In this first installment of Power Hour, Application Engineering Managers from Inductive Automation will share the inner workings of how IA built the Ignition public demo, offering expert development strategies and tips and tricks for Ignition Perspective along the way.
Learn about your options for device simulation, including the new simulator in Ignition, SFCs, and connecting to emulated PLCs. As always, this is also an open Q&A, where we can also discuss any other Ignition related topics.
There are a variety of limiting factors with traditional hands-on equipment training. Most pieces of equipment are not built for the constant repetition required in a classroom or hands-on training environment. In most cases, the number of students exceeds the available equipment — so training is often done in stages rather than in sequence. In addition, valuable and strategic training time is often restricted by the setup and tear-down time. Weather delays are a continual problem for in-the-field, hands-on training. The use of hazardous chemicals and disposal are of real concern as well as the filling and phasing on and off of various component systems such as hydraulics or tank fills. These are all issues that limit the actual training time.
By creating an exact duplication of the actual system or process, the Guild Training Simulator sets a new standard in equipment training. The Guild Training Simulator — engineered to the exact specifications of the original piece of equipment — gives both the instructor and trainee virtual product accessibility where they can gain hands-on experience before they ever activate a switch.
This project runs two clients that act as one training simulator over two PCs with one gateway. We also have two applications on the system, which can be switched between using a VBA program that was custom-made.
The training simulators allow for easier training for the military. Training is no longer restricted by weather or limitations of equipment. The system is also portable and can be loaded on any PC. This will make training more effective for a larger audience. Training is now more efficient and less costly. It’s portable and easy to use.
Other departments in the Army are interested in this type of training. Also, a maintenance mode is being considered, with an emphasis on how to troubleshoot hardware issues. There is also a possibility of applying this type of simulated training to other industries where training is needed.
End User Description
Guild Associates is a world-class expert in diverse areas such as adsorption (both materials and processes), catalysts, and biotechnology sensors. We have a proven history of executing basic research and then delivering products that practically and efficiently utilize that research to solve difficult problems. For the military, Guild Associates is focused on improving the life of the warfighter. Guild Associates' products protect warfighters from chemical and biological warfare agents, efficiently launder their clothes wherever they are deployed, and enable Mortuary Affairs to respectfully preserve the remains of those who make the ultimate sacrifice.
MartinCSI is an engineering services company focused on the design and integration of industrial control systems. MartinCSI’s services include electrical engineering design, implementation, documentation and support services for motion controls, vision, HMIs, process controls, data collection and upgrades of legacy systems. Founded in 1988, MartinCSI serves clients in a broad range of manufacturing and process facilities including automotive, pharmaceutical, OEM, and food and beverage packaging plants throughout the Midwest and southeastern United States. MartinCSI has been a CSIA Member since 1997 and has continuously maintained CSIA certification since 2002.</br></br>
<b>Website:</b> <a href=" http://www.martincsi.com/" target="_blank">www.martincsi.com</a>
This was a control systems upgrade for the space simulator, which is a joint venture of the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the California Institute of Technology. The space simulator is a large chamber for testing spacecraft. It simulates conditions in space, including the heat and light of the sun, and extremely low temperatures. The chamber houses the world’s largest mirror. Vacuum pumps and other equipment can create a vacuum effect within the chamber, which is 60 feet high and 25 feet in diameter.
Trimax engineers, working with JPL engineers, decided to upgrade the redundant GE 90/70 PLC-based control solution with the latest GE RX3i redundant platform. This allowed for minimal wiring changes along with minimal downtime and process interruptions.
The new system employs about 2,000 digital input and output points along with 750 analog input and output points spread across redundant RX3i CPUs. Each CPU along with its redundant counterpart is networked using Ethernet-based ProfiNET communications.
The SCADA upgrade was where the most improvement was made. It was decided to replace the aging silk screen graphic panels and Wonderware-based system with an Ignition-based system.
Upgrading to Ignition allowed Trimax to deploy new features such as:
Alarm Notifications and announcements via the standard Ignition alarm management module along with additional scripting. Special scripts and dlls were created to convert alarm text to wav files used for alarm announcements.
Standard Ignition modules for security and user management to create and maintain secure access to the system.
Redundant servers and software modules were used to increase uptime and performance.
Because of the graphic capabilities of Ignition, Trimax was able to create elaborate and user-specific overviews for the simulator using built-in images and user-specific images to the Ignition Image Directory.
Overviews were used which include various templates which among other indicators show process flow. UDTs allowed Trimax to change values based on real-time tag values.
Using the standard Ignition PDF viewer, Trimax created file viewer functionality where the user can view system drawings, manuals and operational instructions.
Built-in Ignition functions and objects allowed Trimax to develop a complete device management system that helps the customer maintain the system.
Trimax developed a module that displays usage details of the critical components of the facility such as LN2 consumption, lamp power used, time in chamber, etc. This allows JPL to deliver accurate reports and invoices to their customers.
The latest GE RX3i hardware married to Ignition allowed Trimax to deliver a complete control systems upgrade for JPL/NASA.
End User Description
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in La Cañada Flintridge, California, and Pasadena, California. The JPL is managed by the nearby California Institute of Technology (Caltech) for NASA. The laboratory's primary function is the construction and operation of planetary robotic spacecraft, though it also conducts Earth-orbit and astronomy missions.
Trimax Systems is a control systems engineering firm with over 30 years of control systems integration experience including design, engineering, programming, panel assembly, and industrial network setup and configuration. Trimax has over 80 designers, engineers, programmers, and technicians across three offices: Brea, California.; Orange, California.; and Dallas, Texas, servicing customers and projects located nationally and internationally. Trimax is an Inductive Automation Gold Level Certified Integrator for both SCADA and MES. In 2014, we became the first systems integrator to achieve Ignition MES certification. All of Trimax’s programmers are required to complete and maintain Ignition certification.</br></br>
<b>Website:</b> <a href="http://www.trimaxsystems.com" target="_blank">www.trimaxsystems.com</a>
This project is an operator training simulation for a pulp mill. It is essentially a high fidelity flight simulator for a plant. The Ignition application functions both in a traditional role as the operator interface for the process, as well as being used to manage and track operator training in the form of simulation execution, training scenarios, and performance assessment.
Solution
The Ignition application itself is primarily an HMI for an entire pulp mill. It spans all main process areas, except for the recovery boiler. The application is composed of 71,512 tags, 107 distinct displays, and 2,333 alarms. Parameterized popups are, of course, used extensively and are available for every motor, valve, and control loop. The training functions are built into the same application and are a straightforward database application with SQL Server as the database.
The architecture of the system is very simple; it is delivered as a 5-client standalone system. The process data is provided by an OPC connection to IDEAS dynamic process models. IDEAS is proprietary Andritz software that allows us to build a high fidelity virtual plant. Every piece of field data is an OPC point in the IDEAS model. The model itself is based on a pulp mill which Andritz delivered recently.
The training system is set up in a room at the customer site. With the 5-seat license, it’s meant to allow two operators to train concurrently, as well as having one client reserved for a trainer to monitor their progress, provide feedback, and trigger equipment malfunctions and scenarios. Trainees are able to access the system remotely via their corporate WAN.
The training component of the Ignition project is a database application, which provides specific functions to control the execution of the process model, save and load snapshots, and run scenarios. In a scenario, the plant is loaded to a particular state. Goals for the scenario are defined in advance (like making a certain quantity of product).
Conditions are also provided, such as keeping a particular level above a certain level. If all goals have been met and no conditions have been violated, the operator passes. Records of training are kept and tools are provided to allow for reporting and trainee administration.
Result
The training system also tracks financial performance of the process, by allowing cost functions to be applied to measured values. Consumables are a cost, whereas on-spec product is a positive value. Penalties can also be assigned, like fines for exceeding an emissions target. All of these values are integrated in real time to provide the operator with online indication of the profitability of the plant.
Andritz has been delivering operator training simulators for many years. However, these simulators generally use an emulation of the customer’s DCS, which is typically very expensive. By creating a generic trainer, operators can be trained on the principles of running a plant at a fraction of the cost of a conventional simulator. This system is also meant to be a generic trainer, suitable for many plants and companies. The same application can be sold multiple times over with minimal modification. We therefore treat it as a product, more than a project.
Our future plans for the product are to create similar trainers for other industries, particularly mining. We are also looking at hosting training systems on our servers, to spare our customers the obligation of purchasing and maintaining hardware. Trainees would then connect to the training system via VPN.
All aspects of the simulation plant can be controlled through Ignition.
Andritz Automation’s simulation software gives the ability to keep track of user progress.
Each simulation plant can be designed to the exact specifications of the live plant.
