C-Programming is one of the last bastions of art for engineers. Claude Frenette

Claude Frenette didn't set out to become a savvy C programmer as he started his career over 30 years ago. In fact he attended the University of Buffalo and studied Structural Engineering. But early on, it became clear to Claude that his forté in life was destined to be computer programming.

His first opportunity to program was using the venerable TI-59 programmable calculator and the accompanying magcards, which held a whopping 960 program steps (if you used 2 cards). Those of you who were adults during the 70s will remember this exciting piece of hardware and the new engineering opportunities that arose as a result. In 1977 the TI-59 had a selling price of $299, not exactly cheap. But by contrast, the personal computers of the time (namely Apple IIs and TSR-80s) cost thousands of dollars and were definitely not portable. Engineering professionals, including Claude, purchased this programmable calculator by the droves. By 1979, TI was selling over 3 million of these programmable calculators annually. A website paying homage to the TI-59 is worth a look if you are interested in reading up on a slice of electronic history. See http://www.ti59.com .

Claude used this little wonder to create really useful structural programs that aided engineers in designing buildings. Calculations that were previously handled by hand could now be processed much more efficiently. In the process, Claude ended up catching the “programming bug.”

The 80s led Claude to leverage his structural-engineering background in conjunction with his newfound programming skills. A new job opportunity surfaced and he found himself working for a company that manufactured fabric domes for stadiums. There Claude continued developing his computer expertise by working on V A X minicomputers, as well as learning how to code using FORTRAN . He designed a nifty fabric tester that helped in calculating the physical dimensions needed for the material used in the manufacturing of the soft domes. The tester was able to predict how the fabric would behave while being stretched under stress. This was important to take into account in order to ensure a smooth, wrinkle-free appearance when installed at the stadiums. Although Claude engineered a superb system, it was cost-prohibitive and was ultimately not implemented.

But it was at the end of the 80s that Claude began to learn C programming. A contract engineering company was searching for someone who had expertise in programming VAX minicomputers and also had experience in the development of graphical operator interfaces. Claude fit the bill for both and ended up getting the job. He became a project manager, tasked to monitor the installation of Gary Works , the second largest blast furnace in the world, in Gary, Indiana. Claude's role prompted him to search for a more versatile and powerful programming environment, needed to develop the graphical user interfaces used in the plant. Being the “hands-on” guy that he is, Claude simply decided to teach himself how to program in C! At the same time Claude also became quite well versed in using the HMI software Wonderware® . These two skills would prove critical for Claude, and ultimately lead him down the path of becoming a consultant for hire.

Claude's employment with this engineering firm continued into the 90s, and his expertise using Wonderware soon became a source for revenue beyond his daytime job. Other Wonderware users who had difficulty with their projects were referred to Claude for training on the Wonderware platform. Claude approached training them in a very personal way. Instead of using textbook-style situations, he used their application as the basis for the training. While this was more of a challenge for training, the end result was not only educating the attendee on the Wonderware tools but also providing them with a significant jump on their real-world application.

It was not long before these Wonderware trainees started contacting Claude for additional help on their applications. While Claude was located in New York, engineers in states as far as Alabama and Washington were enlisting him to work on their projects. One opportunity was to consult for an engineering firm that was working on a contract with a telecommunications company that manufactured fiber-optic cable. The glass movers were outfitted with RFID tags to track core and clad performs, and provide “best case” matches for their consolidation based on their optical characteristics. The problem was that the PLC system that was initially installed could only read about 12 of these RFID tags per minute, which was way too slow for the plant operation. Claude opted to replace the PLC and instead use one of the Z-World single-board computers (SBC), and the results were truly impressive. Not only did he take advantage of the 4 serial ports that were on the SBC, enabling the system to monitor up to 64 RFID nodes, but also the new system design was able to now read 150 RFID tags per second! “The system was smoking!” says Claude. He is also pleased with the robustness of this project. Completed in 1994, it not only passed Y2K without a glitch, but also has been running flawlessly ever since.

Claude decided shortly after his success with this project to take the plunge and start his own business, becoming a full-time consultant in 1995. Z-World took the opportunity to register Claude as one of their certified consultants, and started referring customers to Claude for their consulting needs. Since then, he has consulted on numerous applications in a variety of industries from developing process-monitoring systems for fiberglass manufacturing, to engineering robotic AGVs (automated guided vehicles), to designing machinery for the agriculture industry. Claude always takes a hands-on approach to the projects he becomes involved in.

Claude attributes much of his success to the Dynamic C® programming environment that supports the Z-World and Rabbit Semiconductor hardware products. C programming in general has become Claude's forte, and he points out that programming is one of the few remaining areas that still allows engineers creativity in their designs. Claude feels other engineering disciplines and their reliance on CAD software and “auto-routing” routines for their development have made once creative duties rather dry and boring. “C programming is one of the last bastions of art for engineers,” say Claude. He points out that often he can recognize the writer of software by simply looking at their style of coding. Engineers from those other disciplines might contest Claude's pedestal position on programming and art, but I'm sure his words ring true for software junkies around the world.

Claude also has developed a taste for debugging source code from other engineers and picking up where someone else dropped a software project. Both are situations that would make the typical software programmer cringe with angst and trepidation, but not Claude. “Once you can get into the other programmers head and understand how he was trying to do something, it is not that hard to figure out what should be done next,” says Claude.

Claude's more recent applications have taken advantage of the core module products from Rabbit Semiconductor . One application involved the RCM2000 core module. The RCM2000 was used to collect data from either a single-phase or three-phase power meter and send the data back to the provider through either a dial-up modem or a satellite-based Internet connection. The memory on the core module of course was used to store the data for weeks, if necessary, in the event of a dropout in communications.

Another recent application is the Ethernet-enabled RCM2200 , which was designed into a node for a point-of-sale system. The system consisted of two small color LCDs, two barcode scanners, magcard readers, and 16 digital I/O. The digital I/O were used to connect user buttons for the system and status LEDs. Claude opted to isolate the digital inputs optically from the core module in order to protect the system from a board failure that might happen from a fault condition generated from the outside world. The system is being designed to access its database via the 10Base-T Ethernet connection on the core module, which connects the system to a TCP/IP server that holds the database. Real-world implementation is planned for this system as the intelligence that will be used at some event turnstiles. Claude's customer is also looking at ways to use the system in specialty arcade games that are used at family fun centers.

Claude Frenette is located about 20 miles south of Buffalo in Orchard Park, New York. He has experience designing on microprocessor platforms from Rabbit Semiconductor, Zilog, Intel, and Microchip. His expertise areas are in Data Management, Factory Automation, Petrochemical, Logic Analysis, Motion Control, Sensor Monitoring, Utility/Power Monitoring, and Audio/Video Control. He has extensive experience in communication protocols including: CANBus, DeviceNet, Ethernet, MODBus, Modem, Profibus, and Satellite Communications (low Earth orbit).

Contact Phone: (716) 662-0434