The new customer-specific, turnkey alarm solution based on OPC UA AC ,provided by Bachmann offers cross-manufacturer interoperability across several hierarchical levels.

This simply extends the Big Data and Analytics approach of Industry 4.0 to the world of operating modes, conditions and alarms.

The OPC UA service is a pure software solution and can be operated directly on the controller CPUs without additional hardware. It offers full and transparent access to the process data of the control application software. With OPC UA, applications such as SCADA, data logging or management execution systems find a manufacturer-independent interface. An additional Windows PC for the operation of the server is no longer required.

Further advantages of direct operation on the controller are the immediate automatic recognition of the process data without the need to create a configuration and the exact time stamping of values directly at the source.
The optional encrypted communication and the mutual unique recognition of client and server are further features that go beyond the previous standardized solutions for data exchange. Unencrypted communication without login data or certificate verification is still possible.

New and additionally the UA Server now contains a standard compliant A+C interface and the engineering tool "SolutionCenter" got a powerful configurator for the definition of alarms:

• monitoring of variables with indication of the good/bad limits
• severity
• acknowledgement model
• message text

Variable values can now be monitored fully automatically

• OffNormalAlarm (e.g. when a DI changes to FALSE)
• LimitAlarm: Limits for High, Low, HighHigh, LowLow

The user can thus implement a complete alarm solution purely via configuration.

Take your time and convince yourself of the OPC UA AC implementation at the Bachmann booth. Two separate controller with local atvise@ Visu will be shown, whereby a central SCADA will display all alarms of the subordinate systems.

Error states can be triggered by switches and acknowledgement is possible at all levels. Error states are also represented by signal towers, horns and rotating lights. Access to the SCADA system is also demonstrated by handheld devices.

Server

• Displays the variable set of the controller without further configuration steps in the address space.
• Reduction of the variable pool possible via optional configuration
• Design of the address space completely independent of the control software via optional configuration possible
• Considers access permissions on variables for read and write access
• Write accesses can be logged
• API for access from customer software (PLC, C/C++)
• The application logic can itself detect an error and trigger an alarm.
• No variable must be used for this and monitored cyclically.
• solution for "complicated" conditions (several values linked, time monitoring, ...)
• Severity, acknowledgement model and message text are taken from the configuration.
• The status changes come from the application via a function interface (AlarmActive, AlarmInactive, ...).
• PLC library for 1131, header file for C/C++

Client

• Connection to multiple external UA servers
• Subscription of values even without programming
• Write values without programming
• Current values from subscriptions are automatically available in process image and HMI
• API for OPC UA Method Call
• Operation from application program by function blocks according to PLCopen
• Functional interface for the application from C/C++