process for systems and software modeling to accelerate the development of next-generation real-time systems while ensuring that they always meet requirements. ARTiSAN enables engineering teams to visualize, design and validate systems before building them, and simplifies implementation with code generation and software reuse. Winner of the 2005 SD Times 100 award in the Modeling category for bringing UML and SysML to real-time embedded systems, ARTiSAN offers the most advanced tools for complex applications development. Founded in March 1997, ARTiSAN is privately held with headquarters in Cheltenham, United Kingdom. The company has regional sales offices and distributors throughout the world. For more information, call +44 (0)1242 229300 internationally, or 1(888)511-7975 from the US; or visit www.artisansw.com.
About Control Techniques
Control Techniques is a world leader in the design, production and marketing of electronic drives for the control of electric motors. Its strategy is to concentrate on delivering drives and servo products that reduce energy consumption and enhance the productivity of its customer’s machines and processes. From simple stand alone drives to complex multi-drive applications, its strategy is focused on delivering solutions at the process or machine level that really make a difference to it customers. Control Techniques competitive edge is based on a unique focus on drives, strength in research and development, investment in low-cost manufacturing and an effective worldwide marketing strategy.
Control Techniques operates through a global network of Drive and Application Centres that both distribute product and add value by building its drive products into custom designed systems and by offering the highest levels of customer service. These Centres provide the company with invaluable feedback and market intelligence that enable the company to further improve its products and services.