data aquisation

hello,

i am new here and i am novice about plcs.

i have a small factory of making plastic ropes in india. i just want to see from my office that how many machines are working(i want to see whether my workers are working or not) , i want to make reports of machines working hours etc.

i just want to track my motors (connected with ac drives), transfer the data to my pc and upload online. i dont want to operate my machines.

can anyone help me what hardware actually i need?
which software is best for me?
i want to do it myself, is it possible?
is there any free software available for this?

thanks

Do your current machines contain PLCs, and if so, what make?

How many machines? A pico-logger has 16 inputs and is easy to set up. it installs next to your PC and you just run it to a set of contacts to tell you if it is running or not. I am using one to track 12 lines in the plant managers office so He can see if the lines are runnning. I used an analog output from the VFD to see rates but a contact will show you if it is running you just need a 5vdc supply

no, i dont have any plc right now

@just the cowboy, can i see the reports online and record it to see it later?

contact.amitsaha said:

@just the cowboy, can i see the reports online and record it to see it later?

Click to expand...

Yes no problem
here is the demo
http://www.picotech.com/data-logging-software.html