Recomendation for Data Logging Software

[S7_Online]

Hi All,


I am looking for recommendations for a data logging software package that can be used for a simple 1 PLC installation. The installation will use a Siemens S7-1500 PLC and Comfort HMI. Ideally the data logging software will use OPC-UA and allow the end user to choose the tags they wish to monitor, as well as functions such as trending and data reports.
Again, this is intended for small scale plants with a single PLC as an add-on feature to add additional functionality for the end user.
I should also note I am based in Australia, but intend to use this in plants globally.

 

[ASF]

Ignition.

Platform agnostic, scalable, modular, and very reasonably priced.

 

[S7_Online]

Thanks ASF. Ive not used Ignition before, but from what I understand I would need to build the data visualisation from scratch. Is that the case, or do they offer an "off the shelf" solution for data logging and reporting?

 

[parky]

I agree ignition has reporting capabillity, but there will be some programming i.e. to set up the reports, not used it myself but like many others, is capable of producing reports, one I have used is Movicon, again reasonably priced, I used movicon 4.x I think if you know VBA then to produce reports is pretty simple, The data was written to an SQL Server (could be a local SQL DB) then we had a number of clients so staff could generate the reports.
I know movicon have now got one called Next, I think this uses C# but may also be able to use VB or they may still supply the VB version. I have not looked into reporting in Movicon but I bet they have tools to produce reports without any real coding.
What I also did was using another Scada system that we had was to use Excel to produce the reports, the reason for this was the cost of clients on the existing system was prohibitive, as it was already populating an SQL DB on a server, I wrote VBA code in an Excel template distributed a link to the template to all users that required it to produce the reports. In your case you obviously need some sort of scade to populate the DB.
One other alternative is something like Kepware OPC server, it has a plugin to log data to a DB, no need for a fully fledged scada, then you could use Excel as above.
Simplest is the first option of a scada, I think you need to weigh up the options & your ability to use/program them.
Scada, work out the cost of the tag size, the I/O server plugin (you could use a local SQL DB, often free if less than a certain size (currently 10gb)) Not sure if that applies to personal use or even corporate use, however, many companies have server licences. others may be limited but free.
Also think about if others need access to reports, you may need to add clients possibly limit this to a few but allow access by many. i.e. if you had 6 licences although you have 6 licenses, but have 20 users, only 6 can use it at a time.
Use single licence scada with I/O driver, Use Excel template & create reports. providing the Scada, DB & the users are on the network.

Just use An OPC driver like Kepware that has a DB plugin on a pc & use excel to produce reports.
I think which ever way you go, as you mention configurable reports then there is going to be quite a bit of coding in some form.

 

[JesperMP]

Ideally the data logging software will use OPC-UA and allow the end user to choose the tags they wish to monitor, as well as functions such as trending and data reports.

Basically a SCADA that can be programmed by the end-user.

 

[JesperMP]

[..] intend to use this in plants globally.

Does that include the EU ?
If so, you need to prepare for using certificates between the PLC and the applications that access the PLC.
The good news is that OPC UA supports certificates.

Since you are using Siemens S7-1500 and Siemens Comfort panels already, you may consider Siemens WinCC Advanced RT. It can provide you with a canned solution that support certificates.
You would then have to provide the end-user with the full HMI project and the license for the WinCC software for him to be able to modify the project.

 

[S7_Online]

Basically a SCADA that can be programmed by the end-user.

Thats a pretty good summary actually! The main driving factor for this is the limited history in the Siemens trends (about 14 mins at 1sec aquisition time). I have played with using historical logs in the HMI and then trending the historical values but this has limitations also. For example if the end user wants to go back say 3 days in production data to view an incident, they would have to scroll backwards ALOT!

 

[S7_Online]

These are all great suggestions, thanks. Just to give more idea of my situation, the systems we build are small (as I mentioned single PLC, handful of instruments, motors and PID loops). Sometimes these systems are sold into larger global companies that have their own SCADA systems that we integrate into. Im looking for something for the small factories that dont have a need for full blown SCADA. I want to be able to offer a software solution for storing and viewing historical data that has a user friendly interface. No problem if there is a configuration at the back end, but the user interface needs to be simple and intuitive.

 

[JesperMP]

Yeah, WinCC Advanced is more like a SCADA LITE than a full-blown SCADA.

 

[JesperMP]

I think if you remove the reporting part, maybe letting the end-user do that by himself, then you have many more options.
Google for 'OPC UA Datalogger' gives a lot of hits.

 

[S7_Online]

I think if you remove the reporting part, maybe letting the end-user do that by himself, then you have many more options.
Google for 'OPC UA Datalogger' gives a lot of hits.

Yes, perhaps the reporting part is making the task overcomplicated...


I have google searched for OPC UA Data logging software and as you say, there is many options. This is what led me to this thread to see what people in the know have had experience with.


Thanks for you assistance JesperMP.

 

[parky]

Yes, Jesper is right, that is why I mentioned Kepware (no affiliation) but it is one I have used in the past & have tried once to log to a DB, you only need a licence for one driver if it is only 1 plc so prices would be small compared to a scada system plus OPC/UA I/O server.
Most companies I suspect have their own IT systems in place, most again will have databases, The things that are problematic are IT people do not like somethings they do not have experience about accessing their network in any form, so all you can do is offer a solution & let them sort out how you can safely populate data onto their system.
I had this in my last job, I needed to convince them that our systems comply to their way of working, the first was a new plant, the Scada was in fact a two PC's on the factory floor (well actually Reverse KVM's for master & client as the PC's were in a panel on a mezzanine floor out of the steamy wet environment) As the supplier needed remote access to the system it was put through a bridge system so in effect no access from supplier to the rest of the IT systems or network. Next was the reporting, initially I created a template in Excel but IT were not happy, macro's were disabled by default as part of their strategy, we ended up with a compromise where the template was on a server & protected, a link was provided to those who needed it so when they opened up the template & selected the data required, a new local sheet was created for them to print or save, they could not access the code behind it so was considdered safe. Eventually, a proper web based report was created for the staff to access the reports.
If they wanted just a standalone system then a PC with office, OPC server then the cost would be just the PC, Office (they probably have spare licences anyway) and some form of reporting tool. The cost of the OPC server would be in the region of £1,500.00 - £2000.00
I believe you will have to do some coding even with a scada as you wish to have a user select which data to access or have dozens of pages formatted as reports for the different data.

 

[widelto]

I use this in the past:
https://www.sql4automation.com/en/home/

 

[ASF]

Thanks ASF. Ive not used Ignition before, but from what I understand I would need to build the data visualisation from scratch. Is that the case, or do they offer an "off the shelf" solution for data logging and reporting?

You would need to build some kind of visualization, yes. However it would be relatively minor, and a once off.

Ignition does have trend objects, including a user-defined trend that an operator can add different data points to at runtime. If you want to get deeper into it, you can connect to a database and write some queries to allow the operator to build a trend and then save it as a pre-defined trend. I think there's an example of this on the Ignition Exchange website that you might be able to use right out of the box.

Reports - yes, you'd need to set up the reports in the back end. You can however set up a report with variables for parameters, and again allow an operator to select the start/end date, sample time, data to be included, etc.

Without knowing the specifics of what you hope to be able to offer the customer it's hard to say exactly how much work would be involved.

I'd use Ignition if it were me because (a) I already have a lot of resources built that I could just import and use, (b) it can scale up as much as required once the customer sees it and goes "hey, this is great, can it also do x, y and z?", and (c) the price is right. Some or all of those may not be applicable to you!