Aveva Edge/Indusoft to Ignition Conversion
One of Corso Systems’ clients uses equipment from Magnaflux, a company based in the Chicago, Illinois area. Magnaflux uses Aveva Edge (formerly named Indusoft) as the software for the HMI (Human Machine Interface) so that an operator can run the equipment. In this case study, the equipment is a magnetic particle inspection machine for quality control testing steel pipe fittings.
The end user customer has an all-encompassing Ignition SCADA system for their facility, and wanted to incorporate the Magnaflux units into their overall SCADA strategy. This project included converting the Aveva Edge projects to Ignition, interfacing with Allen Bradley Micrologix 800 series PLCs for each of the three Magnaflux machines, networking everything together and commissioning the new system.
Technology Summary
Aveva Edge
OnLogic Panel PC with touchscreens
Datalogic Barcode Scanners
Allen Bradley Micrologix 800 series PLCs
Microsoft SQL Server
Inductive Automation’s Ignition SCADA Platform
Sepasoft’s MES Modules
Netsuite ERP Suit
Implementation Summary
Corso Systems got to work once the machines were commissioned by Magnaflux using their in-house HMI solution running on OnLogic Panel PCs with a touchscreen and interfacing with Allen Bradley Micrologix 800 series PLCs.
We took backups of the PLC program and HMI program from each of two identical units and for the third unit which had an expanded feature set. Our engineers then worked with our internally developed conversion tools to build the tag and alarm database in Ignition. Then we poured through the screens to understand all of the graphics and scripting functionality.
Ignition’s features gave us an advantage while simplifying the overall project. We leveraged User Defined Types or UDTs to simplify the data structures. After finding identical scripts on each window in the Aveva Edge application, we remade them into project level script libraries in Ignition. The project level scripts in Aveva Edge were moved into Event Scripts in Ignition. With Tag Change scripts in Ignition, we were also able to simplify a lot of the Aveva Edge scripting in general.
The client has a very well defined style guide for all of their software applications. While we were able to convert all of the functionality 1:1, with a lot of improvements, we also re-designed the user interface to match the guidelines in the client’s SCADA standards document.
We also built out a recipe system so they could manage recipes through Ignition without having to call out Magnaflux technicians like they had to before.
The PLC code was unchanged, but we needed to update the IP addresses on the PLCs and PCs so everything could communicate with the corporate Ignition gateway.
Once the projects were converted, we loaded the Ignition Client Launcher onto each panel PC, updated IP addresses for everything, and performed a full commissioning process to verify that the new system worked seamlessly.
Results
Completing this project gave the customer a fully integrated set of quality control test equipment. All of the tests performed by the operators are stored in a database for increased visibility when combining test data with production reports on the parts tested.
The operators could now take advantage of an identical look and feel to all of the other machines used throughout the facility. The robust recipe management system that was already in place across the entire plant was implemented on the Magnaflux machines, giving the production team much more flexibility in the operation.
Ready to convert your legacy SCADA system? Contact us with your project details, or skip the line and schedule a meeting with Cody Johnson in sales to get started NOW.
