Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition

CPUspeed: 22.1MHz; I/O: 27-Digital 8-Analog; serial ports: 4; Eth.: 10Base-T.

The OP7200 eDisplay is an intelligent operator interface that offers rugged I/O, built-in Ethernet connectivity, and optional A/D and touchscreen capabilities.

The compact eDisplay is an ideal data acquisition and display device for OEM products and stand-alone systems such as factory floor controls.

The unit’s 10Base-T Ethernet facilitates remote diagnostics, control, and communication, including sending and receiving E-mails and alerts.

Source and more info: ferret

Invensys has introduced what is believed to be the world’s first industrial system that goes beyond the plant or other industrial operations to provide a true enterprise view. The new ‘InFusion’ enterprise control system combines industry-leading capabilities from across Invensys with advanced enterprise information and integration technologies from both Microsoft and SAP to dramatically reduce integration costs. With InFusion technology, most existing plant floor and enterprise systems can now be cost-effectively integrated into a common system.

In conjunction with a suite of new performance services, Invensys’ InFusion system will help industrial enterprises more effectively align plant operations and maintenance departments with the business to optimize overall asset performance management.

‘The InFusion enterprise control system that we are introducing today is as revolutionary as our ground-breaking Foxboro I/A Series automation system and Wonderware InTouch HMI software were when first introduced,’ said Mike Caliel, president of Invensys Process Systems.

‘By combining the latest capabilities from across Invensys into one unified architecture, Invensys has realised a step change in the utilisation of open technologies and standards in a fully industrial system.

Source and more info: manufacturingtalk

The new ‘InFusion’ offering combines Invensys industrial-strength automation technology with advanced information technology to create a unified real-time control, information, and application environment across virtually all plant and enterprise systems. Invensys today introduced the world’s first industrial system that goes beyond the plant or other industrial operations to provide a true enterprise view. The new InFusion enterprise control system combines industry-leading capabilities from across Invensys with advanced enterprise information and integration technologies from both Microsoft and SAP to dramatically reduce integration costs.

With InFusion technology, most existing plant floor and enterprise systems can now be cost-effectively integrated into a common system.

In conjunction with a suite of new performance services, Invensys InFusion system will help industrial enterprises more effectively align plant operations and maintenance departments with the business to optimise overall asset performance management.

‘The InFusion enterprise control system that we’re introducing today is as revolutionary as our ground-breaking Foxboro I/A Series automation system and Wonderware InTouch HMI software were when first introduced,’ said Mike Caliel, president of Invensys Process Systems.

‘By combining the latest capabilities from across Invensys into one unified architecture, Invensys has realised a step change in the utilisation of open technologies and standards in a fully industrial system.

Source and more info: processingtalk

The Maxiflex P3-R CPUs are designed specifically for redundant remote I/O and control applications, where high availability is required in hot standby configurations. The high availability system is constructed by combining two identical P3-R CPUs, each with their own power supply and base, to create independent primary and secondary master controllers. These two master controllers are connected to common remote i/o bases, and to the SCADA system to create a hot standby controller configuration with common I/O.

How it works:- both controllers consume the common input data from the remote I/O bases, but only the active controller controls the outputs, and communicates with the supervisory computer.

The secondary controller continuously monitors the health of the master controller, and if a failure is detected, then the secondary controller takes over control.

The primary and secondary controllers stay synchronised through a separate communications link between the two controllers.

The monitoring, and switch-over between primary and secondary controllers occurs completely transparently to the SCADA computer.

The secondary controller can either run a programme identical to the primary controller, or it can run an independent programme designed to bring the process to a safe state.

The P3-R can be programmed in one or more of the standard IEC61131-3 programming languages (all 5 languages plus flow chart and PID auto tune)using the Omniflex ISaGraf Programmer Workbench, although conventional remote I/O systems can be implemented without the need for any programming.

Source and more info: processingtalk

GE Fanuc Automation, Inc, a unit of GE Industrial, today announced that Evergreen Solar, a developer and manufacturer of solar power products with its proprietary string ribbon technology, has chosen a Proficy(TM) Plant Applications Manufacturing Execution System (MES) solution for its EverQ production facility currently under construction in Thalheim, Germany. EverQ GmbH is a joint venture between Evergreen Solar, German solar cell manufacturer Q-Cells AG, and silicon and wafer manufacturer Renewable Energy Corporation ASA.

Evergreen Solar worked with GE Fanuc representative, Massachusetts-based AutomaTech, a leading expert in the field of manufacturing software and data retrieval from the plant floor.

“We were impressed with how quickly this project moved through the sales process because we had a tight timeframe and a loosely-defined project definition,” said Scott Danielson, MES Project Manager for Evergreen Solar. “This system has to be ready when the factory ramps production in April.”

“We had two goals for this system,” according to Richard Chleboski, Vice President of World Wide Expansion for Evergreen Solar. “The first was to provide the manufacturing engineers with real-time data to improve operations and the second was to create a scaleable platform that could be implemented globally.”

“Working with GE Fanuc’s Proficy software platform, we are able to help businesses increase reliability, productivity and information flow throughout the enterprise,” said Tom Schiller, President of AutomaTech. “And, with a proven track record in plant floor applications, we were able to offer Evergreen Solar a Plant Applications solution that could be implemented quickly and immediately meet their business needs.” In addition, Evergreen Solar will be using GE Fanuc’s Proficy Historian and HMI/SCADA iFIX applications as part of its automation solution.

The scope of the Evergreen Solar project is to track the entire manufacturing process from the growth of silicon wafers through production of the solar cells and finally to the assembly of the photovoltaic modules. The system then sends the final data results to an SAP system to provide data to track production and material usage.

Source and more info: reed-electronics

Windows-based SCADA/HMI software zenOn 6.2 now supports Microsoft’s recently launched SQL Server 2005, allowing customers to take advantage of the new enhanced security and improved availability features provided. Many zenOn installations use SQL Server for archiving data, providing standardised storage for third party software such as ERP and higher level MES systems. Whilst zenOn automatically generates an FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliant audit log, connecting to an SQL Server for archiving is particularly beneficial in food and pharmaceutical applications where specialised third partly traceability reporting is common.

Thomas Punzenberger, managing director Copa Data commented, ‘zenOn is an open system and will always be compatible with the technology our customers use, having supported SQL Server 2000 we were first in line to support the new version, taking advantage of the new features and ensuring backwards compatibility for our customers.’ Copa Data has developed zenOn under a close relationship with Microsoft during the past 18 years, supporting VBA in the runtime, SQL Server.

Indeed, all zenOn versions have been developed for Windows platforms, including the first Windows CE HMI SCADA software.

Christian Beyrl, manager Server and Tools Platform at Microsoft Austria commented, ‘Our experts worked closely with Copa Data to develop an interface that fully utilises the new security features and improved performance of SQL Server 2005 that benefit manufacturers directly in their operations.’ When archived to an SQL server, the data is easily retrieved using the zenOn software with a few mouse clicks.

Designed for longevity, zenOn is backwards compatible with the popular SQL Server 2000.

Source and more info: manufacturingtalk

The Nelson Mandela Metropol took innovative action to make the beaches of Port Elizabeth even more attractive to visitors by using an Adroit supervisory control and data acquisition (scada) to inform beach-goers of available parking.

This involved the erection of three electronic variable message sign boards, constructed of high grade stainless steel and incorporating high visibility amber light emitting diodes (LED) at various points along the beachfront.

Each of the boards was strategically placed to inform motorists in good time in order that traffic decisions could be made without the usual congestion associated with beachfront traffic. The boards convey information with regard to the number of parking spaces available in that specific beach’s parking area.

The beachfront road is mostly a dual carriageway, but does become congested by cars waiting to enter parking areas from the main beachfront road. The problem is especially compounded over the summer holiday season when beachfront traffic increases substantially.

Peter Douglas, traffic engineering officer of the Nelson Mandela Metropol, says: “Traffic congestion on the beachfront road not only causes inconvenience for the beach and road users, but also makes it impossible for emergency and maintenance vehicles to operate effectively. The installation of the new system at Kings, Humewood and Hobie beaches has significantly alleviated this common beachfront problem.” The Adroit scada system is fed information via inductive loops that were cut into the roads and connected to the PLCs which were either in the signboards or located at the power source. The signals from the PLCs are transferred to the dedicated Adroit server in the traffic control office via a 802.11 radio frequency transmitter The software drivers for the radio frequency PLCs were not originally available, they were produced in record time by Adroit Technologies for the system integrators from I2T. The system runs on Windows XP, using 150 tags and four PLCs.

Source and more info: instrumentation

GE Fanuc Automation announced that it has added significant Biometric capabilities to its Proficy HMI/SCADA iFIX 4.0 to enhance the safe and compliant operation of pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturing processes.

GE Fanuc now offers users a choice between a standard interface to Biometric software or developer tools enabling an interface to virtually any other authentication technology. The standard interface supports Saflink SAFsolution Enterprise Edition security software. SAFsolution manages all Biometric Signatures and Biometric Devices and integrates with Microsoft Windows Security. The enhanced iFIX functionality senses when a password is required, and interfaces with SAFsolution for Biometric Authentication and password fulfillment.

Adept Scientific is pleased to announce the release of a new, low-cost USB data acquisition device. The USB-1408FS is a 14-bit analogue input USB device that fills the gap between the popular 12-bit and 16-bit models in the Measurement Computing USB range. The USB-1408FS rounds out the product line, and provides the cost-sensitive customer with an attractive choice.

‘So many of our customers have been asking us for a product to fill the gap between our USB-1208FS and our USB-1608FS,’ remarked Bill Kennedy, MCC vice president of sales and marketing, ‘That we had to build one.

The USB-1408FS features 14 bits of resolution, factory calibration and ten times the accuracy of the USB-1208FS.

While we continue to exceed our customers’ price expectations, the engineers of our USB-1408FS have also provided additional features that will enhance our customers’ overall measurement experience.’ The USB-1408FS provides eight single-ended or four differential analogue inputs, 14-bit resolution in differential mode, 13-bit resolution in single-ended mode, eight software selectable input ranges, with sample rates up to 48 kilosamples per second.

In addition to the analogue inputs, the unit provides two channels of 12-bit analogue output, a 32-bit counter and 16 bits of digital I/O.

It is fully compatible with USB 1.1 and USB 2.0, and is supported by the Windows 2000 and XP operating systems.

At 3.25in (8.26cm) wide, by 3.125in (7.94cm) long, by 1.00in (2.54cm) high, the USB-1408FS is just large enough to make connecting field wiring easy, yet small enough to fit on even the most crowded bench.

Magnetic and Velcro mounting options along with a 0.225in (0.57cm) attachment hole make mounting easy, even in unconventional installations.

The attachment hole can also be used with a cable lock or padlock in applications where unit security is required.

Source and more info: manufacturingtalk

Diamond will sample in Q2 an EPIC-form factor SBC (single-board computer) targeting data acquisition applications requiring high performance. The Poseidon is based on a 1 or 2 GHz Via Eden processor, and supports Windows CE and Windows XP Embedded, among other operating systems.

When it ships in Q3, the Poseidon board could be among the first available EPIC boards based on Via’s CX700 “single-chip chipset,” which integrates north- and south-bridge functions into a single chip. The board will be available with Via’s Eden ULV (ultra-low voltage) processor, clocked at 1.0 GHz, or its desktop C7 processor, at 2.0 GHz. Both chips offer 256 KB of on-chip cache and a 400 MHz front-side bus (FSB), Diamond notes.

To meet data acquisition requirements, the Poseidon will offer 32 16-bit, 250 kHz analog inputs; four 12-bit analog outputs; 24 programmable digital I/O lines; and two counter/timers. The analog inputs are designed to automatically autocalibrate without user intervention whenever the ambient temperature changes, explained company president Jonathan Miller, “assuring the highest level of accuracy across the entire extended operating temperature range of the board.”

Source and more info: windowsfordevices