Suggestions for HMI/SCADA system

[Old No. 7]

We have a project where we have a continuous furnace with companion equipment that will all be controlled by an AB Compactlogix PLC. We have some flexibility on the operator interface, but I'm struggling to decide what to use.

I will need (at least) two HMI's that can/will be duplicates of each other. We need to provide datalogging so I can't get away with just Panelviews. I could use Iconics/Wonderware/etc. as the HMI's, but it seems like every time we do this we end up regretting it.

The other thing that the customer would like to add (as an extra) is the ability to piece together a trend/report that has time slices of trends from each position in the furnace. We would capture the time when the load was in each zone of the equipment and then compile all the different zone temps.

Oh, and as always money is tight!

 

[bce123]

Ignition!!!!!

 

[Mark-]

Hello,

PeakHMI might work for you.

 

[Ken Roach]

I'll throw in my vote for Ignition, because it's SQL database centric and integrates nicely with ControlLogix/CompactLogix.

The Ignition trend and chart objects are just graphical views of SQL databases that hold the trend data. It's remarkable what you can do with a little careful configuration and scripting.

Just off the bat, the Ignition trend does something a PanelView can't: there's a little 'Save to CSV' button on the simple trend object. Doing the same thing with a PanelView involves a USB drive, a script file, a conversion utility, and manual editing of a text file.

Make sure you talk with an Ignition salesman about your needs; the list prices on their website are for the full-scale, no-limits software.

Also ask how they are coming with RSLogix 5000 v21 support; I know there are some changes to the A-B driver they need to finish, and I'm running controllers with Ignition with v20 firmware.

 

[Old No. 7]

Ignition certainly looks interesting. I watched a couple of the Youtube videos and was pretty impressed. I'll have to contact them.

How easy is it to pick up if you've never used it before?

 

[Nova5]

There's mark.. pimpin PeakHMI.

Actually for my limited knowledge and use PeakHMI is rather capable. Trending and more are available in its functions. It's also a low cost HMI in comparison to Wonderware/Ignition/etc. Support is quick to respond most times even when this user(points to self..) asks a question that he should have been able to find in the help file...