Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition

SIMATIC WinCC® is a process visualization system (SCADA) that is graduated by price and performance, with efficient functions for controlling automated processes. With SIMATIC WinCC, “perfect process visualization“ stands for complete operating and monitoring functionality under Windows for all industry segments – ranging from simple singleuser systems through to distributed multi-user systems with redundant servers and the structure of a cross-site solution
including Web clients. One of the special features of WinCC is its total openness. It can be readily used in combination with standard and user programs, creating human-machine interfaces which precisely meet practical requirements.

More info: WinnCC

Movicon X represents the innovative and revolutionary latest generation of supervision and control industrial software platforms (Scada/HMI). For over 12 years, Movicon has been a reference point in automation software technology, always sustaining the concepts of simplicity, scalability, potentiality and openness. Today, Movicon X, version 10, renews the concept of supervision by anticipating the future of automation with advanced technology.

By maintaining and extending its scalability, Movicon X today presents itself on the market as the standard software platform for all those operating in the industrial automation sector, remote control and in building automation, as the only Scada/HMI software for all types of use and with all types of hardware. Movicon can, in fact, be used with operator micro terminals and/or mobile devices based on WinCE, both on Personal Computer in big plants with redundant client/server architecture, in connection with all types of PLC and industrial networks or fieldbus.

For the first time ever, data acquisition speeds of 1MHz are achievable with a 16-bit multifunction USB device. The new DataShuttle/3000 from Adept Scientific provides a wide variety of analogue, digital and frequency I/O in one compact and low-cost package, offering multi-function data acquisition at micro-second speeds.

The DataShuttle/3000 series offers synchronous and concurrent voltage input, temperature input, waveform output, counter input, quadrature encoder input, timer output, and digital I/O, all at an unbeatable price. Everything needed to begin acquiring, viewing and storing data is included with the DataShuttle/3000, including comprehensive software support.

DataShuttle/3000 comes with an extensive list of software, including new DaqView™ 8.0, a full-featured Out-of-the-Box™ application for instant set-up, real-time viewing, data logging and optional frequency domain analysis; and DaqCal™ software for easy calibration. It also offers comprehensive support for DASYLab®, MATLAB® and LabVIEW®, as well as all popular programming environments, including Visual Studio® and Visual Studio® .NET, plus examples for Visual C++®, Visual C#®, Visual Basic® and Visual Basic.NET®.

Soure and more info: Adept Scientific

myPCLab is a very compact Data Acquisition tool which connects to a PC via a USB port and monitors two universal analogue inputs, accepting thermocouples, Pt100, Voltages and 4-20mA current loops along with one digital input. It comes with an intuitive and easy-to-use Windows software which plots and records data, shows gauges, bargraphs and digital readouts. The USB port is accessed as a virtual serial port which makes myPCLab compatible with ANY SCADA software with Modbus RTU driver or with any program with ASCII serial communication. Multiple units of myPCLab can be connected to the same computer. (£59.00)

more info at Audon Electronics.

The GE Fanuc Automation division of GE Industrial has announced the new version of its Proficy HMI/scada, iFIX 4.0. A key component of the Proficy automation software platform, iFIX 4.0’s extendable architecture is capable of discovering PLC information, including configuration and tags, and its makers say that it can deliver new levels of developer productivity and efficiency.
“The recent release of iFIX delivers new technologies, developer and operator productivity enhancements, and tighter integration within the Proficy platform,” says Daniel Coetzee, manager of Sub-Saharan Africa for the GE Fanuc Automation division of GE Industrial. “The iFIX 4.0 release features innovative device discovery and automated configuration capabilities, supporting the Siemens S7 PLC immediately, with support for Rockwell (Allen-Bradley) PLC networks and other OPC sources announced in the near future.”

GE Fanuc is investing in interoperability to make it easier for customers to make best use of their existing environments while upgrading applications.

“iFIX 4.0 clearly enhances visibility into the manufacturing environment; by adding context to raw PLC data, and reducing development and maintenance costs,” says Coetzee. “Furthermore, the tight integration with Proficy Change Management, delivering file versioning and application disaster recovery is an industry first.

“We are continuing to focus significant development effort on our core HMI/scada products that originated from both Intellution and GE Fanuc. We continue to deliver advanced functionality through integration with our Proficy components: Historian, Real-Time Information Portal, and Change Management, among others.”

iFIX 4.0 delivers on operator productivity by offering canned functionality to drill into tag details, instantly trend variables, view enterprise data through hosted portal displays and deliver thin client connectivity to scada nodes through terminal services. Graphics tools deliver a variety of drawing productivity tools and advanced capabilities for 3D piping and connected object management.

iFIX 4.0 supports the latest technologies in:

Security
* Biometric connectivity for 21CFRPart11 electronic signatures.
* Encrypted networking between clients and servers.
* Authorised client connectivity.

Microsoft Products
* Integrated Microsoft VBA Version 6.4.
* iFIX iClient Support on Windows XP Tablet Edition.

Source and more info: Instrumentation and Control

The latest version of zenOn SCADA software, zenOn 6.20, adds distributed engineering to the editor and provides project synchronisation for work done offline. As a result, building and utility system integrators can work in parallel to upgrade or install supervisory control and automation systems more quickly. Distributed engineeering during runtime has long been a feature of the zenOn system; this capability has now been extended to the editing facility. For the first time in SCADA technology, it is possible to save projects on a central computer and then edit them simultaneously from different workstations. This allows a team of development engineers to distribute project work optimally and work in parallel.

For example, one project manager could be defining climate control variables, while another team member sketches HVAC images and still another colleague works on function definitions. This multiuser editor functionality is coupled with an intelligent administration system that prevents overlaps during joint configuration. Each element that is currently being processed is locked so that no other team member can change the same element at the same time.

Source and more info: construction press service

In an environment that included fiery temperatures and molten metal, a steel manufacturer was unable to use traditional hard-wired networks to monitor much of its sophisticated, expensive equipment. But, like many manufacturers facing global competition and tight margins, the company wanted to install sensors on its steel manufacturing equipment for preventative maintenance because they knew downtime meant lost revenues.

“There are a lot of applications where you can’t get hard-wired devices. Molten metal melts copper wire,” said Gerald Niemi, product line manager at B&B Electronics Manufacturing Co., an Ottawa-based manufacturer and distributor of industrial communications products.

While manufacturers are comfortable with hard-wired supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) solutions, most have been slow to adopt wireless iterations of these devices, industry executives said. In an environment where change takes a long, gradual turn, there have been successful pilot programs at a diverse group of manufacturers, which are helping wireless SCADA gain foothold in this vast vertical market.

Executives are considering using sensors for applications such as temperature, moving machines, HVAC, security, and utilities, Niemi said. Among the most popular applications are process monitoring, environmental monitoring, predictive maintenance, process control, and industrial safety monitoring.

Source and more info: InTech