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What licence do i need for dataFEED OPC Suite?

During and evaluation or upgrade of a Softing dataFEED OPC suite, built into the dataFEED suite is a licence checker, it will show you for the connections you have made; what licences you have enabled on the server including part numbers for those you need to purchase.

Techniques for Building a Picture of the Network

First we can use a protocol analyser to detect high level protocol and network problems. Traditional protocol analysers have always been the reserve of specialists. They mainly consist of a trace buffer which displays all the FDL frames as they pass across the fieldbus. So to get anything from such a tool you need a good understanding of the fieldbus protocol just to understand what you are looking at. To find the problem you then have to wade through pages of packet information using a complex array of filters and trigger options. Meanwhile the production manager is breathing down your neck as the cost of the stoppage is ticking ever upwards. What we really need is an expert tool that does the analysis for you and points straight to the problem.

OPC UA Server Gateway for Siemens SINUMERIK 840D Controllers

10/26/2020

The SINUMERIK 840D sl CNC controller from Siemens is used in a variety of machine tools, e.g. for implementing milling, turning, grinding, nibbling and punching technologies. Here, a central requirement is the further processing of both the control data as well as the NC and drive data within an integrated overall application. In the context of increasing digitalization, the use of open and standardized communication technologies is becoming increasingly important.

So far, however, only the data from the integrated SIMATIC S7 controller could be reused outside the machine tool, while the NC and drive data could not be accessed from outside. Softing's new uaGate 840D gateway now closes this gap and for the first time provides access to the complete machine tool data. This allows important spindle and axis data, such as torque and power consumption, to be read out and processed outside the Siemens world using the OPC UA and MQTT communication technologies. Together with the associated alarms, this data for instance becomes available for condition monitoring, predictive maintenance, data logging or analysis tasks. In addition, this gateway allows to generally integrate the SINUMERIK 840D sl CNC controller into Industry 4.0 applications.

Product Manager Sebastian Schenk summarizes the uaGate 840D development: "In the past, we often received inquiries as to whether we could not use our knowledge of Siemens and the OPC UA standard for a product for SINUMERIK 840D integration. In fact, we have managed to develop this gateway in a very short time. This allows us once again to offer our customers a simple and practical solution for implementing Industry 4.0 applications. Especially, the included preconfigured symbol files allow to setup the data exchange with just a few clicks."

The uaGate 840D gateway from Softing is now available from Hitex in the UK.

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Detecting and Correcting Physical layer Problems

The easiest way to detect and correct PROFIBUS physical layer problems is with a specialized line tester designed for the job. In addition to its protocol analysis features, the BC-600 includes a fully featured line tester - this is the ‘second traffic light’ in the initial health check The BC-600 line tester is designed to help you track down network problems. It can be used to find very subtle and hidden problems on the network and is the key tool to maintaining a running network. Like a multimeter or an oscilloscope it can only report what it is currently measuring and needs you to interpret the results. While this takes some skill and practice there are a few key techniques that will help you track down all common problems.

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