Communication between programmable logic controllers and the warehouse control system
Reshetov, Ilia (2022)
Reshetov, Ilia
2022
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022053113682
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022053113682
Tiivistelmä
Modern industrial automation systems involve dozens of programmable logic controllers (PLCs). These controllers are monitored and controlled by an execution software system that is hosted on an external server. Depending on the arrangement of a certain project's requirements, it may employ PLC from many manufacturers. The process of connecting all of the PLCs to the execution systems becomes fairly difficult as there are so many different communication protocols being used by different manufacturers. Kepware is one company that has developed a software solution called KEPServerEX that addresses this issue. This comprehensive connectivity platform has implemented over 150 PLC drivers.
The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the feasibility of the connectivity software for the commissioning company. To achieve this goal, a test framework that enabled testing of communication was designed. During the course of the project, a legacy application was described to highlight the shortcomings of the existing system. It was indicated that some particular components are required to remain unchanged throughout the migration in order to maintain backward compatibility.
PLC simulation was developed with the help of the Beckhoff TwinCAT software system, and subsequently linked to KEPServerEX with the help of one of the available connection drivers. The IoT Gateway plug-in was then configured to enable REST web service, which allowed communication tags to be read and written into PLC memory. Following that, a Node.js REST client application was developed, which implemented the IoT Gateway API. This application made it possible to browse for the list of available communication tags, as well as read and write into them. All of the names and values of the tags were saved to a relational database so that they would be available for use in business logic of an external software system.
The completion of this thesis led to the development of a functional test framework, which the commission party might eventually use in the process of integrating KEPServerEX into its own software ecosystem. It was found out that the integration procedure for the organization can end up being pretty straightforward since the kepware solution only requires a minimal number of configurations and has a graphical user interface that is easy to comprehend.
The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the feasibility of the connectivity software for the commissioning company. To achieve this goal, a test framework that enabled testing of communication was designed. During the course of the project, a legacy application was described to highlight the shortcomings of the existing system. It was indicated that some particular components are required to remain unchanged throughout the migration in order to maintain backward compatibility.
PLC simulation was developed with the help of the Beckhoff TwinCAT software system, and subsequently linked to KEPServerEX with the help of one of the available connection drivers. The IoT Gateway plug-in was then configured to enable REST web service, which allowed communication tags to be read and written into PLC memory. Following that, a Node.js REST client application was developed, which implemented the IoT Gateway API. This application made it possible to browse for the list of available communication tags, as well as read and write into them. All of the names and values of the tags were saved to a relational database so that they would be available for use in business logic of an external software system.
The completion of this thesis led to the development of a functional test framework, which the commission party might eventually use in the process of integrating KEPServerEX into its own software ecosystem. It was found out that the integration procedure for the organization can end up being pretty straightforward since the kepware solution only requires a minimal number of configurations and has a graphical user interface that is easy to comprehend.