3HMI for 15PLC ?

Hi guys,

I was wondering if there is a way to connect like 3 HMI to like 15 PLC (like micrologix 1400) from the same brand like Schneider or Allen bradley if possible.

The HMI would all do the same job i just want few HMI in different place.

and why so much PLC, for security purpose i would like to have a PLC dedicated for each mixer we have here separatly and not put them all on a big PLC. That way if something break all my PLC would be the same and only 1 mixer would be shutdown. some batch are very expensive here.

What i was thinking is from my HMI i could have like 1 page saying mixer #1 which is connected to PLC #1 .... page 2 for mixer#2 ... connected to PLC #2 etc. and i could connect to any of the 3 HMI like this.

Thanks for your feedback!

Sure it would be possible. I would go for PLC and HMI that support ethernet, tho.

We use Beijer iX panels with multiple Siemens PLC's. Ethernet makes it easy. We have done the same with MPI, buth ethernet is just so much easier/faster.

We do it with 1 HMI project, deployed on 14 different workstations, all connected using Ethernet to 8 different PLCs. We have screens that are accessible to users selectively depending on who is logged in, so that they have access to the sections they are concerned with. Works very well.

This is pretty common, stuff. I would use Ignition personally.

I think your separate mixer PLC system is good just from an operational standpoint. We did a large batch upgrade years ago and put it all on 1 PLC, really causes problems with validation and estop situations. You can't efficiently isolate a mixer.

That system had 9 mixers, 5 PLC (1 mixer PLC, 4 PLCs for other areas of the pant), 3 HMI stations (Wonderware InTouch, and Wonderware InBatch).

That's great !

Because the main idea we were looking was to go for like a big DCS like from ABB that would control everything but to make sure it would run 24/24 we would have to buy a backup system and all incase the main DCS stop for some reason.

so overall when i think about it if you could go for alot of small PLC connected to all the same HMI when you count the pro&con of it, we get so many advantage to do it. i dunno about the cost but for everything else yes.

Thanks for your answer !

Maybe a last question , let's say im doing in with AB HMI and PLC, do i need other software than rsview, rslogix500 or rslogix5000 to make my PLC connect all to my HMI'S ? like a Scada software or something ? ( never used these before so i dont know much). or it's possible with rsview to simply detect all my ethernet PLC and simply give my input/output directly from the PLC im choosing ?

By HMI do you mean hardware based operator interface like Panelview Plus, or do you mean a PC based HMI?

In any case, your hardware choice for the HMI will dictate the best method to do this and you do not need separate software.

Each HMI will have a unique IP address on the network as will each PLC. You could have identical applications in each HMI with the exception of its own IP addresses.

You can go many different directions from there, like hide certain mixers from certain HMIs based on where they are physically located, or cause big warnings to show up when you want ot use one HMI to operate or view a mixer that is not part of its normal realm.

Yeah it's going to be Panelview HMI or possibly Schneider Magelis HMI

I mostly tried Rsview at my job but we have also Unity pro and Vijeo designer if we go with Scheider instead of AB.

Thanks for your feedback ! i really appreciate it

If you have not tried Red Lion HMIs yet, you might consider them too.

I work on a system for a customer that has 1 Panelview Plus 1000 ethernet'd to 4 PLC's and each PLC has it's own set of screens on it. Entirely possible, but with my last job using AdvancedHMI I'm going to use that from now on.

I even bought another desktop I rigged up with AdvancedHMI just to test it's functions & abilities and the only thing I haven't found how to do with it yet is control one PLC based on a read from another PLC. I use it with 2 monitors (1 a touchscreen), multiple input devices (mouse & 2 keyboards - 1 with a touchpad), And I do have controls for multiple PLC's working on the same screen.

OkiePC said:

If you have not tried Red Lion HMIs yet, you might consider them too.

Click to expand...

I tried their HMI software Crimson 3.0 but not any HMI so far but i liked it alot, prety simple and easy to work with. i figured out alot of stuff in like 1 hours how to do it that would have take 3 day with rsview if their price are good i would look for it then.

Thanks !