SCADA

SCADA

Industrial processes need some control and monitoring to make sure the process results are within specifications and human interface for suitable changes the process, if so required. In order to acquire data through reliable systems, maintain efficiency, and have trustworthy communication (data interchange) between systems, it is necessary to have a scientific and methodical software system. SCADA is one such system that helps determine whether all the processes are in-line.

What is SCADA?

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) is a system made up of software and hardware components that enables monitoring and control of industrial processes and gathering and processing of real-time data. SCADA is a system of software and hardware elements that allows industrial organizations to directly interact with devices such as sensors, valves, pumps, motors, PLCs and human-machine interface (HMI) through software.

SCADA Applications

The uses of SCADA technology are vast. Several industries require the various monitoring and control capabilities that SCADA offers. In most uses, SCADA is used to manage a physical process (Manufacturing, Power systems, Power distribution plants and water processing are common). In other uses of the word "SCADA", a telecom or IT system of communications is being managed instead. In industrial plants, SCADA processes and controls the working of the industrial machinery. Where manual controls aren’t enough; these multiple mechanisms are controlled by SCADA. For any industrial plants, SCADA uses temperature, flow, proximity, humidity sensors to collect data and send it to the microcontroller that is interfaced with the PC. In case of any failures, an AV alarm is generated from the PC. SCADA makes these mechanisms economical and safe, saving a lot of costs using timely alarms.

    SCADA system contains different modules

  • OPC Server
  • A Database (To store all the acquired data)
  • Control System
  • Data logging System
  • Alarm System

    • These Modules are typically separate Modules because they should be able to run on different computers in a network (distributed).

What is Modbus Protocol?

Modbus Protocol developed by Modicon in 1979 is a messaging structure used to establish master-slave communication between intelligent devices. It is one of the most widely used network protocol in the industrial manufacturing environment. Modbus is used in multiple master-slave applications in order to monitor and program devices to establish a communication between intelligent devices, sensors and instruments. It is also used to monitor field-devices using PCs and HMIs. Modbus can also be ideally used in applications that require wireless communication for e.g. RTU applications.

Modbus TCP/IP Protocol

A set of layered protocols; TCP/IP is the common transport protocol of the internet. It provides a very reliable data transport mechanism between machines. Modbus combines a versatile, scalable and a very universal physical network- Ethernet, which is a universal networking standard.

ez consultants’ customized SCADA

Making optimal use of SCADA, we provide customized PC-based solutions to communicate between devices. Due to openness, ez consultants’ prefer emulating the original Modbus RTU/ ASCII protocol, or Modbus TCP/IP protocol. Some of the advantages of using ez consultants’ SCADA are as follows-

  • Choice of Protocol Depending on PLC model used by the end client, we support both Modbus RTU/ ASCII protocol or Modbus TCP/IP protocol
  • Customer Protocol Emulation ez consultants’ can emulate customer specific protocol
  • Cost Compared to standard SCADA packages, ez consultants’ SCADA is cheaper & reports fully customized.
  • Simplicity Modbus TCP/IP simplifies the complex and takes the Modbus instruction sets and wraps TCP/IP around it
  • Standard Ethernet Ethernet port 502 is reserved for the Modbus TCP/IP protocol. One can use standard PC Ethernet cards to talk to your newly implemented device.
  • Availability on many devices Adaptability and versatility makes Modbus the most preferred choice. These characteristics give interoperability amid different vendors’ devices and compatibility with a large base of Modbus –compatible devices.