Any alternative to RS View?

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Thread Starter

Andrew Snowdon

Does anyone know of a reliable alternative to RS View PC based HMI software? I need to read and write data from a PC to an Allen-Bradley PLC 5. Any ideas?
Thanks.

 
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There are LOTS of alternatives to RSView ! In fact, you would have a more difficult time finding an HMI solution which does not work with Allen Bradley products than finding one that does. It is my understanding that the top selling hmi solutions other than RS View at this time are (not in order) Modicon, Intellution's I Fix, Wonderware's In Touch, and GE's Cimplicity. I have heard good things about Parker's product also.

Don't limit yourself to PC based HMI's though. Technology has been advancing so rapidly that the proprietary hardware products are almost as
powerful and flexible as the PC based, with network connectivity, etc. There are certainly applications that I would do differently now than
a year ago. I like the Proface and Total Control lines for proprietary Hardware.

Dale

Honda Eq Staff
 
Definitely go for Wonderware Factory Suite and use In-Touch, we use it plantwide on a brand new installation aluminium smelter--need advise call
me --all control, redundancy, logging etc. able -- extremely user friendly easily configurable and reliable
 
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There are several HMI packages out there. We have used Intellution several times (http://www.intellution.com/), and that works with most PLC's and communications protocols. Typically you can buy a card for your PC to handle the communications for most PLC's.
There is also Wonderware, which we have tested and determined the Intellution was a better product.
 
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Siemens has a HMI product that can perform exactly what you want. The product is ProTool Pro.
 
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I have used a great 3rd party software package that is very easy to setup and configure for basic HMI applications. I work for a training company and we are developing a new PLC/HMI course and we will be using this software. Right now the software is setup to display numerical and
digital data (no analog scales or slide bars), but that can be easily added. The company is out of Denver, Dynacom Software, LLC. You can
reach a representative at [email protected]
 
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I agree that Intellution is the better product compared to Wonderware. Wonderware's strengths are it's maturity and user friendliness (except for script). It is old though and doesn't elegantly take advange of modern features. I would only consider it if I were going to implement most all of it's features across the enterprise. They force you to buy their whole package now too, so it's really a very bad deal if all you want is an HMI.

The rest we tested were really neck and neck in our evaluations. GE Cimplicity had the best value bundle. I doubt that will continue to be
true for too long though.

Dale

Honda Eq Staff
 
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Bob Peterson

In addition there are probably 50 more you failed to mention.

The biggies (in no particular order)

Intellution
Wonderware
Cimplicity
RSView

I am curious by what standard you decided Fix was "better" then WW? Not that I disagree, or agree for that matter, just curious what the criteria was for this determination.

All of the packages are more complex than you need for a simple HMI. If you do not need a lot of trending, reports, or data collection (i.e.-a simple HMI), Interact is by far the finest operator interface package of any of them that I have seen or used, and I have used a bunch of them.

Bob Peterson
 
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Shahid Waqas Chaudhry

Other alternatives in the market include:

1) SIEMENS WinCC
2) Iconics Genesis32
3) Wonderware Intouch
4) GE Cimplicity
5) Intellution iFix
6) Citect
7) and many more!

They all have their pros and cons. Almost all of them are the same in features with a little extra here or there. The ease of use is almost similar as well (personal opinion). I suggest that you go for the one for which you can get "good" local support!

Shahid
 
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RSView Machine Edition is a new machine-level HMI from Rockwell Automation. It is designed for both embedded and PC-based HMI applications and runs on Windows CE and Windows 2000.
 
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Hi Andrew,

I really do not know the size of your work so it is hard to advice. In our company we use for small and middle project a SCADA called ASPIC. You can find it at http://www.merz-sw.com The good things are that it has the development
version for free, the software is very reliable and supports OPC communication very well.

Petr Placek.
 
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I recently started using Citect. It's easy to configure. (I've also used RSView32, Wonderware, USData Factoy Link) Get a free full blown copy off the Citect website. You can develop and test the entire package before you even purchase it. Once you set up the Genies and SuperGenies you'll be able so save alot of time on future projects.
But for easy intergration to AB PLC without alot of hoop jumping with drivers, stick with the RSView, it's not all that expensive when you add in all the hidden costs and especially the extended support contracts offered by some other vendors.
 
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Eric J. Feight

Sounds like you have some good recommendations. If you have any thoughts of keeping this application around for a while and may need outside help to enhance/expand/support it, stick to the main stream ones like RSView, Wonderware, Cimplicity, FIX.

My favorite is Cimplicity HMI. If you’re connecting to an AB PLC, get the KepWare driver and configure a DDE connection. If I remember right this gets you around needing RS Linx OEM ($$$$$$$). If you don’t have much HMI experience, this isn’t the easiest to learn, it does seem to have the most horse power and a good bang for the buck.
 
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L.C. de Jager

I am interested to know as what would be regarded to be good selection criteria, when looking at a SCADA system. Especially when you've got both management and maintenance requirements to fulfill.
 
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