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Inside of WinCC OA version 3.17, Node-RED is natively supported. This is important because this furthers the evolution of Siemens WinCC OA platform to support the ever-growing IIoT device market. To be concise, Node-RED will allow WinCC OA to communicate with an exponential number of sensors and devices directly.
In the WinCC OA graphical editor, you can access Node-RED via the drop-down Tools menu.
This will launch the Node-RED editor. From there you can start working with Node-RED.
WinCC OA Nodes
The WinCC OA installation of the Node-RED application contains proprietary WinCC OA nodes. They work similarly to the corresponding functions in WinCC OA. Here is an example:
Contact us if you would like more details about this feature or leave a comment below. Have fun building with this new tool!
About WinCC OA
SIMATIC WinCC OA (OA) is a powerful, flexible and diverse SCADA/HMI/MES/IIoT platform used to control and monitor industrial applications. The object-oriented platform is able to handle network complexity with ease, allowing for anywhere from 2 to 2,048 distributed control systems to be connected on a single network. Highly customizable, each individual system can be calibrated as a redundant or non-redundant, single, or multi-user system. The software supports a number of device connectivity options that include but not limited to Siemens, Rockwell, Schneider Electric, OPC/OPC UA Standards, MQTT, Web Services, Node-RED, and allows for customized distributions and branding, making it a great platform for software OEMs in addition to end-users.
About Node-RED
From the Node-RED website: Node-RED is a programming tool for wiring together hardware devices, APIs and online services. Primarily, it is a visual tool designed for the Internet of Things, but it can also be used for other applications to very quickly assemble flows of various services.
Node-RED is open-source and was originally created by the IBM Emerging Technology organization. It is included in IBM’s Bluemix (a Platform-as-a-Service or PaaS) IoT starter application package. Node-RED can also be deployed separately using the Node.js application. At present, Node-RED is a JS Foundation project. You can learn more by visiting their site directly @ https://nodered.org/
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Inside of WinCC OA version 3.17, Git will be natively supported, however, with a little bit of work, you can leverage it with version release 3.16. In this post, I will go through the required steps to add Git to your project along with a panel (available for download – see link below) that will be needed to finish the integration.
Prerequisite
Make sure you have Git installed on your development PC. You can download Git @ https://git-scm.com/downloads. For help installing Git onto your development PC, check out knowledge base article: DevOps: Install Git on Windows 10
About WinCC OA
SIMATIC WinCC OA (OA) is a powerful, flexible and diverse SCADA/HMI/MES/IIoT platform used to control and monitor industrial applications. The object-oriented platform is able to handle network complexity with ease, allowing for anywhere from 2 to 2,048 distributed control systems to be connected on a single network. Highly customizable, each individual system can be calibrated as a redundant or non-redundant, single, or multi-user system. The software supports a number of communications protocols that include but not limited to Siemens, Rockwell, Schneider Electric, OPC/OPC UA Standards, MQTT, Web Services, and allows for customized distributions and branding, making it a great platform for software OEMs in addition to end-users.
About Git
Git is a DevOps Open Source Distributed Version Control System.
Step 1
Create a repository in a hosted area, I’m using GitHub for this example.
Step 2
After the repository has been created copy the link that looks like the one that is highlighted and store it somewhere for later.
Step 3
Open an existing WinCC OA project or create a new one. Then in the config file add following lines:
[ui]
versionControl = “git”
defaultPanelFormat = “XML”
numPanelBakFiles = 0
Step 4
Restart the OA project so that the system sees the configuration changes. OA will then run the -git init command in the background to get everything ready. Once the system has restarted and you launch GEDI you will be prompted with two WinCC OA notifications:
Click “Yes” so that your project will be put under Git version control.
Then, enter your repository username for commits.
After you’ve completed this when you right-click a panel or a script it will have the below options. Before you click any of the options we have to register the project to the repo we created earlier.
Step 5
Download the attached panel file, gitRepo.xml, then open and Quick Test with it.
Step 6
When you are in quick test mode, paste the URL you saved earlier in the text field and hit the Assign button.
We have now just connected our WinCC OA 3.16 project to a GitHub repository that we can now utilize all the power that the Git platform provides us.
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Part of working with an open platform is being able to change or enhance out of the box functionality to meet your needs. This short tutorial will introduce and show you how to add a ruler to WinCC OA.
The WinCC OA trend tool comes with a number of out of the box functions. We will add the following attribute “maxRulerCount” to the WinCC OA trend tool. This attribute specifies how many rulers per trend area can be used. Rulers can be helpful to mark a value(s) and compare the differences over time. To add a ruler to the trend object, copy and paste the following initialize script as seen in the screenshots below.
This attribute comes with the following parameters:
- area
- count
“area” is the name of the trend area and “count” is the maximum number of rulers.
Main()
{
TREND1.maxRulerCount (0,7);
}
In the following example, the maximum number of available rulers for trend area 0 will be set to 7.
We recently got to meet with our local Mendix rep and had a chance to learn about their visual-development IDE for creating applications in a low-code environment. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you should. Their product allows companies with limited technical resources to develop professional applications without needing to know every programming language out there. It also allows companies with lots of technical resources to quickly create apps when time is limited. I love the idea that we could produce great content and leave our full-stack developers to focus on more technical tasks.
Being a bit of a Maker myself, I wanted to give it a try. I went on their website, created a free account, and started going through their tutorials for creating an app. The first tutorial guides you through creating an event management application in their IDE, which is perfect for us because KAASM likes to throw a good party. I was able to figure out the user interface, build the app customized to a fictional KAASM event (KAASM Con 2020), and preview it on desktop and mobile devices.
Overall, I love the idea that with a relatively small amount of training, you can create a fully functioning application that would provide a real benefit to your company. I do see the need for a professional developer for more complex applications, but Mendix fills a gap that our industry needs.
To learn more about Mendix you can visit them @ https://www.mendix.com/
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The texts for the alarm direction are defined in the WinCC OA message catalog sc.cat, the keywords are “entered” for the CAME-text and “left” for the WENT-text. If you would like to translate or change the texts which are shown in the AEScreen for the alert direction you have to perform the following steps:
Step 1
Copy the file sc.cat to the language-dependent msg-directory in your WinCC OA project. This file is available with the texts in German, English, and Russian languages. You can find the file here: C:\Siemens\Automation\WinCC_OA\<WinCCOA version>\msg\en_US.utf8
Step 2
Open the file with a text editor.
Step 3
Change the text for the keywords “entered” and “left”. Verify the change by opening up your AEScreen GEDI\system management\Alarm and Event Screen.
At KAASM we work tirelessly to find solutions that solve problems, improve daily operations, and are highly reliable. Most recently, we’ve explored, tested, and validated the alarm notification software package, TopView by Exele.
Typically applied in oil and gas and water/wastewater industries, TopView is reliable, feature-rich, and offers instant-failover redundancy at both the HMI and Alarm Engine level for customers who require high-availability. After spending quite a bit of time with TopView, I came up with a list of key features that I wanted to share with you:
- HMI platform-independent
- Support for online changes
- Individual alarm delays for notification, schedules, and priorities
- Acknowledge alarms through your email
- Simple to use on-call and schedule management tools
- Tags, alarms, contacts, schedules, and escalations import/export via CSV
- Advanced alarm analytics, scheduled and/or on-demand reporting
- Includes smart device mobile app
Check out what NRG has to say about TopView
“I realized I needed a way to automatically get notified when something stopped working or was in alarm, so I could begin responding or even correct the problem before it impacted plant operations (or was noticed by plant management). I was told about Exele and the TopView software and with just a couple of quick questions to tech support I had it up and running. All it has done is performed flawlessly through the years, and every upgrade brings valuable features that enhance our sophistication with alarms and notifications. The system has infinite potential, and the only limitation is my vision and effort to configure it – and it is so easy I have no excuse! Couldn’t be more pleased with the product and company, I wish everything worked so well, my life would be so much easier.” – Doug Netting, NRG
With a ton of references and happy customers, TopView has done a great job serving the industry’s alarm notification requirements. If you would like a demo or to learn more about TopView, contact us!
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When developing an HMI/SCADA application, sometimes you may not have access to data sources (i.e. PLC, sensors) however, you still have the need to test your io datapoint connections. In this blog post, I will quickly show you how to set up a WinCC OA Simulator Object. The simulators generate different curve shapes and can, for example, send values for testing purposes instead of a PLC.
Step 1
In the Graphical Editor (GEDI), make sure “Catalog for All Objects” is selected. This will add a panel with a bunch of pre-built objects.
Step 2
Create or use an existing panel and select the data point you would like to simulate. In this example, I created a new panel, added a trend widget, and selected the datapoint that I wanted to simulate.
Step 3
Navigate to “STD_SIMULATORS” located in your catalog of objects. Select the “RandSim” simulation object and add it to your panel.
Step 4
Save the panel and quick test.
This is a simple exercise to help with awareness of the simulator tools. Learn more about the simulator objects via the WinCC OA online help chapter Graphics editor (GEDI) > STD_symbols > STD_SIMULATORS.
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James and I had the chance to check out the new SIMATIC 127E Box PC this week, and we are happy to report that it packs a punch! The SIMATIC 127E is tiny and provides endless application possibilities. In this blog, I will discuss a couple of standard applications and a few exotic ways you could apply this tiny device.
First, let’s talk about two standard possibilities.
- WinCC Open Architecture (OA) Client
- WinCC OA Distributed System
WinCC OA is a Siemens HMI, SCADA, MES, and IoT development platform. One of the benefits of WinCC OA is a common installer for single board computers up to high-end server systems. Standardizing on one platform across the enterprise allows you to consolidate systems, reduce maintenance, and reduce your overall total cost of ownership.
SIMATIC 127E as a WinCC OA Client
The SIMATIC 127E exceeds the minimum WinCC OA software and hardware requirements to be used as a client device. The 127E industrial PC contains no moving parts and offers long-term availability of 11 years. Why is this important? Moving parts attribute to failure in the industrial world and standard (non-industrial) PCs typically offer a 3-7 year lifecycle at best. By leveraging an industrial-grade PC and long-term availability offered by Siemens, you can increase lifecycle and reduce your overall total cost of ownership.
SIMATIC 127E as a WinCC OA Distributed System
The SIMATIC 127E industrial PC extends the range of WinCC OA’s distributed architecture by supporting a full installation. You can now leverage a WinCC OA distributed application that provides user-interface, alarming, data processing, and data archiving all on the SIMATIC 127E. Imagine if you will, a location with a minimal amount of data that you need to acquire. By adding this tiny device with an installation of WinCC OA, you can start to capture your data, visualize it locally, then connect it to a higher level WinCC OA or 3rd systems. Having highly capable commercial off the shelf (COTS) software that is supported on a small IT footprint, enables you to quickly acquire and standardize your data.
Now let’s talk about a few somewhat “exotic” ways we can apply the 127E device.
- IoT Data Gateway
- Edge Device
- On-Premise Architecture (OPA) IoT Device
IoT Data Gateway and Edge Computing
One of the decisions you have to make when creating a “device to a cloud” system, is where you process your data. In one scenario, you can send all of your raw data to the cloud and let the algorithms turn your data into information. Your costs will most likely surround your cold/hot storage, and network bandwidth decisions.
In another scenario, you can take a hybrid approach, to whereas you process your data on-premise (edge-near the data source), and in turn, only send “select” data to the cloud. Taking this approach can mitigate your costs and speed up information flow. Essentially, with the hybrid approach, you are reducing your storage and network fees associated with sending data to the cloud.
Last but not least, both the 127E and IoT 2040 industrial PCs can be set up as a “device to cloud” subscription service to Siemens IoT platform, MindSphere. The MindSphere platform offers a software agent that can be installed on your chosen device to enable quick cloud connectivity.
WinCC OA On-Premise Administration (OPA) IoT Device
Not yet released, but coming soon, is the WinCC OA On-Premise IoT Suite. The suite essentially gives you two main tools.
- The ability to manage on-premise devices through a web-based interface
- Simple WinCC OA data gateway devices configurable through a graphical user interface
Functionally, the WinCC OA IoT Suite provides auto-tag import, built-in rules engine, and automatic graphics generation. Both the SIMATIC IoT 2040 and now the SIMATIC 127E extend the Siemens hardware portfolio and are perfect for the WinCC OA OPA IoT Suite of software. If this sounds interesting, check out this video from WinCC OA User Days to learn more.
Do you have an application in mind?
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What are Object-Relational Mappers (ORM)? To put it simply, it’s a tool that allows you to use your preferred object-oriented programming language and replace the need to write database queries.
What’s the big deal?
First and foremost, this makes application development a lot easier. Second, ORMs also enable the functionality to move external data in and out of WinCC OA SCADA/MES systems seamlessly. This type of integration can also deliver tremendous value to customers.
Want to learn more?
Vertech made a video about how they use their WinCC OA ORM tools. Check it out!
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