Cimplicity is a powerful, easy-to-use industrial automation package aimed at reducing development and project life-cycle costs and providing fast and efficient application development.
This article takes a look at how the Cimplicity scada system is organised and what some of the different function blocks do, to illustrate the functionality of a modern scada system. Starting at the top - for the plant manager, the software provides reliable, realtime information about the plant and process to assist in making more productive decisions. For IT/MIS professionals, it provides a connection that integrates operational and IT systems with the goal of improved management of infrastructure while increasing return on investment.
From the plant floor to the enterprise level, the software's open architecture enables it to mesh seamlessly with other systems. This eliminates the need for custom, inflexible solutions for the users' applications and provides faster and easier access to information from anywhere within the process. It connects with ERP and MES systems such as SAP, as well as relational databases such as Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle and others.
On the plant floor it connects with hundreds of devices from leading manufacturers, providing a fast and easy way to implement, maintain and grow an automation system - with a true client/server architecture.
Comprised of two main components, servers and viewers, this efficient architecture is scalable from a single-node HMI to a multinode, networked system. One may start small then easily add servers and viewers without having to replicate the point database from node to node. This significantly reduces the time and effort required to implement and maintain a system.
The servers collect and distribute the system data. They share data while providing users with a realtime view of the processes being monitored. Cimplicity's viewers, on the other hand, allow users to view and interact with the data distributed by the server, plus perform control actions.
The HMI (human machine interface) consolidates the collection of data from the facility's sensors and devices, and then transforms the data into dynamic text, alarm and graphic displays. It gives users access to realtime information, helping them make appropriate decisions to improve quality, productivity and, ultimately, profitability.
Open systems
Cimplicity's HMI also connects to enterprise-level systems. It permits the distribution of production requirements to the shop floor and feedback production results. This two-way information flow helps the user to construct an integrated plant floor information system. With MES applications and remote, web and wireless products, it extends the reach of a monitoring and control system to a large number of users.
The product is available in 50 (nonnetworked), 75, 150, 300, 700, 35 000 and unlimited I/O count servers. I/O count is based on actual device points collected by the node. Virtual points (points which reside in the computer's memory) are not counted. For added flexibility, any Cimplicity HMI system can access points from another system. Points accessed from other systems do not count towards the total I/O count. Viewers do not directly collect I/O and there is no limit to the number of points they can display.
Development and runtime systems
Development systems allow the user to design, create and run new projects while runtime systems allow the user to run projects created by development systems.
Establishing system requests
First-time customers will need to start with a Cimplicity Development Server to develop or modify their project and application. For a single-node application, a Development Server is all that is needed; this server can even run that project.
If there are several areas or applications, they can be created or modified on a Development Server, then deployed on runtime servers. Runtime servers allow the running of copies of projects that were created on a Development Server and are well suited for OEMs and users with multinode systems.
Adding users requires the presence of a Cimplicity server before considering the purchase of viewers. To modify an existing project without physically going to the Development Server, a Cimplicity development viewer is required. The Cimplicity Workbench provides an integrated development environment that supports what are called the 'power tools'. Together, they can significantly reduce integration time, resulting in lower project implementation and maintenance costs. Patterned after the Microsoft Windows Explorer, the Workbench provides a new perspective on the configuration, providing more power and flexibility.
The hierarchy of objects and folders is designed to help organise the user's power tools into groups. For example, the devices and ports associated with device communications are logically grouped into a single folder.
Drag-and-drop
With the Workbench's drag-and-drop capabilities, developing, testing and maintaining projects is made easy. One simply drags points of interest from the user's list of configured points, and then drops them into the screens or the Cimplicity point control panel.
As the user enters configuration information into the displayed fields, the progressive disclosure feature automatically displays additional configuration fields as appropriate. For example, selecting to log information on a point, additional fields are displayed, allowing the user to select logging criteria.
Intelligent defaults are provided for certain configuration fields. This feature, combined with a basic/advanced and the progressive disclosure features, is an example of the current state of the art. The Cimplicity power tools are a comprehensive set of monitoring and control software tools. They consist of software options and ActiveX objects that provide the functionality needed to construct and integrate from the simplest up to the most demanding applications. These power tools work within the open system framework of Cimplicity HMI and are built to the latest industry standards.
CimEdit and CimView provide an intuitive package that makes system design, configuration and operation simple. The Windows interface allows the user to be productive with no complex set-up, installation or programming to learn, delivering crisp graphics and effective animation.
CimEdit makes it easy to draw screens that accurately depict the production process. It enables the importing of OLE and Windows Metafile objects, plus ActiveX objects like trending, SPC charts and alarm viewers. Third-party OLE and ActiveX objects such as Excel spreadsheets and charts, bitmaps, video clips and sound files can also be included.
Toolbars help users create and modify their screens. Once objects are created, they can easily be resized, rotated or moved. After the objects are placed on the screen, they can be aligned automatically with a configurable grid or in groups spaced evenly or in relation to each other.
Double-clicking on an object will bring up its property pages. These pages specify animation attributes, including rotation, fill, movement, colour and text annunciation, geometry, scaling, events, procedures and scripts.
Functionality within CimEdit includes the following:
* Interactive, dynamic configuration that permits the addition or modification or live point configuration data from anywhere within CimEdit without shutting down.
* A point browser dialogue box allows access to any Cimplicity point on the entire network as well as being able to use that point to animate an object.
* Frame animation is a compound object that allows the user to define a series of frames. Each frame can consist of different objects and is displayed based on the value of an expression. As a result, areas of the screen can change like a slide show.
* Metafile import lets the user copy and paste Windows Metafile objects produced by programs like AutoCAD and PowerPoint into CimEdit. The imported images can be decomposed into Cimplicity objects. They can also be fully animated, unlike bitmap imports, which remain single, static objects.
* On-line help offers comprehensive, indexed documentation.
* Object help can be configured for any object on the screen and easily accessed at runtime by users.
* Dynamic screen testing allows the testing of screen editing changes in CimEdit without changing the original screen. By using the test button on the standard menu bar, users can automatically start CimView window to view the edits without committing to them.
Symbols and SmartObjects library
An extensive library of symbols, and the powerful SmartObjects feature, mean creating and maintaining a system is made easy. SmartObjects enables users to create their own custom objects and easily drag-and-drop them into screens from the Cimplicity Object Explorer. Once the objects are dropped, the user is automatically prompted to enter the required configuration information. It is also possible to construct objects that automatically create a complete point configuration.
Linked objects
When the same object is to be used on multiple screens, time and money is saved by using linked objects. The user creates a master object and then drops and links it into the screens created. Changes to the master object will be replicated to all linked objects. If that object or its animation ever needs changing, one would simply modify the master and those changes will automatically be reflected throughout the system.
Linked scripts
Scripts can be linked to objects. So if a script is associated to a master object, it is replicated in all the linked objects. If the script ever needs changing, editing the master object will change all the linked objects as well. In this way, the system does a lot to ease the workload of the user.
Object model
Using OLE automation, the Object model offers an extensive external programming interface for CimEdit and CimView. The user can automatically create and modify any screen using CimEdit features and enjoy complete control of CimView from either a script embedded in CimView or from any Visual Basic application. The Object model greatly reduces the time required to create new systems based on design and requisition data. If many similar screens are needed, a Visual Basic program can be written to automatically generate them. (Think along the lines of how macros work in typical office word processors, or spreadsheets.)
CimView
This is the 'engine' - the graphics runtime portion of Cimplicity HMI, CimView, gives life to the features used in CimEdit. In CimView, process information is displayed in both text and graphic formats. Alarms, video clips, pop-up windows and animation features transform process data into formats that are more tangible to the user, this information becomes more valuable, as it can now help the users make more informed decisions.
Cimplicity is a product of GE Fanuc, and is marketed and distributed in South Africa by Contel Plus.
Contel Plus
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