[SOLVED] Cs6263 mini project #1- industrial control systems design and simulation

CS 6263/ECE 8813: Cyber-Physical Systems Security (Summer 2025)
Environment Setup
The first step towards understanding the concepts of cyber-physical systems (CPS) security is to get familiar with their control logics and mechanisms. In the first mini project, we will learn how to model an industrial control system (ICS) with its control logic. To do so, an advanced educational modeling software, namely Factory IO coupled with Control IO, will be used to model the process and design the underlying controller. The latest trial version of Factory IO for Windows machines can be downloaded from here: Factory IO trial version (Alternate Link). You can use this version for 30 days.
Factory IO requires heavy compute resources to run without any inexplicable problems and anomalies. A machine with the following specifications would be ideal for this project. These are not hard requirements, but will help improve your development experience. The listed specifications are based on statistics from previous classes:
• CPU Utilization does not exceed 30%
• 16GB RAM
• 2GB Video RAM
• 50 FPS
Factory IO
Inside Factory IO, there is a visual environment where you can create the 3-D model of an industrial control process. Also, you can design a controller for the process, where the actuators are controlled by sensors, input buttons, and the underlying control logic. The control logic of the process can be embedded inside a programmable logic controller (PLC) connected to your computer. We will learn how to program a PLC in the next mini project. Instead of connecting a real PLC, in this mini project, you will use the Control IO interface with Factory IO to design your controller. You can connect the block diagrams of the inputs, sensors, and actuators with different logic to form your controller. This is very similar to programming in the Simulink/Matlab environment. Factory IO can be very easy to learn, but for this project you are only working in Control IO.
It does take some time to get familiar and comfortable with Factory IO and Control IO software. This project requires Function Block Diagram design which is a bit different from traditional software programming (there are no IF statements!). Please do not wait till the last weekend to start this project, as the estimated time of completion could be anywhere from 15 to 50 hours. Below are helpful resources to get started on Factory IO, Control IO, PLCs and Function Block Programming.
Table 1: Helpful Resources
Description Link
Free Tutorial PLC Academy
Control IO Documentation Getting Started
Factory IO Documentation Overview
Factory IO Parts Documentation Parts
Getting started with Control IO YouTube Video
Summaries of PLC Programming
Languages isd-soft
(Technical Background Section) Lab Assignment
PLC Design Approach ACC Automation
Introduction to Function Blocks Function Blocks
YouTube Videos
Table 2: YouTube Videos
Section Video
Water Tank Link
Pallet Storage Link
Factory IO General Intro Link
Factory IO Interface Introduction Link
RFID Read/Write Link
RFID Two Readers Link
CTU/CTD Link
JK Flip/Flop Link
Additional Notes
In order to get started and view the Part 1 scene, unzip the attached project zip. Double-click on the scene file to open under the scenes directory (in this case part1.factoryio). In turn, this will start Factory IO with the scene loaded.
If Factory IO is opened first, a blank Control IO file might open. If this happens, you should not use this Control IO, instead you will need to open the Control IO file associated with your work. The blank Control IO file will have a file name such as “Diagram1.controlio”. That is your indication to load your Control IO file. Make sure that the Control IO file you are editing is the correct file. Do not modify the 3D environment in Factory IO, as the same originally provided scene will be loaded during grading – not the one that you submit. The provided .controlio files contain a block used for a programmatic connection to Canvas for grading and is labeled as such – do not remove or adjust it!
Logic Bombs
1 Water Tank System (35 Points)
Part 1a – Water Tank System (0 Points)
In this part, the goal is to design and implement a water tank system that fills and drains automatically. In the pre-built Factory IO scene, there are three water tanks. However, this part only requires working with one water tank (not all three). Below are the steps required for the implementation:
• The fill process starts when the control box start button is pressed.
• Once the water level reaches 55% of the tank capacity, the fill valve must close and the drain valve must open to decrease the tank level to 35%. This filling and draining process should continue between 35% and 55% until the stop button is pressed.
• By pressing the control box stop button, the remaining water in Tank 1 must begin draining and then the entire process must stop once the tank is empty. Pressing the start button will restart the fill and drain cycle process.
• Pressing the start button while a tank is draining below its minimum cycle level (ex: at 30% for Tank 1) should immediately stop the tank from draining and restart the filling process.
Part 1b – Logic Bomb Water Tank System (35 Points)
For Tank 1, once the water level reaches to 55% of the tank capacity, the fill valve must close and the drain valve must open and continue until the water level reaches 35% of tank capacity. At this point, the drain valve must close and the fill valve must open again to refill to 55%. This process must continue working in a repeated cycle until the stop button is pressed. By pressing the stop button, the remaining water in the tank must begin draining and then the entire process must stop once empty.
For Tank 2, once the water level reaches 70% of the tank capacity, the fill valve must close and the drain valve must open and continue until the water level reaches 40% of the tank capacity. This process must continue working in a repeated cycle until the stop button is pressed. By pressing the stop button, the remaining water in the tank must begin draining and then the entire process must stop once empty.
For Tank 3, once the water level reaches 90% of the tank capacity, the fill valve must close and the drain valve must open and continue until the water level reaches 55% of the tank capacity. This process must continue working in a repeated cycle until the stop button is pressed. By pressing the stop button, the remaining water in the tank must begin draining and then the entire process must stop once empty.
After Tank 2 fills to 70% three times, the fill and drain logic of Tank 1 and 3 should be affected. As a result, your logic bomb should cause the Tank 1 tank to cycle between 14% and 16%. The cycle action is to drain to 14% and when 14% is reached, it fills to 16% and then drains to 14% and continues the 14-16% cycle. Tank 3 should fill to 100% capacity. If the stop button (or start button) is pressed after the logic bomb has triggered, Tank 2 should continue to respond accordingly, however, Tank 1 and 3 should NOT (i.e. ignore the start/stop buttons). Under no conditions shall the count for the logic bomb trigger be reset.
Grading Notes
2 Pallet Storage (65 Points)
Part 2a – Pallet Storage (50 Points)
In this section, the goal is to design and implement a pallet sorting and storage system. Below are the steps required for implementation:
• Once a pallet and box reaches the loading conveyor (pick-off station), the stacker crane shall pick it up and store it in the appropriate rack space. See Appendix B for detail on the various box sizes and where they shall be stored in the rack.
• For each rack section, the first pallet shall be stored beginning in the lower right space in that section and subsequent pallets of that size are stored upward from there. When the top space is filled, begin storing at bottom of the next column to the left. Note: Do not worry about filling up an entire section with one size of box. The scene will not be run long enough for that to happen.
• If the stop button is pressed, the process shall pause and continue as normal when the start button is pressed again. The Stacker Crane can continue moving towards its current destination, but it should stop operation once it arrives. If the system is started again, the crane shall either place the pallet it was storing or pick up the next pallet from the pick-off station. Note: Do not worry about the stop button being pressed while a pallet is being picked up or placed on the rack, but the stop button could be pressed while the Stacker Crane is in motion to/from the pick-off station.
• Ensure that the control box displays the appropriate number of stored box types. You can utilize or ignore the ”Next Location” displays. The configuration is provided in the table below.
Table 3: Part 2 Control Box Configuration
Counters When Count is Taken
Small/Medium/Large Box Inventory Once pallet is placed on storage rack
Part 2b – Logic Bomb Pallet Storage (15 Points)
The logic bomb should trigger once 12 pallets of any size box have been stored in the rack. In other words, 3 large / 4 medium / 5 small boxes have been stored, or 2 large / 8 medium / 2 small, etc. The logic bomb should cause the Stacker Crane to begin placing pallets where they have already been stored, in effect knocking some pallets off the rack. There should be no changes to the control box inventory display, so it should be reporting incorrect numbers since some of the pallets have been pushed out of inventory. Also, the system shall stop responding to start and stop buttons after the logic bomb has triggered. Under no conditions shall the count for the logic bomb trigger be reset, nor shall the logic bomb effect be cancelled once in place.
Grading Notes
Deliverable and Submission Instructions
Create a zip file named <First Name>-<Last Name>-mp1.zip (e.g., Tohid-Shekari-mp1.zip), that includes all your files and submit it on Canvas. Your zip file should be generated in such a way that when it is extracted, we get two folders with the names of scenes and controllers. If you make multiple submissions to Canvas, a number will be appended to your filename. This is inserted by Canvas and will not result in any penalty. Part 1a Control IO file was provided as an example and should not be turned in.
Note: Failure to follow the submission and naming instructions will cause 20% points loss.
<First Name>-<Last Name>-mp1.zip |– scenes
|– part1.factoryio
|– part2.factoryio
|– controllers
|– part1b.controlio
|– part2a.controlio
|– part2b.controlio
A good way to ensure your scenes being submitted are no different than the original scenes is to compare the original project file hash and your submission file hash. In Windows Powershell, use Get-FileHash <original scene from zip> and compare it to Get-FileHash <your scene for submission>
Appendix A: Evaluation
Table 4: Part 1 Water Tank Logic Bomb (25 Points)
Requirement Points Notes
Normal Operation 25 All three tanks start filling when Start button pressed, cycle appropriately, begin draining when Stop button pressed, and restart if Start button pressed during or after draining
Table 5: Part 1 Water Tank Logic Bomb (10 Points)
Requirement Points Notes
Modified Operation 5 Tanks operate as described for Logic Bomb
Start/Stop Buttons 5 Start/Stop buttons stop working for specified tanks
Table 6: Part 2 Pallet Storage (50 Points)
Requirement Points Notes
Process Starts/Stops 10 Process starts and stops appropriately when Start/Stop buttons pressed
Pallet Pickup 10 Stacker Crane picks up pallet
Pallet Storage 10 Stacker Crane stores pallet in rack
Organization 10 Stacker Crane stores box sizes in correct section of rack
Control Box Logic 10 Control box numbers are accurately displayed
Table 7: Part 2 Pallet Storage Logic Bomb (15 Points)
Requirement Points Notes
Logic Bomb Trigger 5 Logic bomb triggers after condition has been met
Modified Operation 5 Stacker Crane operates as described for Logic Bomb
Start/Stop Buttons 5 Start/Stop buttons stop working
Extra Credit: To further encourage efficient programming diagrams, bonus points on this project will be granted to five students with the overall lowest block counts. Similar to the penalty thresholds, Notes, Memory Booleans, and Memory Integers will be excluded from this count. The student with the lowest block count will receive 5 additional points on this project. The second lowest will receive 4, third lowest 3, fourth lowest 2, and fifth lowest 1.
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
#Change the file name in the line below: controlio_path = ’partxx.controlio’
count = 0
ignore_types = [“NotesNode”, “InternalMemoryBit”, “InternalMemoryInt”] tree = ET.parse(controlio_path) root = tree.getroot() diagram = root[1] for element in diagram:
if (element.tag == “NodeData”) and (element.attrib[“NodeType”] not in ignore_types):
count += 1 print(count)
Appendix B: Pallet Storage
Table 8: Box Sizes
Small Box Medium Box Large Box

Table 9: Box Size Storage Locations