Total beginner with SCADA trying to help a friend - suggestions on where to start?

[usualnoise]

Hello

With my background in programming and web development a friend came to me for help building a SCADA system, but I'm a newcomer to HMIs, PLCs and the like.

We have a Red Lion G303 and I've installed Crimson 3, but I feel like the documentation only provides instruction with the assumption of existing familiarity with industrial automation, which I don't have.

Right now I'd just like to create a demo for practice building a SCADA system that in practice will graphically represent the state of his machinery, and I'm not even sure how to do that.

Does anyone have recommendations on where I can start? Can I create an emulated, self-contained demo system for practice without connecting to a PLC and his machinery?

Help! Thanks so much.

 

[JeremyH]

Hello,

First the G303 doesn't support Crimson 3, so you would need to download Crimson 2. Also the G303 doesn't support the emulator function available in the Crimson software. Once your program is created you would need to download it to the real unit and connect it to your PLC to test our communications.

Thanks
Jeremy

 

[usualnoise]

Thanks for your reply, Jeremy - that points me in the right direction.

 

[Doug_Adam]

What devices are you communicating with?
What options do you have, Ethernet? RS232? RS485? Modbus?

Are you talking to PLCs or RTUs or both?