Companies generate enormous amounts of data every day. Sensors and measuring devices monitor production machines, systems and devices - and still far too often as isolated solutions. Only when the collected data is digitized and evaluated centrally can it provide valuable insights into existing processes and bring competitive advantages.
The big challenge: Sensors and measurement technology from different manufacturers cannot communicate with each other "just like that" and cannot be seamlessly integrated into the existing IT infrastructure. What is needed is an open communication standard - a real all-rounder that allows sensors, controllers and control systems from different manufacturers to form a common, flexible network.
OPC UA - THE ALL-ROUND TALENT
The question now is: Is there even a communication standard that can fulfill these requirements? If so, which one is it? The answer is OPC UA! OPC UA is based on the OPC data exchange standard, which has been used in industrial communication for a long time, and extends it by a very important point - the possibility of platform-independent use on different operating systems. This is what makes communication between many very different components possible in the first place. OPC UA has now become one of the most important communication standards for Industry 4.0 and the IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things).
Consistent OPC UA compatibility with Delphin
Anyone looking for measurement technology hardware and software that can be used to easily set up a complex OPC UA communication network will find what they are looking for at Delphin Technology. At Delphin, complete OPC UA consistency is ensured for both the data loggers and the measurement technology software, and any conceivable architecture can be implemented without any problems. This is an important basis for the success of digital transformation and IT-OT integration, for example in mechanical engineering.
Both the central measurement data management software Delphin Data Center (DDC) and the DAQ hardware from Delphin have an OPC UA client and server interface for the high-performance transmission of live measurement data as well as an OPC UA HA server interface, which can be used to conveniently read and analyze historical measurement data (partly optional). A special binary measurement database developed by Delphin enables exceptionally high data transfer rates of up to 500,000 data points per second for both live and historical measurement data. This means that even raw data from vibration measurements can be conveniently transferred via OPC UA. The measurement database, which is designed entirely for performance, also enables applications with up to 20,000 OPC UA nodes. An OPC UA node is an object that can have attributes such as Data Access (DA) or Historical Data Access (HDA), which can be linked to Delphin channels. To make it easy to integrate this large number of channels, the DDC also has an intuitive browse function. The various data loggers from Delphin can also communicate directly via OPC UA. Various device series are available here, focusing on compact, modular or multi-channel measurement data acquisition, for example. Specialized devices are available for vibration measurements and the measurement of highly dynamic events. Thanks to a particularly wide range of interfaces, the data loggers and measurement technology software from Delphin are generally ideally equipped for communication at field level as well as to all other company levels and the cloud.
From the field
A renowned manufacturer of individually configurable machines, plants and systems installs pumps and pump systems for a wide range of applications in the fields of waste water, agricultural technology, biogas and industry. Various controllers are installed to monitor and control these systems, some of which have very different interfaces. An important task for the provider is to collect, centrally store and jointly analyze the process data of the installed systems without great effort. In this way, valuable insights can be gained for future developments and optimizations. In order to achieve this goal, the sometimes very heterogeneous plant control systems must be networked and connected to a central data analysis center.
To solve this task, the provider decided to work with Delphin. In order to be able to integrate the controllers of the various systems with as little effort as possible, standardized communication via OPC UA is used. This means that no different command data sets from the controllers need to be taken into account and incompatibilities can be avoided. A Loggito Gate is used for local data acquisition directly at the system. Loggito Gate is a data logger that does not have I/Os itself, but records and monitors all incoming data locally via OPC UA and stores it in a fail-safe buffer. Loggito Gate uses a scheduler to transfer the data at certain intervals to the central measurement data management system Delphin Data Center, which is installed on the provider's server. There, the measurement data is further analysed and visualized using the platform-independent ProfiSignal 20 measurement technology software.
Unlimited networking with OPC UA
OPC UA breaks down all barriers in modern industrial communication. Regardless of the platform or operating system, sensors, controllers and control systems communicate with each other as well as with other company levels and the cloud via OPC UA.
Advantages of using OPC UA
- No consideration needs to be given to different interfaces or command data sets of the various control systems.
- By using Loggito Gate devices in the field, all system data is recorded via OPC UA, temporarily stored in a fail-safe manner and forwarded to a central measurement data management system on a time-controlled basis.
- Different systems with different control systems can be easily monitored and compared. This provides enormously important insights that can be used for error analysis, increasing efficiency and for optimization and further development, especially in pre-series systems.
- Measurement data acquisition and control of the systems can be carried out from a central platform, which is particularly helpful for validation and the creation of automatic test sequences.
- The channels can be set up very quickly via OPC UA by browsing the controller variables, without any programming effort.
Images: Funtap@Adobe Stock, Delphin Technology AG