Written by Pradeep Menon – Business Development Manager – Energy and Infrastructure at PHOENIX CONTACT Middle East
PLCnext Engineer
HMI devices can now be developed using a PLC programming software called PLCnext Engineer (a free of charge software) and stored on the PLC. It allows users to utilize popular programming environments to have real-time control with advanced computation. Customers have the possibility to use any HMI from other suppliers or a laptop, a tablet or all of these at once.
In the scenario when any of these HMI hardware devices break, you can simply swap it with a new one. You only need to browse the IP address of the PLC and your new HMI is up and running. This is because the HMI programming pages are stored on the PLC.
In the case of other HMI suppliers, you have to develop the HMI screens and then store them on the HMI itself. In this case, if the HMI gets damaged, it is a tedious job to replace it. Not only you have to find the same HMI hardware model, but you also need to download the screens to it from the software. Meanwhile, you do not have an HMI, because the HMI pages were stored on the HMI hardware that got damaged.
Free choice of web server and visualization software on PLCnext
Most importantly, it’s not a matter of accessing the HMI over the internet, it’s about the flexibility to choose the best HMI hardware for your project. With PLCnext, you are not committed to one brand and at the convenience of replacing or adding another HMI hardware as per your needs.
PLCnext is a new technology that expands the use of a PLC in ways that will change the future of automation.
This state-of-the-art digital ecosystem offers an open Linux environment for edge computing with access to more data via IoT systems and more flexibility with open source code. PLCnext presents a revolutionary new development environment offering HTML5 visualization and seamless integration of high-level languages.
For more information, please visit the website or contact Pradeep Menon at pmenon@phoenixcontact.com.
