# GeneratorServer
A self-contained OPC UA server implementing the **Generators companion
specification** (`http://opcfoundation.org/UA/Generators/`) end to end: N
simulated generating sets, a datasheet-driven simulation, DI and Machinery
integration, and a per-set OpenUSD twin.
It complements [`PumpDeviceIntegrationServer`](../../DI/PumpDeviceIntegrationServer),
and the two are composed into one scene by
[`SiteCompositionServer`](../SiteCompositionServer).
```
dotnet run --project samples/OpenUsd/GeneratorServer -- \
--host localhost --port 62543 --generators 4
```
| Argument | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `--generators N` | 2 | How many sets to simulate (1…100) |
| `--faults` | `true` | Let the first set develop faults on a slow rotation |
| `--port` | 62543 | Endpoint port |
| `--host` | `0.0.0.0` | Bind host |
## The machine
A fictitious **SimGen Systems GenX-500** — 400 kW prime / 440 kW standby, 400/230 V,
50 Hz, four-pole, on a 12.5 L turbocharged inline-six. Full parameters, curves and
trip points are in [`DATASHEET.md`](DATASHEET.md), and every one of them is a
constant in [`GeneratorDatasheet.cs`](GeneratorDatasheet.cs), so the document, the
address space and the simulation cannot drift apart.
## The model
```mermaid
graph TD
GS["GeneratorSet_n : GeneratorSetType
(DI DeviceType)"]
GS --> ID["Identification
(Machinery)"]
GS --> BB[MachineryBuildingBlocks]
GS --> ST["OperatingState
GeneratorStateMachineType"]
GS --> ENG["Engine
speed, oil, coolant, exhaust, fuel, hours"]
GS --> ALT[Alternator]
ALT --> L1[L1]
ALT --> L2[L2]
ALT --> L3[L3]
GS --> CTL[Controller]
GS --> FUEL[FuelSystem]
GS --> COOL[CoolingSystem]
GS --> LUBE[LubricationSystem]
GS --> BATT[StartingSystem]
```
`GeneratorSetType` derives from the DI `DeviceType`, so — unlike the pump sample,
whose `PumpType` derives from the Machinery `MachineType` — sets are created
through `CreateDeviceAsync` and get DI registration and topology wiring
for free.
Most telemetry in the specification is **optional**, so the type fits both a bare
air-cooled residential set and a fully instrumented industrial one. This sample
models the instrumented case and opts in explicitly, including the `L2` and `L3`
phases (optional because single-phase sets populate only `L1`).
## The simulation
Load fraction is the **only** independent variable. Everything else follows from
the curves in the datasheet, so the published values reconcile by construction
rather than by coincidence:
```
V̇_f(x) = 3.67 + 100·x [L/h]
η(x) = P(x) / (V̇_f(x) · ρ · LHV)
S = P / PF I = S / (√3 · V_LL) f = N · p / 120
```
Verified live against a running server at 87.17 % load:
| Published | Value | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Real power | 348.69 kW | `0.8717 × 400 kW` |
| Voltage / current / PF | 400 V / 629.11 A / 0.8 | `√3·V·I·PF = 348.69 kW` |
| Fuel rate | 90.84 L/h | `3.67 + 100×0.8717` |
| Efficiency | 38.9 % | `P / (V̇·ρ·LHV)` |
| Frequency | 49.97 Hz | `1498.95 min⁻¹ × 4 / 120`, with governor droop |
Each set carries its own state and a phase-shifted duty point, so no two sets in a
plant report the same numbers — a four-set run showed 81.9 / 66.3 / 55.1 / 56.6 %.
## Control: state machine, protections, methods
The three surfaces the specification defines for controlling a set are all wired,
and all three are driven from **one** decider — the simulation's operating state.
A state machine driven independently of the physics eventually reports a machine as
running while the simulation says it is stopped, and nothing at run time notices.
### `OperatingState`
`GeneratorStateMachineType` is mandatory on the type, so it already exists; the
sample attaches behaviour to it in lifecycle mode rather than defining states:
```
Off ──▶ Ready ──▶ Starting ──▶ Warmup ──▶ Running ──┬──▶ Loaded ──▶ Cooldown ──▶ Stopping ──▶ Off
│ └──▶ Synchronizing ──▶ Paralleled ──▶ Loaded
▼
Fault ──▶ Off any running state ──▶ Fault / EmergencyStopped ──▶ Off
```
Twelve states, twenty-two declared transitions. The first set energises a dead bus
and closes straight onto it; every other set has to match voltage, frequency and
phase to a bus that is already live, which is what puts `Synchronizing` and
`Paralleled` on the path. Without that they would be states the model declares,
the diagram draws and a client can never observe — so a test drives the simulation
and asserts every declared state is actually entered.
`CurrentState` carries the readable name **and** its `Id` property, because a
client that gets a name it cannot resolve to a state node is no better off than one
that got nothing.
The states and transition numbers live in [`GeneratorStateMap.cs`](GeneratorStateMap.cs),
apart from the node manager, because they are a statement about the model rather
than about how this server publishes it — and because a test then holds them
against `GeneratorSimulation.IsLegalTransition` in both directions.
### Protection alarms
Four `GeneratorProtectionAlarmType` instances per set — **one per protection
function**, not one instance whose `ProtectionFunction` changes. A set can trip on
low oil pressure and overspeed in the same moment and an operator needs to see
both, which is also how a real control panel annunciates.
| Alarm | Supervises | Trips | Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| `LowOilPressureAlarm` | `LubricationSystem/OilPressure` | < 1.7 bar | shutdown |
| `HighCoolantTemperatureAlarm` | `Engine/CoolantTemperature` | > 98 °C | shutdown |
| `OverspeedAlarm` | `Engine/Speed` | > 1725 min⁻¹ | shutdown |
| `OverloadAlarm` | `Alternator/LoadPercent` | > 110 % | warning |
`OffNormalAlarmType` takes *healthy* as normal, so each instance carries `InputNode`
pointing at the variable it actually supervises — otherwise a client can see that
something tripped but not what was being watched.
**A healthy set cannot trip.** The datasheet curves are bounded well inside every
trip point — that is what a datasheet means — so a plant running to spec would
leave all four alarms, the shutdown class, `ResetFaults` and the whole `Fault`
branch of the state machine as code that never runs. The first set therefore
develops a fault on a slow rotation (`CoolingFailure` → `OilPressureLoss` →
`Overload` → `GovernorFailure`), trips, annunciates, shuts down and recovers. It
is the first set rather than the last because that is the machine nearest the
hero camera in the 3D twin — an alarm nobody can see demonstrates nothing. A
fault deviates the *measurement* from the curve, which is what a real fault does,
so the datasheet identities keep holding for every healthy set. Pass
`--faults false` for a purely healthy plant.
> **The trap that cost the most here.** `ProtectionFunction` is *mandatory* on the
> type, so the generated factory materialises it. `IsShutdown` and `SubsystemName`
> are *optional* and it does not. Calling `CreateOrReplaceIsShutdown(...).Value = x`
> on its own **appears to work** — the child exists, it is returned by
> `GetChildren`, it holds the value — but it has no `ReferenceTypeId`, so there is
> no reference for a browse to follow and the property is simply absent from every
> client's view. Optional members must be opted into with `AddXxx(context)` first.
> This was found by reading the running server with a client, not by reading the
> code, because the code looks correct. `GeneratorProtectionAlarmNodeTests` now
> asserts that every published member carries a reference a client can follow.
A shutdown trip is applied **after** every protection has been evaluated, not
inside the loop. Stopping the set mid-loop makes its remaining conditions read
healthy, so a set that lost oil pressure and overspeed in the same moment would
annunciate only whichever came first in the table — exactly the case that
one-alarm-per-function exists to show.
**A shutdown-class alarm latches; a warning-class one follows its condition.** The
trip is what removes the condition — oil pressure and coolant temperature are only
supervised while the engine turns — so an alarm that simply tracked its input would
go active for a single tick and clear, leaving an operator with a stopped machine
and no indication of why. It stays annunciated until the set leaves the shutdown
state, whether through `ResetFaults` or the automatic recovery. This was found by
watching a running server, not by a test: every unit test that checked the
*condition* passed.
Both raising and clearing report an event. A client learns of condition state
changes only through events, so clearing the node silently — which `ResetFaults`
used to do — leaves an alarm-list client showing the condition as active and
retained until it happens to issue a `ConditionRefresh`.
Low oil pressure is **bypassed while cranking**. Oil pressure has not built during
a start, so supervising it there trips every set the moment it tries to run; a real
set bypasses the trip for exactly this reason. This was a live defect here before
the bypass was added, and a test now pins it.
### Methods
| Method | Effect | Refused when |
|---|---|---|
| `Start` | `Off` → `Ready` → `Starting`, or `Ready` → `Starting` | already running |
| `Stop` | → `Cooldown` | not running |
| `EmergencyStop` | → `EmergencyStopped`, breaker open | see below |
| `ResetFaults` | clears latched alarms; `Fault`/`EmergencyStopped` → `Off` | never |
| `StartTest` | starts the set and publishes `Test` mode | already running |
| `SetOperatingMode` | writes `OperatingMode` | mode is not declared |
A refused request answers **`BadInvalidState`** rather than quietly doing nothing:
a method that silently succeeds without acting is the worst of the three outcomes,
because a client cannot tell it from a real success. Legality is decided in exactly
one place — `GeneratorSimulation.RequestState` — so no caller can drive a machine
from `Off` straight to `Loaded` by picking the right method.
Resetting a healthy set is a **no-op success**. An operator pressing reset on a
running machine has not done anything wrong, and answering `Bad` would only train
them to ignore the result.
> **A note on the emergency stop.** The model declares an emergency stop only out
> of `Running`, `Loaded` and `Paralleled`, so this sample refuses it from `Starting`
> and `Warmup`. A real panel stops from anywhere. That is the specification's shape,
> not this sample's choice, and it is left visible — with a test that pins it —
> rather than papered over with an undeclared transition.
The method semantics live in [`GeneratorCommands.cs`](GeneratorCommands.cs),
expressed against the simulation rather than against address-space nodes, so they
can be held to account by a test without standing up a server.
## The OpenUSD twin
Each set owns a `GeneratorTwin` with its own prim path, signal Variables and
bindings, so `--generators N` renders N machines that move independently. Sets lay
out along +Y at 6 m pitch.
Sixteen live bindings drive the bay position, radiator fan, load and coolant gauge
needles, exhaust and radiator colour, fuel-tank surface, a red alarm ring, overheat
and low-oil halos at the subsystem each fault belongs to, a run lamp, and
frequency / power / engine-hours / load / operating-state readouts.
Five more make the machine visibly alive rather than merely correct: both exhaust
manifolds glow with exhaust temperature — those are the parts of a running engine
that actually glow — the alternator carries a heat band driven by load, and both
turbochargers turn. The manifolds and the stack share **one** source Variable, so a
client asking why they are glowing reads the single value behind all three.
> **The fan is shown slower than it turns, deliberately.** A fan on a 1500 rpm
> engine sweeps 9000°/s. Sampled at the tick interval that is several revolutions
> per sample, so the published angle jumps by a near-arbitrary amount and the
> blades either strobe or sit still — neither of which says "this machine is
> running", which is the only thing the signal exists to say. The display rate is
> scaled so the per-tick step stays well under the blade pitch.
Fault indicators sit clear of the machine. Both halos were originally tucked into
the engine centre, which was fine against a plain block and invisible once there
was a crankcase, an aftercooler and a sump in the way — and an indicator you cannot
see is worse than none, because it reads as *no fault*. `AlarmRing` moved for the
same reason: as a decal on the floor it was hidden by the skid and by the
neighbouring machines from any operator-height camera, so it is now a beacon ring
*above* the set, at the one height nothing else occupies.
> **Colour and visibility changes are both live viewport signals.** Thermal
> bindings publish `primvars:displayColor` (`color3f[]`) for the radiator,
> exhaust, manifold glow and alternator heat band, and current OpenUSD packages
> animate those authored colours in the shipped viewer. The **visibility**
> bindings — run lamp, alarm beacon, fault halos — remain useful for binary
> state that must be unmistakable at a glance.
The operating-state readout is what makes an idle machine legible: without it the
3D view shows *that* a set is not turning but not *why* — `Cooldown` and
`EmergencyStopped` look identical from the outside.
### The machine you see
The geometry is an open-frame ~400 kW V16 genset, modelled to be recognisable
rather than schematic:
- **Skid** — channel-section side rails (web plus top and bottom flanges), five
cross members and lifting lugs, carrying the base fuel tank
- **Engine** — 60° V16: crankcase, sump, gear case and flywheel housing, two
tilted heads with eight rocker covers each
- **Exhaust side** — a manifold log per bank with eight risers and an elbow into
each turbocharger, in scaled copper-oxide brown
- **Turbochargers** — turbine housing, cartridge, compressor housing and inlet
- **Charge air** — riser / crossover / drop pipes arcing over each bank into the
aftercooler in the vee
- **Service side** — a bank of spin-on fuel filters, oil filters, starter,
charging alternator, water pump and coolant hoses
- **Alternator** — drum with a ventilation slot band, both end bells, terminal box
and mounting feet
- **Radiator** — core plus a fin pack, bolted guard uprights, header tanks, filler
cap, fan shroud and a nine-blade fan
- **Control panel** — cabinet with a dark instrument fascia, display, mimic plate,
keypad, emergency-stop mushroom and warning label strip
Detail is worth the bytes here: a viewport is the only place some of this sample's
behaviour is legible at all, and a machine that reads as a box makes a fan that
turns and a radiator that changes colour hard to interpret.
### The authoring rule that matters
A prim a connector positions **must** declare `xformOp:transform` in its
`xformOpOrder`. A connector folds Translation, Rotation and Scale into a single
matrix op, and `xformOpOrder` is `uniform` — it cannot be rewritten from the
stronger layer the connector edits. Naming `xformOp:translate` there instead makes
USD discard every value **in silence**, and every set renders on the origin.
Indicator geometry defaults to `invisible`, the plant aggregation composes with
`Reference` (not `Instance`, which would make descendants a shared prototype that
cannot carry per-set colour or rotation), and it is not declared `dynamic` because
the set of machines is fixed at start-up.
The geometry is generated — edit
[`Assets/generate_generator_assets.py`](Assets/generate_generator_assets.py) and
re-run it; never hand-edit `generator.usda` or `Powerhouse.usda`.
Prim names in that script are load-bearing. `OpenUsdBindings.cs` drives
`Radiator/Fan`, `Radiator/Core`, `Exhaust/Stack`, the two gauge needles,
`ControlPanel/RunLamp`, `FuelTank/Surface`, `AlarmRing` and the two engine halos
**by path**, so renaming any of them silently unbinds it —
`GeneratorAssetContractTests` asserts every one still resolves.
## The model files
`Model/` vendors the Generators nodeset only. Machinery comes from the shared
[`Opc.Ua.Machinery`](../../../src/Opc.Ua.Machinery) package, and IA from
[`Opc.Ua.IA`](../../../src/Opc.Ua.IA).
The sample used to vendor a reduced Machinery nodeset derived by a whitelist
script, because the full official one did not survive the model source
generator. That defect is fixed, so the reduction and the script are gone and
the sample sees the same OPC 40001-1 1.04.1 model as every other consumer —
including the `Stacklight` member that reaches into IA, which the reduction had
stripped. `GeneratorNodeManager` therefore registers the IA namespace and loads
the IA model alongside Machinery.
## Rendering it
```
dotnet run --project tools/Opc.Ua.OpenUsd.Connector -- \
--server opc.tcp://localhost:62543/GeneratorServer \
--insecure --view
```
## See also
- [`DATASHEET.md`](DATASHEET.md) — the product datasheet the server is aligned to
- [`Generators.md`](Generators.md) — the model, the simulation design and cross-server composition
- [OpenUSD bindings](../../../docs/OpenUsd.md)
- [Device integration](../../../docs/DeviceIntegration.md)
- [`SiteCompositionServer`](../SiteCompositionServer) — composes this server with the pump server