I'm fixing to do some big projects involving various HMI's. I will be using PB32 for some older stuff we have that needs modified, RSView Studio both SE and ME. SE will be metrics collections for the whole plant while ME will be HMI for a portion of the plant. Also, I will be doing some major work with iFix and WonderWare. We have a pretty eclectic and piecemeal plant, but it cannot be helped. The good thing is I will get time to do work on a variety of platforms and I have a pretty good understanding of Windows computers and strong networking skills.
That aside, I have several questions as I have been contemplating some stuff before I begin undertaking this work next month.
1. The first of which is how do I go about installing this stuff and using it in parallel to what is currently being used? For instance, I will be upgrading our iFix systems like 4 versions ahead and will have several issues to work through before it is ready to be put into service. It would be nice to be able to testbench it first, though I will have the older systems and graphics to go off of, which will be nice. This is probably my biggest single issue, as if I can do this without interrupting production I will have time and safety to figure stuff out.
2. The next one involves testing out a FTView ME application before placing the PV into service (well there are 4 of them to be exact). How would I go about setting up the runtime environment networking so I can perform and test the modifications before a download?
Other than that the design considerations I have though through have been to match current HMI color schemes and logical layouts and going for clarity and simplicity above all to make this as easy to use as possible.
Unfortunately our networks are poorly thought out and mapped, but I have spent the last two weeks and will probably spend this week and next week finishing up plant-wide HMI, PLC and networking device configuration backups and making sure I know "what is talking to what and the point of their conversation."
This is pretty huge for me and will be my first delve into it (other than transferring the programs to a new HMI) and would like to have a good plant of attack for such a monstrous job.
As always I appreciate the information and experience you all bring to the table!
That aside, I have several questions as I have been contemplating some stuff before I begin undertaking this work next month.
1. The first of which is how do I go about installing this stuff and using it in parallel to what is currently being used? For instance, I will be upgrading our iFix systems like 4 versions ahead and will have several issues to work through before it is ready to be put into service. It would be nice to be able to testbench it first, though I will have the older systems and graphics to go off of, which will be nice. This is probably my biggest single issue, as if I can do this without interrupting production I will have time and safety to figure stuff out.
2. The next one involves testing out a FTView ME application before placing the PV into service (well there are 4 of them to be exact). How would I go about setting up the runtime environment networking so I can perform and test the modifications before a download?
Other than that the design considerations I have though through have been to match current HMI color schemes and logical layouts and going for clarity and simplicity above all to make this as easy to use as possible.
Unfortunately our networks are poorly thought out and mapped, but I have spent the last two weeks and will probably spend this week and next week finishing up plant-wide HMI, PLC and networking device configuration backups and making sure I know "what is talking to what and the point of their conversation."
This is pretty huge for me and will be my first delve into it (other than transferring the programs to a new HMI) and would like to have a good plant of attack for such a monstrous job.
As always I appreciate the information and experience you all bring to the table!