by Gary Mintchell | May 31, 2017 | Standards
Joint working groups to develop companion specifications has been a great method to advance interoperability. Here is an announcement of one where you can still get involved if you have expertise in one or the other. Note: I am chief marketing officer of MIMOSA and I also have done some work with OPC Foundation.
MIMOSA (an operations and maintenance information open system alliance) and the OPC Foundation have announced a joint working group to develop a companion specification for MIMOSA’s CCOM standard and OPC UA.
MIMOSA is a not-for-profit trade association dedicated to developing and encouraging the adoption of open information standards for Operations and Maintenance in manufacturing, fleet, and facility environments. MIMOSA’s open standards enable collaborative asset lifecycle management in both commercial and military applications.
MIMOSA CCOM (Common Collaborative Object Model) serves as an information model for the exchange of asset information. Its core mission is to facilitate standards-based interoperability between systems: providing an XML model to allow systems to electronically exchange data.
OPC Foundation is a not-for-profit association dedicated to providing the interoperability standard for the secure and reliable exchange of data in the industrial automation space and in other industries. The OPC UA (Unified Architecture) is platform independent and ensures the seamless flow of information among devices from multiple vendors.
The OPC UA standard is a series of specifications developed by industry vendors, end-users and software developers. These specifications define the interface between Clients and Servers, as well as Servers and Servers, including secure access to real-time data, monitoring of alarms and events, access to historical data and other applications. The standard includes the ability to securely transport any information model between the systems. It is a key standard for Industry 4.0.
The joint MIMOSA and OPC Foundation CCOM OPC UA Working Group will develop an OPC UA Information Model for CCOM. The information model specified by CCOM will be defined in a UA companion specification using OPC UA constructs for the purpose of exposing CCOM information to OPC UA applications, with an initial focus on existing Use Cases relating to information exchange to and from the control system. This will combine existing strengths of each organization for some near-term wins, where OPC UA is used to bring information from the factory floor and where MIMOSA plays its traditional role in Asset Management.
The working group will deliver the following:
• OPC UA Information Model for CCOM (Standard OPC UA companion specification, Nodeset file and prototype implementation)
• A write up for the OPC Wiki describing the Companion specification
• Trade show demonstration and information material
Anyone who would like to contribute to this industry specification please contact Alan Johnston [email protected].
by Gary Mintchell | May 30, 2017 | Uncategorized
James Altucher made a name for himself as an investor and writer. He is even more on the strange side than I am. He’s been on a rant for a while about how many people waste money on college.
Now, I bet that if you want to be a chemical engineer college is a good way to go. But on the other hand I learned most of the electronics and electrical engineering I know on my own–including the math. And it has served me well.
This image shows 15 things you need to learn that you won’t in college–at least not as part of the normal curriculum. And he is correct. All of these are important to your success in life. And most you have learned because of a mentor.
There were things I picked up in college–especially international studies under a former (?) CIA leader. I would have learned German better by living there six months than through the classes I took, on the other hand. But the ability to think and write were the best legacies I have from college.
Check this out and let me know what you think.
by Gary Mintchell | May 26, 2017 | Internet of Things
Dell EMS Internet of Things (IoT) group assembled a mini supply chain as its booth at the user conference Dell EMS World in Las Vegas in May. At the October Dell EMS World in Austin, these were put together as an ice cream factory and distribution, and the booth featured an ice cream machine. I sure could have used an ice cream by the time I got through all the exhibits.
The Dell IoT Gateway was the common denominator of the exhibit tying everything together.
The first station features construction. Here are a couple of guys trying out the DAQRI augmented reality helmets. I had the opportunity to try these in Hannover. A really cool application of AR.
They are looking at a combination of the construction (see the red “steel” framework) and drawings that show the layout of electrical conduit, HVAC ducting, and other details. As a construction worker, they can get a feel of where things go, as well as spot interferences the designer missed.
This station showed product on its way to market through sensing and communication from Nokia.
Below is a layout of the Emerson process manufacturing system.
They brought actual pipe, pump, motor, instruments, wirelessHART communication. No, it didn’t make ice cream.
This station featured IMS Evolve–an application that brings sensor data into the cloud and provides track and trace, as well as other analytics, assuring the safety of the food product through the supply chain from the point of view of proper temperature.
Don’t forget security! Here is a photo of a physical security video system from V5.
The Dell Gateway is an edge device capable of accumulating data from the disparate sources, performing storage and analysis at the edge then sending information to the cloud for further analysis. It seems that everywhere I go, the “edge” is the place where innovation is centered right now. This simple demo showed the power of the edge.
by Gary Mintchell | May 24, 2017 | Automation, News, Standards, Technology, Uncategorized
Yes, OPC UA at Hannover. Even though (or because of) I’ve been to two subsequent conferences, I’m still catching up on Hannover news.
The growth in popularity of OPC UA led to increased interest among members for space at the OPC Foundation booth. For the last few years it had roughly six sponsors with a partner pod. OPC Foundation found itself extending the booth this year to provide enough space for ten companies and organizations. These included AutomationML, BitCtrl, C-Labs, Kepware, MatrikonOPC, ProSys OPC, Softing, Siemens, Takebishi, and Unified Automation.
Not only did Microsoft include a large display wall featuring OPC UA in its booth, SAP also showed integration of information into the SAP cloud for analysis and action for both discrete and process automation featuring OPC UA at a large wall featured prominently in its booth.
German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) Announced Completion of In-depth Security Analysis of OPC UA
My inbox has been overflowing with responses to the recent security hack on the Internet. This just highlights the issue of cyber security. Anyone in the business of communication over a network must provide as much security assurance as possible.
The OPC Foundation has worked with many security validation companies and organizations to provide the highest level of security. One of the most significant of those organizations is the BSI. Due to the relevance of OPC UA to Industrie 4.0 and Germany Industry, the BSI performed an in-depth security analysis of the OPC UA specifications and a selected reference implementation. A video describing their recommendation and analysis is available on the OPC YouTube Channel.
The BSI has published the results of the OPC UA security analysis on its web site, and the OPC Foundation also published a commented version on the OPC web site in both German and English: BSI web site and OPC web site.
Companion Specs
Companion specifications with other organizations is an excellent way to spread the utility of OPC UA. OPC Foundation President Tom Burke updated the press on the status of many companion specs now in process.
• OPC UA & AutomationML—released
• PLCOpen OPC UA Client for IEC61131—released
• OPC UA for Sercos—released
• M2M—started
• MDIS ( Oil&Gas )—First interoperability workshop for companion spec
• PackML—Release candidate
• Dexpi—MoU started; chair is Nikolaos Papakonstantinou VTT Finland
• VDMA Injection molding machine—Release Candidate
• VDMA Machine Vision—Started
• VDMA Machine Robotic—under preparation
• (Also) MIMOSA CCOM & OPC UA—under preparation
VDMA also presented at the press conference. This German machine builders association represents 3200 companies. It’s goals include the integration of components, machines, and plants. It further seeks cross-company interoperability in the factory.
It cited the need of replacing manuals and data sheets by information models as it seeks standardized information about components and machines from different manufacturers.
It prefers OPC UA because:
• It’s an open standard
• Manufacturer independent
• Not a rigid connection, but offers flexible integration by semantic service description
• Plug & Work
• Can be used for condition monitoring and predictive maintenance
• Offers optimization of production
OPC Foundation Members’ News at Hannover Messe
Softing Industrial offers commercial license for OPC UA .NET Standard Stack
Softing Industrial announced a commercial license for the OPC UA .NET Standard Stack. The OPC UA .NET Standard Stack has been developed by Microsoft, and was contributed as open source project to the OPC Foundation GitHub in June 2016.
The OPC UA .NET Standard Stack targets the .NET Standard Library. .Net Standard allows developing apps that run on all common platforms available today, without requiring platform-specific modifications. Furthermore, cloud applications and services are also supported.
Softing Industrial plans to offer a commercial license for the OPC UA .NET Standard Stack in the fourth quarter 2017, making it available for full commercial use to everyone. Preparatory work and technical coordination with the OPC Foundation as well as Microsoft have already begun. Softing support for the currently available Softing OPC UA .NET Toolkits will not be affected and continue to be available.
OPC UA Meets IoT
Unified Automation integrates OPC UA data sources into IoT solutions without programming
The growing number of devices and machines with OPC Unified Architecture (UA) interfaces, as well as the large installed base of “classic” OPC products, can now easily be integrated into cloud and IoT platforms, like Azure IoT Suite. Unified Automation’s UaGateway offers an easy configure-only solution, without changes on installed systems and without time-consuming programming.
Being already a well-established solution for integrating different OPC interfaces into a single common database and “translating” between different OPC standards, UaGateway has now been extended with the IoT protocols Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP) and Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT). This allows the publication of any OPC data into cloud and IoT platforms simply by configuration.
“UaGateway now closes the gap between the large installed base of OPC devices and new upcoming products with fully integrated IoT protocols”, said Jürgen Boxberger, CEO of Unified Automation GmbH “The UaGateway provides industrial grade communication infrastructure for multi-vendor Edge Cloud and Analytics applications.”
The UaGateway can be installed on a variety of different hardware platforms ranging from small embedded rail mount device running embedded Linux or headless device running e.g. Windows 10 IoT Core. Installed on a large scale device the UaGateway provides the communication data hub for industrial Edge Cloud solutions and analytics applications. Fully based on OPC UA technology the UaGateway enables secured and authenticated access to plant floor data giving you full control over your data down to each individual data point. Furthermore, the UaGateway will integrate with Microsoft’s Azure IoT Suite Connected factory preconfigured solution.
Comtrol Implements OPC-UA connectivity with MultiLink on IO-Link Master family
Comtrol Corp., a manufacturer of industrial device connectivity products and the official North American IO-Link Competency Center, announced the availability of OPC-UA support with its MultiLink technology on its IO-Link Master family of products.
OPC Unified Architecture (OPC-UA) is a machine to machine communication protocol developed for industrial automation. OPC-UA allows customers to communicate with industrial equipment and systems for data connection and control, freely use an open standard, cross-platform, implement service-oriented architecture (SOA) software and utilize robust security.
Comtrol’s MultiLink technology allows IO-Link Masters to simultaneously provide sensors Process data to PLC platforms, while also sending the sensors ISDU Service and Process data via Modbus TCP or OPC-UA upstream to IIoT/Industry 4.0 Cloud solutions or factory SCADA systems. Comtrol’s IO-Link Masters are available in three industrial Ethernet protocols: EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP and PROFINET IO, which are all capable of running OPC UA with MultiLink.
C-Labs Releases Fourth Generation IoT Technology
C-Labs Corp., a provider of software for the industrial Internet of Things (IoT), announced availability of the fourth generation of its C-DEngine core software. The patent-pending software provides embedded IoT capabilities for machine makers such as TRUMPF, machine connectivity for application providers such as AXOOM, and industrial IoT cloud connectivity for Microsoft Azure IoT Hub and other cloud services. C-DEngine is also the core technology in C-Labs’ own Factory-Relay and Machine Monitor products for manufacturers.
According to a PwC survey, 65% of US manufacturers are not yet collecting or using IoT data to enhance their operations, despite availability of the technology. In C-Labs’ experience, this is also true among equipment makers and business application providers who need to securely collect and use data from locations where industrial equipment is installed and used on a daily basis. Concerns about cybersecurity and a lack of IT familiarity with industrial IoT requirements are the top challenges to the success of industrial IoT deployments. C-Labs software products provide live access to industrial equipment and IoT data without compromising or side-stepping enterprise IT security, providing complementary benefits to machine makers, machine owners, and service providers.
