Production Management System – PMS

Monitoring Data Systems (MDS)

A set of applications for the visualization and monitoring of data measured on production systems. Compatible with different data sources due to the modular system of parsing incoming data. Monitoring data systems collect various data from different data sources into a central data store (typically database). Monitoring systems is designed as a client-server architecture, which allows data validation, value range checking, defined dependency values and processing of automatized and scheduled tasks.

Besides data collection, monitoring systems provide data analysis, report generation, statistical information, production information, post-processing of data using a desktop application, a web application and communication with other corporate software via web services.

Typical tasks:

• Collection of data from different data sources, values and events, special values (calculated values, value with limits, multi-level alarms)
• Advanced notifications via email or sms (scheduled tasks, values, alarms, events, …)
• Management and control of regular maintenance
• Data processing
• Statistical overview
• Data presentation in different types of graphs and tables

Owner business:

• Give to the customer and overview of the current state of processes
• Minimize the failure-to-fix time
• Minimize effort needed to localize failure and to find the source of failure
• Have shortest possible failure reaction times
• Have overview of maintenance and service costs
• Have overview of current status
• Have overview of all failure reports

Monitoring systems based on stable and reliable technologies:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2008
• Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and newer
• Oracle Database 10g and newer

PPM (Solar Power Plant Monitoring)

The Solar Power Plant Monitoring (PPM) system is a global system for visualization and monitoring of distributed Solar Power Plants from different vendors. The main focus of the system is to establish a dispatching center for quick response to the failure of a Solar Power Plant. The system will allow customers to overview their power plants via the World Wide Web using a web based application.

The monitoring system of solar power plants has two main parts:

The whole system is designed in a way that all activities associated with power plant operation are made under the dispatchers control, which plans maintenance and service of the power plant in case of its failure.

Dispatcher

The power plant is monitored by the dispatcher who performs several tasks.

• Continuously monitors the power plant (inverters, sensors and electrical parts)
• Evaluates the legitimacy of the alarms caused by the power plant operation
• If necessary calls the service organization
• Writes reports and billing information
• Plans maintenance (maintains and controls the power plant)

Customer web application

• Main operating data (performance, revenues, exposure, …)
• Alarms
• Alarm Reports (technical solution and related service costs)
• Maintenance Reports

Dispatcher

The Dispatcher application serves for power plant monitoring. The dispatcher can monitor alarms and events occurring at power plants. The user can follow values from power plants in different graphics and manage service and maintenance reports. The dispatcher can also monitor important values through the internet on web pages.

Monitored data can be showed as:

• Power plant information
• Reports
• Alarms
• Time graph (Chart T), value graph (Chart V), table

The Dispatcher application allows the dispatcher to monitor and check values and manage generated events and/or alarms. The alarms list contains basic information about alarms and their severity shown by a background color. The system allows 5 levels of alarm severity. Alarms and events can be variously defined: calculated, manually described and measured (source events).

Sunny Guard System – Web application for customers

The web application for customers allows using all the advantages of the internet and World Wide Web to have their power plant under control 24/7. It shows the actual state of the power plant and selected values. The customer also can compare aggregated values in time and download values to a local PC in csv format for advanced analysis.

Mobile client

Technologies and software

All parts of this application are based on Microsoft© technologies. The Administrator, Dispatcher and Web application are developed in Microsoft© tools.

LabVIEW Instrument Drivers

LabVIEW™ instrument drivers package instrument capabilities as a set of standard VIs. Each VI corresponds to a programmatic operation, such as configuring, reading from, writing to, and triggering the instrument.

LabVIEW™ instrument drivers reduce test program development time and simplify instrument control by eliminating the need to learn the complex, low-level programming protocol for each instrument.

The drivers are written in G, the graphical programming language of LabVIEW™, so the block diagram source code can be examined and modified.

The source code is included with all drivers. The drivers are easy-to-use icons to combine into higher level test programs.
The VXI Plug&Play Systems Alliance has endorsed LabVIEW™ instrument drivers as a core technology and the basis for industry standardization. LabVIEW™ can automatically detect and load any VXI Plug&Play driver that is installed on the system.

ELCOM, a. s., Division of Virtual Instrumentation is one of the major suppliers of instrument drivers for world leading instrument manufacturers. LabVIEW™ instrument drivers developed by ELCOM, a. s., Test & Measurement are available at Rohde&Schwarz driver library and National Instruments driver library.

Labwindows/CVI Instrument Drivers

A LabWindows/CVI™ instrument driver is a set of high-level, intuitive functions for controlling a GPIB, VXI, serial, or other instrument.

Instrument drivers not only save programming time and effort but also apply an important modular coding structure to test programs. By isolating instrument I/O operations within driver functions, the user can easily interchange instruments without being forced to rewrite large portions of programs.

The VXI Plug&Play Systems Alliance has endorsed LabWindows/CVI™ instrument drivers as a core technology and the basis for industry standardization. ELCOM, a. s., Test & Measurement is one of the major suppliers of instrument drivers for world leading instrument manufacturers.

The LabWindows/CVI™ instrument drivers developed in ELCOM, a. s., Test & Measurement are available at the National Instruments driver library.

Custom Device Drivers

The Custom device driver is used to control nonstandard devices or to standardize a device’s API (for instance the driver can implement the GigE Vision interface to camera, which does not natively support GigE Vision standard). Either standardized or tailor made API allows the integration of a custom device to any other tool and programming environment (for instance implement support for a particular camera in imaging software, like MetaMorph, ImageJ and ImagePro Premier).

If a pure software solution is not suitable for any reason, a hardware interface is possible to be delivered. For instance, if a conversion of an older protocol, utilizing RS232 needs to be converted to a newer protocol utilizing USB, a hardware box might be a convenient solution, if the controller cannot use a USB.

Such a driver not only saves time and effort, but also corrects the modular, layered structure of the test program, in which it is utilized.

IVI.NET Instrument Drivers

IVI (Interchangeable Virtual Instruments) is a new architecture for building advanced instrument drivers. IVI instrument drivers are designed to handle the more rigorous requirements of production test systems for speed, flexibility, and long-term reusability.

With IVI, hardware and protocol (GPIB, VXI, and RS-232) independent test programs can be built to preserve the investment in test software, instruments and instrumentation platform changes. In addition to interchangeability, IVI drivers provide instrument simulation and high-speed state caching.

ELCOM, a. s., Test & Measurement has a team of developers working on IVI instrument drivers in close collaboration with National Instruments. The IVI instrument drivers developed in ELCOM, a. s., Test & Measurement are available at the National Instruments driver library.

Instrumentation is used from renowned manufacturers – Siemens, ABB, Schneider Electric, Finder, OEZ, Wieland, Weidmüller, Wago and others.

Special low voltage switchgear

Switchboards requiring special protection and switchboards with high requirements for ensuring electromagnetic compatibility of individual components and blocks of the switchboard (power, switching and safety elements, control machines, control computers, battery sources, etc.), or ensuring electromagnetic compatibility of the entire industrial distribution system (use of special power wires and cables).