SCADA Evolution: Next Open Automation (NOA) Platform From KEB
KEB Automation aims to make data collection and visualization easier with its new open automation platform, NOA, designed for machine builders and plant engineers.
A major component of IIoT and Industry 4.0 technology adoption is the ability to collect data from your automation equipment. This data could perhaps include the number of completed versus rejected parts, fault codes and time stamps, servo current draw, robot stoppage or downtime events, and even pneumatic cylinder cycle counts. When this data is presented to the proper software, engineers and maintenance staff can analyze and predict when equipment might fail, or determine how efficiently the equipment is running throughout the day or shift.
Developing a customized data collection system with these capabilities can be costly and require months (or years) of software development for an in-house IT team. Recently, KEB Automation introduced the control engineering world to an open platform for data collection and visualization for equipment and plant builders called Next Open Automation, or NOA.
KEB Automation’s New Solution
KEB Automation is a global supplier of control automation solutions designed to overcome challenges specifically targeted to control and motion applications. In addition to software innovations, KEB offers product lines of hardware devices, including controllers, HMIs, motors and gears, brakes, and clutches.
With KEB Automation’s NOA software, users can quickly integrate a data collection system with predictive maintenance and machine efficiencies. While the NOA platform currently includes HMI system components, the full-featured rollout is planned for 2024.
KEB Automation’s new Next Open Automation (NOA) platform. Image used courtesy of KEB Automation
NOA: Next Open Automation
KEB’s NOA is an edge platform capable of data collection, data visualization, and data processing. NOA is designed with machine and plant builders in mind, the software makes use of a software container approach where the user can download and install different applications, which results in different data processing or visualization functions.
The core of NOA runs on a Linux operating system, making use of a container-based architecture so that embedded hardware is capable of running the NOA software. By using the different KEB, 3rd-party, and user-defined applications, a programmer can create web-based SCADA or HMI applications without the need for learning complex web-development programming languages. This allows machine builders (who may be great at programming sequences and I/O in graphical languages) to also build predictive maintenance applications or web-based SCADA systems.
SCADA systems are all about data collection and control, so it makes perfect sense that these systems are the main target of edge control. Image used courtesy of Adobe Stock
Edge App Manager
An edge PC is a computer that resides on or near the production equipment, providing a bridge between the machine network for data and the plant network for analysis and actionable insight evaluation. In a typical system, a PLC can send data to the edge PC, and servers at the plant-level network can retrieve data from that edge PC.
Within the NOA architecture, the software is installed on the edge PC along with the app manager. A cloud-based portal gives the user access to both KEB applications as well as 3rd party applications. This makes the NOA software appear and act in a similar manner as today’s smartphones. The normal applications of this data stream include predictive maintenance, data dashboards, data monitoring, and data collection.
Hardware Options for Open Control
With the NOA software making use of the lightweight Linux operating system, NOA can be installed on virtually any device, with KEB suggesting its own new C6 Compact 3 embedded controller. The C6 series is designed to run applications with low to medium complexity, including a product integrated with an HMI, also capable of running the NOA software.
