Abstract
A programming method for a network-distributed controller has been developed. The controller consists of one master controller and multiple slave controllers. Various sensors and actuators are directly connected to the slave controllers, which are in turn connected to the master controller via a field network. We developed the programming method in order to reduce latency from signal inputs to the corresponding reactions. In the proposed method, a control program specifies latency in each state of the control sequence, and any part of the program that requires low latency is automatically separated from the program and executed by one slave controller via slave-to-slave communication.
