Data collection and dfistribution.

[gas]

Never done this before
We have a customer that would like to collect data, dwords, from 4 devices and read to an HMI. Then send that data to a PLC for collection from their system.

Is the PLC necessary?
Thoughts and comments please.

 

[Engineerj22]

Are the 4 devices already sending data to the PLC?

 

[gas]

No

 

[Ken Moore]

What are the 4 devices and how will the connect to the HMI?
Does the HMI already communicate with the PLC?
If so, then once you get the data to the HMI, you can write it to the PLC.
How you write it, will depend on make and model of HMI.

 

[gas]

Thanks Ken

There are now 4 independent devices. They record pressure and length for fastener quality.
A customer wants have an HMI at the work cell that can show those results. Also wants to make that data available to to their quality system.

So the answer is that this is all new and something we have never done before.

 

[Engineerj22]

Honestly it probably would be easier to connect them to the PLC, then feed the data to the HMIs. hopefully the devices communicate in something your PLC can do, or you'll need gateways.

 

[Ken Moore]

Do the devices have analog outputs, speak modbus? Profibus/Profinet? Some other protocol?

 

[gas]

Ken,
I know they speak Ethernet. I'll ask about the others.
They have A to D in the internal programming and its the dints that we expect to work with.

 

[Ken Moore]

Depending on the protocol, RedLion HMI may be your best bet, they speak to just about every device I've ever encountered. Extremely easy to read data from one source and map it to a PLC register.

 

[DavidRojas]

Normally sensor devices will send data to the PLC and the PLC will send data to the HMI and/or a SCADA system. If you MUST have the HMI as the primary device receiving the data, then I suggest using RedLion HMIs. They are smart enough to speak many protocols and send the data to PLCs, databases, ftp, MQTT, OPC-UA...etc. Pretty reliable HMIs...so much so that you can get away with just using the HMI for some applications.

Looks like Ken beat me to the response about RedLion.

 

[gas]

Thank you all