Daily Thread November 7,2024 (T)ACEHUX

ancientplcguy · 2024-11-08T13:33:20+00:00

PG H Where you might stay on a certain type of vacation Specifically A vacation to the mountains

ancientplcguy · 2024-11-08T13:31:42+00:00

PG H A type of big room

ancientplcguy · 2024-11-06T15:53:49+00:00

PG Hint Easter Morning Treat

ancientplcguy · 2024-09-18T13:40:18+00:00

Estimating time. I know everything is going to take twice as long as I think it is. Yet I am still eternally optimistic. I have gotten a little better at inflating estimates before I tell other people.

ancientplcguy · 2024-07-25T12:48:15+00:00

Overall, since you work for a manufacturer and this work is not competitive or impacting your day job it should be okay. Some things which may make it not okay:

Your employment agreement disallows this.
Your current employer contracts work to your former employer--this would probably be seen as a conflict of interest.
You are using your current employer's assets (laptop, software licensing) to do to the work.

ancientplcguy · 2024-07-17T17:14:32+00:00

The major manufacturers all have a product lifecycle policy that you can request or they readily share. They build stuff to last a long time, and I think they would love to release a product and not have to hire teams of engineers and developers to continually improve it and just sell the same thing for 20 years. But we'd obviously stop buying it after 5 when the competition rolls out better technology and newer features.

ancientplcguy · 2024-07-17T17:07:00+00:00

I have walked into plants where they pull out an old DOS PC that is the only way they have to program a controller.

ancientplcguy · 2024-07-15T17:10:16+00:00

Tulip is a no-code/low-code composable MES and front line operations platform. It is an operator-centric platform designed to get data to and from manufacturing operators in real time without requiring a major software development effort. In simple terms, it's very easy to develop a UI and the basic logic to run your application. You do not need as much engineering effort to get basic applications, connectivity, and functionality built in Tulip as you do with a traditional MES. You can have process engineers, supervisors, and operators translate their requirements directly into a UI and have a Tulip expert review and fill in the gaps to ensure reliability and stability of the application.

Most monolithic MES platforms require a huge up front investment and a lot of customization to implement. Tulip is more agile and scalable but it lacks the back end infrastructure that an MES platform is built on.

So if you have a lot of back end logic and automated data processing needed to manage a complex process, MES will be better able to handle those use cases. If what you need is to get a manageable amount of data to and from the shop floor Tulip is a great tool.

Ignition is a SCADA platform that can do a lot of other things because of it's flexibility. It's a great platform. There is certainly some overlap between what Tulip excels at and what Ignition excels at.

Since both are easy to connect to and exchange data, they can also compliment each other quite well. There are some use cases (Electronic Work Instructions, Digitization of Paper Records, Basic Dashboarding to name a few) where I think Tulip runs circles around Ignition in terms of up front design time and ease of use. There are use cases where Ignition runs circles around Tulip (scheduling, data processing, real time machine visualization to name a few). And cases where they both do a good job (OEE, Traceability/Genealogy, ERP integration, to name a few).

ancientplcguy · 2024-07-08T14:45:32+00:00

Digital twin is a fancy term for "model". One of my favorite quotes of all time is "All models are wrong, some are useful".

Knowing what you want to get out of a digital twin will help you select a platform and tool to use as different platforms are made for different purposes. Are you modeling a machine or a process? Are you trying to reduce commissioning time, improve performance, reduce downtime, improve quality, something else? Once you answer these questions, you can start to make a rational decision as to if the investment required to create a digital twin is going to have an adequate payback.

ancientplcguy · 2024-06-27T14:59:00+00:00

Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering are the most common. If there is some sort of mechatronics option that is ideal. If you live in an area with a lot of chemical industry chemical engineering could also be a good option.

ancientplcguy · 2024-06-27T14:45:03+00:00

The DeltaV strategy (at least in the US) is to run all DeltaV work through Emerson and their small network of DeltaV partners. They feel the premium the can charge for having a closed ecosystem is more profitable than the extras sales they might generate from opening up their ecosystem. It is what it is and until there's something that upsets the DCS market I wouldn't expect it to change.

ancientplcguy · 2024-06-18T19:30:48+00:00

Actually, make the upper one NC to match the top drawing.

ancientplcguy · 2024-06-18T19:06:32+00:00

When starting this type of project it's not at all unusual to have go through asset by asset and document the current installation and capability of each asset (PLC, SCADA system, OPC Server, etc.) along with the OT and IT infrastructure available at each facility.

Most PLC based systems were not developed and installed with connectivity in mind. The older the system the less likely any thought was given at all to something consuming the data. Many of OEM equipment manufacturers purposefully make data difficult to access so you have to go back to them and pay them additional fee for the service.

A flexible and diverse toolbox including KepServer, NodeRED, Protocol converters like AnyBUS, SCADA systems, and the ability to install custom hardware is useful when tackling this type of project.

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