AI PlantConnect consists of a number of loosely coupled components. Advantage of such architecture is the possibility to use entire system or individual components based on specific needs. |
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AI PlantConnect Data Acquisition Server (DAS) :- DAS is deployed on each site and communicates with the device / controllers using various protocols. DAS performs the task of reading / writing from device and sending the data to web component. DAS can be fully configured remotely. |
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Device Driver DLLs :- Each device driver DLL implements a specific protocol like OPC, Modbus etc. DAS uses these DLLs to communicate with the devices. |
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AI PlantConnect Server : - AI PlantConnect Server is a web server component. It performs following functions – |
- Device installation and configuration. This includes configuration of device properties, communication protocol details, tag configuration, tag limits definition etc.
- User account and access rights management.
- Provide interface to DAS for communication and data upload.
- Manage storage of tag data and alarms received from DAS.
- Provide all AI PlantConnect features listed above to browser-based clients.
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AI PlantConnect Reporting Tool :- The reporting tool is used for definition and generation of customized reports. The reports can be in any formats like graphical, statistical, tabular, etc. The Reports can be printed or exported to other systems as per the requirements. |
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AI PlantConnect Administration Tool :-This is a special client used for system configuration, controller installation etc. It is partly generic and partly customized. The customisation mainly includes importing controller data from SCADA. Admin tool is also browser based. Admin tool is used to configure sites, manage devices, manage users, perform housekeeping functions etc. Admin Utility encompasses a Scheduler which can be used to schedule tasks like backup, printing reports, updations etc. |
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AI PlantConnect Device Page Generator :- This is a special utility, which converts the HMI/ MMI/ Controller pages into HTML pages and renders them in real time on to the browser. The pages contain the static as well as dynamic components including graphical and animated content, data, etc.
This component allows you to design your own operator pages (mimic pages) and then convert those to web pages using the Device Page Generator. |
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AI PlantConnect Client :- The client is browser based. As such AI PlantConnect can be accessed from any machine at any time without any prior installation. The client provides user interface as a set of web pages and applets. The look and feel of these pages is completely customizable. So that colors, layout, images etc. can be designed as per user preferences. |
