Wonderware introduces the SuiteVoyager Series of "thin" products for control via the Internet
Wonderware's ACT products are designed to help companies integrate critical, real-time plant floor data captured by Wonderware's FactorySuite and MaintenanceSuite platforms with the rest of their business enterprise operations.
SuiteVoyager supplies a scalable, extensible, and multi-lingual manufacturing information "portal" to the world of industrial automation enabling companies to harness data from all of their plant real-time and historical data sources in a secure and consistent manner.
A portal is simply a Website that offers a doorway to additional information about a specific topic. From a technical standpoint, the SuiteVoyager manufacturing information portal is a system of integrated programs designed to make it easier for a user to find information. The purpose of these integrated programs is to offer convenience and a community for specific information. This strategy also enables users to locate information quickly as opposed to going to several different places using different sets of tools to find the information.
SuiteVoyager 1.0 allows users to visualize plant floor information coming from Wonderware InTouch systems, InTouch and AlarmSuite Alarm databases, I/O servers, and IndustrialSQL historian over the intranet/Internet with simply a browser such as Internet Explorer 5+.
The portal interface provides a secure framework, common navigation method, and user-friendly GUI for delivering access to factory floor information. The portal interface offers users an organized, personalized view of factory floor information without requiring knowledge of Website construction or design.
The architecture has been designed for scalability and centralized administration with customizable sections that allow integration with Websites, corporate applications, reports, and resources. The portal provides additional services including single sign-on and portal search capability.
According to the company, the SuiteVoyager portal is not merely a "thin" graphic view of factory floor HMI supervisory systems but also provides:
- An integrated Website or portal for many types of factory floor data.
- A portal that is easy to install and requires no prior Web knowledge or knowledge of specific Website building tools.
- Scalability - with the use of new "made-for-the-Web" technologies like XML (eXtensible Mark-up Language), Web servers can be immediately scaled for greater than 300+ "casual" users. No re-engineering is required to add new data sources, analysis tools, or HMI windows.
- Information management - companies can manage this new level of casual user by controlling the type of access and their method of accessing information.
- Analysis tools - the casual user may need an additional level of analysis beyond the typical HMI windows. The SuiteVoyager portal allows the integration in a single framework with these additional tools.
- Reports - the casual user may need summary information in the form of reports. In its premier release, SuiteVoyager allows HTML reports to be linked directly to the portal.
- Documents - The premier release of SuiteVoyager will allow maintenance and control engineers to access online documents and forms.
- Performance - by taking advantage of new Internet technologies like XML, users no longer need to wait for long periods of time while components download to the client. Access to components including HMI windows is immediate.
- Security - no compromise has been made on security. Companies can feel secure when using SuiteVoyager over the Internet as well as an intranet. Firewalls do not need to be opened. Access can be fully controlled and managed.
- Extensibility - not only has the portal been designed for multiple data handlers like DDE, SuiteLink, OPC, XML, and ADO, but also Portals themselves can be linked.
SuiteVoyager's "thin" architecture means less duplication of data
SuiteVoyager in its initial release will sit on top of the Factory Control Ethernet. It will use InTouch View, I/O Servers, IndustrialSQL Server, and the AlarmSuite or InTouch alarm database as its data providers.
In previous architectures, client tools would have needed to be loaded on each of the desktop clients or casual users. Each of these components would have needed to be maintained and updated on each computer. These tools were often a duplication of data already stored in the supervisory HMI system.
Another benefit of the portal concept is that it centralizes all of the tools and data. Everything can be maintained from the portal. There is less duplication of data and users have a common method for looking at all types of information.
SuiteVoyager: the next generation of "thin" process graphics
SuiteVoyager introduces a new generation in process graphics designed specifically for use by "thin" browser-based clients. With the advent of thin-client computing, it is desirable for packets of information sent out via an intranet/Internet to be as succinct and compact as possible. Traditional graphics have always been large files and taken long periods of time to download.
SuiteVoyager delivers interactive HTML pages by converting existing InTouch graphic windows and associated animation to XML, applying an XSL translation (Extensible Style Language) and rendering VML (Vector Mark-up Language) graphics on the fly at the client machine. It also will automatically provide connections to their data sources. These new XML-based graphics with client-based graphics rendering reduces the amount of information to be transported between client and server by as much as 80%.
Conversion of InTouch Windows to an XML format also now enables windows to be dynamically scalable. Browser windows can be re-sized and the InTouch window will dynamically re-size with it.
SuiteVoyager features a configurable/customizable framework
The complete portal framework has been pre-configured for the factory automation user. Typical users will be provided with log-on dialogs, intuitive navigation to converted HMI windows, reports, documents, alarms, and history information.
The user also will be provided with the convenience of single sign-on and an InTouch "Tagname" search capability. No prior knowledge of building Websites or of Website building software is required.
The installation of SuiteVoyager creates a default factory portal that can be used in two modes: user and configuration. The administrator of the system can configure users, data providers, licenses, and system and portal parameters including security, alarm queries, and folders for converted graphic windows.
Unless a user has administrative privileges he will not even see the administrative section of the portal.
Edited by Jim Lardear
Managing Editor, PlantAutomation.com