In order to set up the 'Step Time Analysis' dashboard within the Performance Insights application, it is essential to understand the flow of data across the system. The following diagram illustrates how data is communicated from the PLCs to the IED, and subsequently processed by the Edge applications:
To achieve this data flow, the following configurations will be explained:
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OPC UA Connector: Configure the OPC UA Connector to establish communication with PLC 1 and PLC 2. Ensure that the OPC UA servers on these PLCs are set up to allow for data exchange.
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S7 Connector: Set up the S7 Connector to facilitate data transfer from PLC 3, PLC 4 and PLC 5 using the S7+ protocol.
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Databus Configuration: Integrate the MQTT-Broker to allow for a seamless data flow from the OPC UA and S7 Connectors to the higher-level Industrial Edge Applications.
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IIH Essentials: Install and configure the IIH Essentials application to ensure that the core industrial data from your PLCs can be effectively harnessed and utilized by the IED. This setup is crucial for enabling comprehensive data collection and subsequent analysis within the Performance Insights application.
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Performance Insights: Within the Performance Insights application, configure the 'Step Time Analysis' feature by linking it to the respective asset models, which reflect the status of the sequential control steps from the PLCs.
This use case contains a TIA project which simulates the process. The project also inclundes a HMI visualization to operate the demonstration process. Download the TIA Portal project here. The first steps are to configure the PLC project and the intruduction into the HMI screens.
- Open TIA portal and open the project containing the car production application (Adapt the PLC type and IP addresses to your system for each PLC and HMI)
- Download the PLC program to the PLCs and set the PLCs into RUN
- Open the HMI to control the car production application
Global Screen:
- Switch between automatic and manual mode of the stations
- Select which car type should be produced
- See which car type is actually in production in each station
- Check status of the stations
- See the calculated and measured production time for each car type
- Start and stop the sequential control system in the stations
- Switch to the screens for every station
Station Screen:
- Switch between automatic and manual mode for the selected station (Only when status is Idle)
- Select the car type with the dropdown menu in manual mode
- After selecting the car type start the sequential control
- Stop and reset the sequential control
- See the status of the station
- See the car type in the station in automatic mode
- Switch to the delay select screen ("Simulate values")
Delay Select Screen:
- Reachable via button “Simulate values” on each station
- Select which step time should be delayed
- When the step is selected, a random time between 0 and 10 seconds is added to the step
We are now switching to the Edge part of this use case. Each of the following steps are done in the Industrial Edge system and, as explained in the Data Flow picture above, we use the S7 Connector and OPC UA Connector on the IED to read data from the PLCs and provide the data. Then, the data is sent via the connectors to the Databus, where the IIH Essentials can use the information for enabling comprehensive data collection and subsequent analysis within the Performance Insights application.
In order to build this infrastructure, first, these apps must be configured correctly:
- Databus
- OPC UA Connector
- S7 Connector
Go to the IEM UI > "Data Connections", select "Databus" and launch it on the onboarded IED.
When the configurator is open, click on the "plus" icon in the red square to add an user:
Add an user with the topic: ie/#. In this use case we use the credentials "edge" / "edge". The credentials can be chosen freely but must be the same in all system apps. Select "Publish and Subscribe" as permission. And lastly, click "Save".
Then, just click Deploy to apply the changes:
Selct the device to deploy the databus configuration.
In this part, connection with the first two PLCs are established using the OPC UA Connector.
Go to the IEM UI > "Data Connections", select "OPC UA Connector" and launch it on the onboarded IED.
Add a new data source for PLC1 with the OPC UA connector by clicking on "Add Data Source":
Enter your OPC Server (PLC1) details as shown in the image and click "Add":
Add the needed tags (this can be done by browsing or adding them manually). In this case, click on the "browse tags" icon:
The "active" variables of the individual steps are those that are in DB_HMI and named with DB_HMI.ARG1_Seq1_S1 to DB_HMI.ARG1_Seq1_S19. These variables indicate if the respective steps are active right now. Also add the string variable for the product DB_Process_Var.Car_Type_inProduction_Text.
Repeat the same process for the PLC2.
Edit the databus settings:
Hint: Username and password should be the same as was set in the IE Databus configuration, e.g., "edge" / "edge".
Deploy the OPC UA Connector by clicking "Deploy". After deployment the "Bus Adaptor" and the "Data Source" status of both PLCs should have green icon:
If any issue is presented when configuring the OPC UA Connector, check documentation.
In this section, the communication with the third, fourth and fifth PLCs are configured using the S7 Connector; however, the communication is set up with the S7+ protocol.
Let's start with the PLC3 configuration. Go to the IEM UI > "Data Connections", select "S7 Connector" and launch it on the onboarded IED.
Add a new data source for PLC3 with the S7 Connector by clicking on "Add Data Source":
Enter your PLC3 details as shown in the image and click "Add":
Use the browse feature to add the same tags as in previous PLCs, similar to the method used during the OPC UA Connector configuration:
Now, repeat the same procedure for the fourth and fifth PLC.
Before deploying the connector, edit the databus settings:
Hint: Username and password should be the same as was set in the IE Databus configuration, e.g., "edge" / "edge".
Deploy the S7 Connector by clicking "Deploy". After deployment the "Bus Adaptor" and the "Data Source" status of all PLCs should have green icon:
Steps are created for an asset as aspects in IIH Essentilas and automatically applied in Performance Insight. An asset represents, for this example, a car production "Station" and for each asset the aspects represents the steps.
Performance Insight use this structure of assets and aspects to visualize the data in a later step. Open the web interface of your IED and launch the IIH Essentials app.
Firstly, Databus needs to be configured on IIH Essentials. To do that go to IED UI > Apps, open IIH Essentials and go to "Settings" > "Databus Settings", click on the edit icon:
Enter the needed data and click save.
Secondly, connectors need to be configured on IIH Essentials. To achive this, go to "Connectors" tab and click the "OPC UA Connector" and "S7 Connector" and it should be activated by default:
If the connector is not in active state, select the connectors and click the edit icon on the top right to open the connector configuration tab and switch the "Status" to active:
The status of both connectors must be "Active" and the connector indicator shows "Connected":
Now, both connectors are correctly configured on IIH Essentials.
Click on the icon "Assets & Connectivity" on the left bar. Add a child asset called "Manufacturing Process" for the main "edge" asset by clicking on the '+' icon:
Select the child asset "Manufacturing Process" and click this '+' icon to add 5 subassets from "station1" to "station5"
Now, it's time to create the steps (aspects) that will be displayed in the Step Time Analysis dashboard on Performance Insights app.
For that, there are two predefined aspect types available within IIH Essentials (only available in standalone version of IIH Essentials):
- sca.initial-step
- sca.step
sca.initial-step
This aspect type is typically used for the very first step, which is the starting point for each sequence. It can only be used once per asset. This type covers two variables:
- ActiveState (Boolean)
- Product (String)
Important: Step durations below 100ms will not be recognized as initial step and dashboard will not be created!
sca.step
This aspect type is used for all other steps within the sequence.It covers one variable:
- ActiveState (Boolean)
All defined aspect variables need to be mapped to a dedicated parameter from the PLC:
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ActiveState: status of the step's activity (Boolean) > mandatory for calculating the step duration times
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Product: name of the product that is tracked (String) > will later be available in the dashboard drop down list for selecting the product
Create the aspects
For each station, Step 2 is designated as the initial step. To do this, go to Station 1, click the '+' icon > type > Aspects > Add Aspect:
- Name = "Step 2"
- Type = Aspect
- Aspect type = sca.initial-step
Open the Advanced settings:
- Link type = Composition (mandatory!)
- Click Add to save the aspect
For the remaining steps (3rd to 11th), assign the 'step' aspect type:
- Name = "Step 3"
- Type = Aspect
- Aspect type = sca.step
Open the Advanced settings:
- Link type = Composition (mandatory!)
- Click Add to save the aspect
Link the variables created during aspect addition with their respective asset tags. For the initial step (Step 2), two variables were created. Link the 'ActiveState' variable to its corresponding status tag DB_HMI.ARG1_Seq1_S2 on the asset connectivity tab:
Link the variable "Product" to the tag DB_Process_Var.Car_Type_inProduction_Text on the asset connectivity tab, choose the sorce type as connector and click change to select the tag from OPC UA Connector on PLC_1:
For the remaining steps (3rd to 11th), similarly link the 'ActiveState' variable to its respective tag, just as you did for Step 2. After this, all steps be in "connected" state:
Repeat this process for every station.
After finishing the configuration of the IIH Essentials, open the Performance Insight application on the IED. With this appliation it is possible to get information about the duration of defined steps and observe limits of individual steps and sequences.
The asset structure that was created in IIH Essentials can also be found in Performance Insight. Perform an asset reload, in case the app was already open. Then click on the "My Plant" icon and select the dedicated asset where the aspects were created. An auto-generated "Step Time Analysis" dashboard is available:
Open the 'Step Time Analysis' dashboard to enter the overview page. If the TIA Portal project has been uploaded to the PLCs and the program initiated on the HMI, data should now display on the dashboard:
Here's a more detailed overview of the functions for the buttons and elements on the Step Time Analysis dashboard:
- Select a product for which the step time analysis is to be displayed
- Switch the trend view
- Select between "Actual" and "Planned" steps
- Execution time of the faulty sequences
- Displaying the steps with highest fault rate
- Select a period for which the step time analysis is to be displayed
- Switch to the limit definition in the Step Time Analysis configuration
- Sequence overview: Display and selection of a specific sequence for detailed display
- Sequence details: Displaying all sequences and defined steps in the selected period; when selecting a single step, the Trend view of the step opens
In this instance, a single sequence has occurred at Station1, as depicted in the graphic above. Now, limits need to be defined in the Step Time Analysis configuration tab:
In the "Limits" column (yellow square), set the values for the planned and actual duration of the respective step. When the value is exceeded, the step is evaluated as faulty.
Under "Overview" (green square), you can automatically assign a limit to all steps using a mathematical function:
- Decide whether to assign the automatic limit to the actual, planned or all step limits
- From the drop-down menu, you select the minimum or the maximum as initial value of the step
- As the factor, you specify a percentage that is added to the initial value
- Click "Apply to all steps"
A limit is calculated for selected steps on the basis of the respective limit values and entered in the corresponding column for limit values. To save the changes and switch to the dashboard view, click "Save". If you want to continue working in the same view after saving, click "Save & Continue". To exit the view without saving, click "Cancel".