PLCS IS, I, NDUSTR L P S & H
STRIAL PCS & HMIS
FEA
FEAT R E ATURE
Open source industrial mini-computer impro ves effici ency and saves cost Harting IIC MICA (Modular Industry
Har IIC in ce, m (M chite ture) p In id stry
transform factories into smart facto ies, b in
of I tegrated I dustry C
entralmachinemonitoring and process optimisation is a way to
ensure that production lines and their associated constituent partmachinery operatemore effectively and economically . Manymachines in well-established production lines, whichmay be between 15 and 30 years old, can still performtheir main functional tasks successfully,
however, they do somuch less efficiently than theirmodern day counterparts. For example, they don’t have the same level of computing power, enoughmemory capacity to record and store the relevant data, or ability to communicate with their modern equivalents. Inmany cases, these machines also use data formats an d protocols fromthe 1980’s and 1990’s, which are no longer used by today’s PLCs and industrial PCs.
A prime example of a machine that might perform one critical function within a typical production line
environment might be a plastics injection moulding machine. Such machines when well-maintained can reach as much as a 30-year operational life. However, their main operating software protocol woul d almost certainly be no longer supported and virtualisation in the MES
(Manufacturing Execution System), which is a control system for managing and monitoring work-in-process on a factory floor, would neither be economically sensible nor reliable.
An MES keeps track of all
employees Although manufacturin g execution systems used to operate as self-contained systems, they are increasingly being integrated with enterprise resource planning (ERP) software suites. The goal of a
manufacturing information in real time, receiving up-to-the-minute data from robots, machine monitors and .
exi ting m chi ery and systems w th intelligence, making it possible to transform factories into smart
it p ssible to
Computing Architecture) provides existing machinery and systems with intellig
factories, bringing to life the potential of Integrated Industry
to life the poten ial
time, the total time to produce an order.
HARTING’s newMICA (Modular Industrial
Computing Architecture) edge computing device can directly address the above mentioned issues, upgrading older machines by providing a protocol converting gateway to the central
operating software controls of the newer version and at a fraction of the
investment cost of such a newmachine. This is due to the fact that withMICA’s modular open platform, the HARTING IIC MICA permits the user to choose the programming language and development environment according to what they ar e more familiar with. It can create a virtual image of a device or amachine in the digital world. It enablesmodern interfaces for devices whose communications are outdated. Thismeans that you can
convert oldmachine protocols into OPC- UA or MQTT (MQTT is amachine-to- machine (M2M)/Internet of Things
connectivity protocol), in order to connect legacymachines to IoT or MES systems MICA fits virtually anywhere. Wit h dimensions of 13 x 8 x 3.5cm, it is extremely compact and can be fitted directly at the machine or on the DIN rail in the electrical cabinet. MICA is robust, has no fan and is maintenance-free. The system is designed for harsh industrial and railway environments. It can be used in metallic environments and is resistant to dust, moisture and temperature fluctuations (IP67). Remote servicing for the MICA can be performed with a web browse r.
MICA has a modular design
architecture made from open hardware and software components. Unlike single- board computers Raspberry Pi – th
is device is divided into – such as the
manufacturing execution system is to improve productivity and reduce cycle-
three control boards. A power and network, CPU and an end-user
/AUTOMATIONATION /AUTOMAT
Harting IIC MICA ((Modular Industry
Harting I C M Modular Industr
Computing Architecture) makes imakes it possible tot possible to ttemporarily save, evaluate an data directl
Computing Architecture) emporarily
machinery and
evaluate and process data directly within the machinery and
equipment. With iequipment. With itsts he Harting I C M ,
y within the d process save,
modular open platmodular open platform,form, tthe Harting IIC MICA can be customised as equired including the hardware, software and interfaces, bringing you nto the world of
can be customised as rrequired, including the hardware, software and interfaces, bringing you iinto the world of Integrated IndustrIntegrated Industry
customisable function I/O board. For this function board RFID, WLAN, BLE, SSD storage or fieldbus functionality can be integrated with suitable I/O connectivity, without changing the form factor or degree of protection of the MICA unit. MICA is easy to use, with the touch- optimised interface for end users and administrators, implemented entirely in HTML5 and JavaScript open system software
environment that . It provides an
allows developers fro mboth th e production and IT worlds to quickly implement proj
ojects and customise
without any special tools. Applications are executed in their own Linux-based containers which contain all the necessary libraries and drivers. This means that package dependencies and incompatibilities are a thing of the past. In addition, such containers run in individual ‘sandboxes’ which isolate and secure different appli cations from eac h other with their own separate log-in and IP Address. As a result, there should be no concerns over data MICA is allowed acces production operating MICA is already offer
s to a higher-level security when
ed with a number of network.
containers, such as Java, Python C/C++, OPC-UA, databases and web toolkits. The modularity and the use of an intermediate JSON format allow other legacy systems to be integrated in the future withminimal effort only the log-in put container i s replaced. In addition, other protocols can
,
container on the serve be easily supported by
Harting
E: salesUK@ www.HART
G.
r side,
e.g.MQTT. replacement of a
T: 01604 827500
E:
salesUK@HARTING.com www.HARTING.co.uk/mica
IN com mi
AU AUTOMA MAT ATION | MARCH 201 MAR 2017 19 19 T: 01604 827500
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