Abstract

As part of OSIE project  the integration between Beremiz and open source coupler rPLC was heavily improved. We were able to run multiple PLC programs on one x86_64 server in a headless mode managed by Nexedi's Rapid.Space cloud platform.

Still we lack a certain feature which was how could humans interact with running PLC programs. This blog post describes how we could achieve that.

Architecture

The following diagram shows the very basic foundation blocks of OSIE architecture.

It consists of

  • at least one x86_64 server running one or many beremiz runtimes instances in a headless mode
  • at least one beremiz runtime instance running only one PLC program (which itself is packaged and downloaded as a normal application from the Web). The instance itself generates and exposes over HTTP / Web the HMI interface.
  • at least one rPLC coupler being controlled by the PLC program
  • arbitrary number of motors, actuators & sensors being connected to the rPLC coupler and doing the actual work
  • at least one industrial table (or any PC) with browser for interacting with the HMI
  • one Rapid Space platform which takes care for provision, orchestration and setup of all involved computer systems

How it works

Once everything is setup and provisioned beremiz runtime instance will download the PLC program from the Web (via an URL). Beremiz will compile the program and run the PLC program at x86_64 serverr. The PLC program itself will connect to rPLC (over OPC Ua protocol) and set and get all needed relays' state as well digital and / or analog inputs. It will execute the programmed logic and let beremiz runtime generate the HMI which will become exposed for connection over HTTP protocol by the industrail tablet or PC where a machine operator can interact with the PLC.

Cloud integration

Below one can see images of a beremiz runtime instance inside Rapid Space cloud.

Each instance has a form where its paramaters can be defined. In the picture below it is a beremiz runtime instance and its PLC download link.

HMI Demo

In the following video you can see the HMI generated by Beremiz (the running PLC can be found here ). It can be accessed by a any browser and operator can interact with it freely. In the video the first two relays are controlled each cycle by the PLC code where the last two relays can be adjusted by the operator.

 

Breakthroughs

There are three major breakthroughs

  • HMI over standard web: beremiz proved to be able to generate PLC's HMI which can be used with any standards compliant browser
  • Resource utilization: being able to have multiple instances of Beremiz running on the same machine running concurently
  • Provisioning, setup and orchestration by Rapid Space cloud: being able to setup complex industrial setups and connecting both IT and OT world