Capturing process data

In tutorial a SIMATIC S7 PLC is used as data source and a local SQLite Database as data target.
As Codabix offers a uniform interface that is used to access connected devices and databases, this procedure is applicable to any type of data, that is defined in Codabix.

In this step you install Codabix on your system.
For the purpose of this tutorial we provide you with a basic configuration for the process data acquisition.

In this example, the values of two variables (Duration and Quantity) will be read from the PLC and a new entry will be created in a database table, which also contains the MachineID and the current timestamp. The MachineID can be used to associate the database entry with the source PLC. This process should be carried out when the rising edge of the JobCompleted bit is detected in the PLC.

The PLC variables are defined as follows:

Process data

• Duration
  • Datatype: Real
  • Address: DB511.DBD 0
• Quantity
  • Datatype: DInt
  • Address: DB511.DBD 4

Trigger

• JobCompleted
  • Datatype: Bit
  • Address: DB511.DBX 10.0

The database table named oeemachinerecord has the following columns:

• ID
  • Datatype: INT
• MachineID
  • Datatype: INT
• Duration
  • Datatype: Double
• Quantity
  • Datatype: INT
• Timestamp
  • Datatype: DATETIME

In order to map the data acquisition (henceforth referred to as Transfer) in Codabix, it is divided into three components:

• Inputs: Variables whose values are to be recorded
• Outputs: Variables in which the data to be recorded will be saved
• Triggers: Variables that trigger a data transfer from the Inputs to the Outputs

These components are mapped using a folder structure within Codabix. Each folder that is located under the path /Nodes/Transfers represents an independent transfer.

To create a new transfer, navigate to the /Nodes/Transfers node in the node tree.

• Create a new transfer:
  • Right click on the node /Nodes/Transfers
  • In the context menu click on the entry Add new Transfer

    

• Name the new transfer:
  • Right click on the new node New Transfer
  • Click on the context menu entry Edit Folder
  • In theEdit Folder dialog, change the name to Data acquisition Machine02
  • Confirm by clicking on

    

The node tree should then look like this:

In order to define variables whose values are to be recorded, these varibles must be located under the folder node Inputs. In addition to the variables from the PLC, the ID of the machine (for this example MachineID = 2) shall be recorded.

Therefore, first a node of the typeUInt16 is created that will hold this MachineID as constant value:

• Right click on the node Inputs
• Select Add Datapoint Node from the context menu
• In the Add Datapoint Node dialog:
  • EnterID of MAC02 as the name
  • Select UInt16 as Value Type
  • Confirm by clicking on

    

• Right click on the new node
• Select Write a new Value
• In the Write a new Value dialog:
  • Enter the value 2 as the new value (as this Transfer will record the data from the machine with MachineID = 2 )
  • Confirm by clicking on

    

To define the values of the PLC variables as inputs for the transfer, a linked node is created in the Inputs folder whose link target contains the value node that represents the corresponding PLC variable.

The nodes that represent these variables can be found under the path /System/Devices/S7 TCP-IP Device/Channels/Machine 02/Variables:

For these two nodes, do the following to link them in the Inputs folder:

• Right click on Inputs
• Click on the context menu Add Datapoint Node
• In the Add Datapoint Node dialog:
  • Enter the name of the original node as name (the name of the link node can be freely selected, but in this case it should be obvious which node is the link target)
  • Confirm by clicking on
• Right click on the newly created node
• In the context menu, select the option Virtual Link

  

• In the Virtual Link dialog:
  • In the opened dialog, navigate to the node to which the virtual link should point
  • Confirm by clicking on

    

Since the current timestamp shall be saved in addition to the PLC data, a node must me added that delivers this value.

For this purpose Codabix provides a predefined value node, which can be found under the path /System/Environment/DateTime/UtcNow. When reading this node always the current timestamp is returned.

Now, in the same way as in the previous steps, create another link called Current Timestamp that refers to this node (/System/Environment/DateTime/UtcNow).

Analogously to the sources of the data, the destinations are defined under the folder node Outputs.

The table oeemachinerecord of the database will be used for this. The nodes that represent the columns of this table are under the path /System/Exchange/SQL Exchange/Databases/OEE/Tables/oeemachinerecord/Columns. As in the previous step, create link nodes below Outputs that are linked to the following nodes:

• MachineID: /System/Exchange/SQL Exchange/Databases/OEE/Tables/oeemachinerecord/Columns/MachineID
• Duration: /System/Exchange/SQL Exchange/Databases/OEE/Tables/oeemachinerecord/Columns/Duration
• Quantity: /System/Exchange/SQL Exchange/Databases/OEE/Tables/oeemachinerecord/Columns/Quantity
• Timestamp: /System/Exchange/SQL Exchange/Databases/OEE/Tables/oeemachinerecord/Columns/Timestamp

The transfer mechanism uses the order of the input and output nodes to differentiate which data should be written to which node. The value of the first input node is written to the first output node, the value of the second to the second output node and so on. You can use drag-and-drop to arrange the nodes under Inputs and Outputs so that their order matches the order in this screenshot:

To set up the trigger for our example, create a virtual link under the Triggers folders, whose target is the node /System/Devices/S7 TCP-IP Device/Channels/Machine 01/Variables/JobCompleted.

So the node tree will look like this:

After completing the previous steps, the data acquisition setup is complete. To activate the transfer, the value of the node isActive in the folder of the transfer must me set to true. To do this, write true as the new node value:

The trigger is now read by Codabix every 500ms and checked for a rising edge. If this is the case, the inputs are read, then the trigger is reset (the value false is written) and the data is written to the outputs. This will create a new entry in the database table that contains this data.

The PLC program waits until the trigger has been reset. After that within 10 seconds new, random values are written to the variables and the trigger is set on true again.

You can now verify the functionality using an SQLite browser:

• If you have not already installed an SQLite browser on your system, download the .zip archive that is suitable for your system at https://sqlitebrowser.org/dl/
• Unzip and start the SQLite browser
• Open the database file under the following path<CodabixProjectDirectory>/userdata/mydata.sqlite. <CodabixProjectDirectory> stands for the path of the project directory on your operating systems filesystem, that you select when you started Codabix for the first time. This path can be fount in the settings dialog:

• Open the table oeemachinerecord in the SQLite browser

• You should now find existing entries there, while new ones are added every 10 seconds

Another possibility is the view in the dashboard application integrated in Codabix.

• To do this, click on the menu item Dashboard in the left sidebar

  

• Navigate to the folder Data acquisition Machine02
• Expand the three folders Inputs, Outputs and Triggers by clicking on the symbols next to them
• You can now see the change in the node values in almost real time and can thus observe the triggering and resetting of the trigger and the transfer of data between the inputs ans outputs live: