Introduction
With the industry-wide trend towards horizontal and vertical integration, intelligence is moving from the supervisory control systems to the local components. This development is leading to a growing need for communication for which the open OPC-UA standard provides an ideal solution
OPC technology is currently installed in over 17 million machines and factories around the world.
OPC is the interoperability standard for the secure and reliable exchange of data in the industrial automation space and other industries. It is an independent platform and ensures the seamless flow of information among devices from multiple vendors. The OPC foundation is responsible for the development and maintenance of this standard.Sometimes the OPC-UA server is directly integrated into the automation device and sometimes a special software needs to be installed on a PC. OPC is one vital upcoming standard for Industry 4.0
Functionality
The OPC server is a software program that converts the hardware communication protocol used by a PLC into the OPC protocol. Hardware manufacturers need to provide a single OPC server for their devices to communicate with any OPC client.
Software vendors simply include OPC client capabilities in their products and they become instantly compatible with thousands of hardware devices. Users can choose any OPC client software they require, the rest is assured that it will communicate seamlessly with their OPC-enabled hardware and vice-versa.
OPC in VR Plant
VR Training Simulation is connected with the OPC server and can communicate with it. The VR plant environment will be in the same state as that in the OPC server. Any value change made in the VR simulation will be reflected in the server and vice-versa.
With this, the instructor can check whether the training process is followed correctly and the interactions or changes made on the equipment are proper.
For the interface, need to define at least
- Server
- Connect To Server
- Auto Accept Server Certificates
- Client Auto Generate Certificate
- Use Only Secure Endpoints
- Use High Level Endpoint Security
- Top Node ID
Establishment Process
- Server has to be set to IP address of the OPC server and to use the configuration without security certificates, test model has to be made.
- Once the status of the server is shown as connected, one can browse the sub-nodes.
- Put the Node Id into the field Top Node Id of the OPCUA_Interface configuration and import nodes.
- Compile the application on your target device (Windows, Android, IOs) and test it.
For reading values ,there are two methods.
- Direct reading
- Subscribing to node value changes
For writing values, there are two methods.
- Direct writing
- Writing paralleling watching the node
Technologies used
Hardware recommended
OPC simulator Demo
Video Link — https://vimeo.com/showcase/7699057/video/368045637
Conclusion
Business continuity of important data flow is redefined with OPC Communication.
Not surprisingly, OPC technology continues to make a significant impact, especially in the areas of remote production site and distribution monitoring and management.
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