Hello all,
First off, I would like to thank all of you who helped me get up and running with some math functions in my project using the DL06. I am happy to say that things are now working well.
Not to go into too much detail, but we will be installing DL06 PLCs in various locations of the plant to gather data and control andon lights / etc. The plant covers approximately 800' x 200'.
Now for the next step. I plan on adding an ethernet module to each of the PLCs to get them talking. I think that this would be the best way to connect everything up, but please correct me if I am wrong. Once that is set up I want to establish some data logging capabilities. I don't have all of the details worked out, but I will list off some of the capabilities that would be desirable.
-Export key metrics from each machine to an excel spreadsheet or database on regular intervals (say...every hour). Ideally, the columns would be machine, observation time, metric 1, metric 2, metric 3, etc.
-Export key metrics at the end of each shift (based on real time clock or pushing a physical button on the control panel). This would include things stored in the PLC such as the total time, run time, uptime, parts processed, etc.
-Send an e-mail to appropriate managers if ladder logic rungs are activated. For example, if machine 1 is down for more than 60 minutes, send out a message. Or if production on machine 2 is less than 75% of the moving target value.
-In the past, I have seen HMIs that constantly publish and update information to a website that is accessible by all (I think it was Red Lion Controls, but I'm sure that others offer this functionality). This would be ideal, as anyone could connect at any time and see what is going on in the entire plant at a glance (even from home...or the golf course).
This is not a cutting edge application and I am hoping that we can do this relatively inexpensively. I have looked around on the Automation Direct website and see that they have software like DataWorx, DataLynx, DataNet, Lookout Direct. I am not sure which one is right for this application and to be honest, it seems like something simpler could do the job. I don't want to pay for a bunch of bells and whistles that we aren't going to use. Ideally, the solution will not require an extensive amount of programming ability. We do have someone inthe company that could do this, but I don't want to make this more involved than necessary.
I'm sure that many of you have traveled down this path before, probably with much more difficult applications. If you can offer me some advice on how we can best do this, I would greatly appreciate it.
First off, I would like to thank all of you who helped me get up and running with some math functions in my project using the DL06. I am happy to say that things are now working well.
Not to go into too much detail, but we will be installing DL06 PLCs in various locations of the plant to gather data and control andon lights / etc. The plant covers approximately 800' x 200'.
Now for the next step. I plan on adding an ethernet module to each of the PLCs to get them talking. I think that this would be the best way to connect everything up, but please correct me if I am wrong. Once that is set up I want to establish some data logging capabilities. I don't have all of the details worked out, but I will list off some of the capabilities that would be desirable.
-Export key metrics from each machine to an excel spreadsheet or database on regular intervals (say...every hour). Ideally, the columns would be machine, observation time, metric 1, metric 2, metric 3, etc.
-Export key metrics at the end of each shift (based on real time clock or pushing a physical button on the control panel). This would include things stored in the PLC such as the total time, run time, uptime, parts processed, etc.
-Send an e-mail to appropriate managers if ladder logic rungs are activated. For example, if machine 1 is down for more than 60 minutes, send out a message. Or if production on machine 2 is less than 75% of the moving target value.
-In the past, I have seen HMIs that constantly publish and update information to a website that is accessible by all (I think it was Red Lion Controls, but I'm sure that others offer this functionality). This would be ideal, as anyone could connect at any time and see what is going on in the entire plant at a glance (even from home...or the golf course).
This is not a cutting edge application and I am hoping that we can do this relatively inexpensively. I have looked around on the Automation Direct website and see that they have software like DataWorx, DataLynx, DataNet, Lookout Direct. I am not sure which one is right for this application and to be honest, it seems like something simpler could do the job. I don't want to pay for a bunch of bells and whistles that we aren't going to use. Ideally, the solution will not require an extensive amount of programming ability. We do have someone inthe company that could do this, but I don't want to make this more involved than necessary.
I'm sure that many of you have traveled down this path before, probably with much more difficult applications. If you can offer me some advice on how we can best do this, I would greatly appreciate it.