Well folks, the BCS 4.0 version has been talked about here for some time now and Brent has been working feverishly to get this version ready.
Here's the first full showing of what's to come!
The user interface (UI) and application programming interface (API) of the BCS has undergone a very exhaustive overhaul. Not only is the out-of-the-box interface so much easier to use, it is incredibly faster. You get a complete view of your running processes so you know which state is active and can click/touch any other state to quickly jump between them (WIN buttons not needed any longer). You can also expand/compress individual element areas to hide unneeded sections. The UI does a lot of wrapping and auto-formatting to make it friendly to use on mobile devices. When editing items for process setup, each item saves immediately upon change.
Below are some screen shots of the "Main Control" page, the "Process Editor" page and the "Settings" page. Note that things are subject to change from what you see here. There are some items that are still being worked on like the HMI, data logging and ladder logic, so those are not shown yet. There will also be a recipe loader that will allow you to set things like mash temp, mash time, sparge temp, etc. from a single screen, so that you do not need to go into your individual process/states to configure them. There are also some web based utilities that allow you to backup your 3.x/4.x settings and restore to the 4.x platform. There is a single file backup/restore, so no more individual files.
The API of the BCS is so much more powerful and easier to use now. In fact, the built-in interface uses the same API that is available for you to use for 3rd party apps.
A few of us are already running this version, and in the near future, a preview beta version will be released for the community to use. Details will follow.
What you see below is the out-of-the-box interface.
Main Control page
Process Editor page
Process Editor page (continued)
Settings page
Settings page (continued)
Settings page (continued)
Settings page (continued)
Settings page (continued)
BCS 4.0 Alpha Preview
Re: BCS 4.0 Alpha Preview
Awesome! Recipe loader?!?!?! Wonder if we could get Brad to add in API links to push recipe settings from BS2 into the BCS? That would be the stuff of my dreams! haha
Re: BCS 4.0 Alpha Preview
freakin sweet, that is all.....
Re: BCS 4.0 Alpha Preview
Looks good.
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Re: BCS 4.0 Alpha Preview
I can't wait!
Re: BCS 4.0 Alpha Preview
Looks like some nice improvements... I'll be waiting eagerly.
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Re: BCS 4.0 Alpha Preview
Agree, it looks awesome Jon!
Re: BCS 4.0 Alpha Preview
Perhaps I'll go work on my clunky control panel.... No need for me to touch the UI for a while.
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Re: BCS 4.0 Alpha Preview
Is there any chance 4.0 will allow me to run 5 PID displays?
Re: BCS 4.0 Alpha Preview
DenningsPoint it's not done yet, but that's the plan!