Cara Bereck Levy

Hi Flex I think it is because of your new MVP status--the forum has about 8 billion permission settings, and I may have missed one of them when I set up the MVP category..I just tweaked them. Can you see it now?

Hi--thanks for your suggestions and your kind words! I will forward both to the UniGurus

We've had some new Application Stories submitted recently. I'm posting two stories and a video here--visit our site to see them all! If you are interested in submitting your story, contact us at Usa.sales@unitronics.com for details. Story 1 - Waterplay® Aquatic Play Pad Uses V130-33-R34 to Bring New Life to Communities Waterplay® Solutions Corp. provides premium aquatic recreational features world-wide. They needed a PLC with a built in HMI that could meet their specific programming and space requirements. Unitronics' V130-33-R34 was the perfect solution to their specific needs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With thousands of installations world-wide, Waterplay® Solutions Corp. has provided their customers premium aquatic recreational features since 1987. Offering a variety of innovative products that are designed to turn any space into an exciting attraction, Waterplay® responds directly to their customer needs; including aquatic play features, slide activity centers, waterslides urban water features, and water management solutions. With one particular project Waterplay® was working on in Texas, they had an aquatic play pad that had a very small area where a PLC controller could be placed. In their existing line of controllers they were using at the time, they specifically needed a digital output to control a relay, and the particular manufacture they were using did not have a PLC with high enough rated built in relays to operate the valves that they used. As a result, they were on the search for a PLC with an integrated HMI. The controller need the following operations either built in or programmable to meet their requirements: Programming requirements: · Start/stop time for the week · To be able to have the system on/off for each day of the week · Receive an input from the field to start a sequence · Log number of activations/per day and downloadable · Automatically open/close each output · To have internal relays that can operate a solenoid valve that requires 0.41 amps of in rush current (0.25 amps holding) · Relatively easy to program with minimal cost for software · Field reprogrammable with a flash card Physical requirements: · To be able to fit in a 6 x 10 inch space · Multi line graphic interface · Expandable without taking up additional space, or using minimal additional space. "The Unitronics V130-33-R34 was able to reach these requirements and more." Said Carney Neave of Waterplay® Solutions Corp. "The controller was very easy to program and customize for our application. The staff and tech support of Unitronics are very efficient and knowledgeable” Unitronics is proud to be a part of Waterplay's role in bringing the joy of water to people and communities. "We do more than build aquatic play features. We’ve helped turn crime-ridden downtown parks into family attractions." Says Neaves. "We’ve given new life to abandoned community facilities, bringing kids back to play in them. We work with you to create environments that promote exploration and discovery, fostering imaginative, interactive play." Story 2 - MSI Tec Uses Vision570™ to Control the City of Tucson's Natural Gas Engine Well Pumps MSI Tec needed to replace inadequate controllers for the City of Tucson's natural gas engine well pumps. Their main requirements were: Improved screen readability, remote connection to the customer's SCADA system, historical data availability, and an easy to use interface. Unitronics Vision570™ was chosen and met each of their requirements and more. Unitronics distributor, MSI Tec, was put to the task of designing a panel to control natural gas engines at the City of Tucson’s (population >500,000) well pumps. The control panels would need to be installed at 43 sites around the city. The cost per engine and shaft can be greater than $400,000. Rapid changes in RPM can cause a large column of water to shift up and down quickly and become a very expensive jackhammer, so the importance of a robust and reliable controller for these control panels was a necessity. The previous controllers that were used had screens that became increasingly difficult to read after a couple of years, which is why they needed to be replaced with a controller that had improved readability. Other necessary requirements were the ability to remotely connect to the customer's SCADA system, historical data availability- to diagnose possible causes of any issues that may arise- and an easy to use interface. "The Vision570™ was selected because of its ideal size, color touch screen, and terrific feature set for the price." Said Matthew Cronin of MSI Tec. The Vision570™s are mounted in un-insulated panels outdoors. Tucson’s high temperature frequently climbs above 110 degrees (the record is 117 degrees), and the low often drops below freezing (the record low is 6 degrees). In the three years the panels have been installed, there have been over 250 days with the temperature above 100 degrees. Meanwhile, humidity ranges from an average low of 5% in June to an average high of 75% in July. The high quality of Unitronic's touch screens allowed them to be resilient to the temperature and sun exposure. "The temperature was so hot that we couldn’t keep our computers running for more than 10 minutes…in the shade. In order to update the stations, we used cars with air-conditioned seats. We had to leave the cars running the entire day to keep the air and the seats cool enough for the laptops to not lock up. Even if there were multiple PLCs at a single station, we still had to go put the laptops in the car for a few minutes between each code download to keep the laptops running. Despite this excessive heat, the Unitronics kept running without a problem. And they continue to do so to this day.” said Cronin. Using Unitronics’ Modbus TCP functionality and a cell modem, Tucson Water’s SCADA system is able to communicate with each well site individually. They are also able to use the V570's SD card functions to write data out every 1-120 minutes depending on user settings- which aids in problem diagnosis. The Unitronics V570 also provides an elegant and reliable 5.7” touch screen for a comparable price to the customer's previous 2-line display system. Utilization of the touch screen system allowed for significantly easier interfacing. “After the systems were all installed, an upgrade was requested. They systems are not networked, so this required an onsite code change to approximately 40 stations…in July. Interesting hurdles were experienced during this upgrade, but none of them were because of the Unitronics." Said Cronin. "The Vision570 was the most cost effective solution for this application. By combining low cost I/O, communications, PLC functionality, and an HMI in a single package, Unitronics delivered more capability for less money. Because Unitronics is an all-in-one solution, programming is very rapid because no time is spent trying to get the HMI to “talk” to the PLC. This system required a diverse combination of analog inputs and outputs, digital inputs and outputs, and high speed pulse outputs. Unitronics had a flexible and affordable set of I/O cards to accomplish this." Video --This very cool app story features the SABCO Commercial & Home Beer Brewery

This past year, 2014, was a stellar year for Unitronics. Not only did we introduce products to round out existing lines, we launched a brand-new line of PLC + HMI touch-screen controllers, Samba. Samba, with its beautiful display, on-board I/Os , fine feature range, and highly competitive price was snapped up by small machine manufacturers, showing impressive sales volumes from day 1. In addition to the great market response, our Samba was nominated for—and won—the prestigious Engineers’ Choice award. This was also a great year for the Unitronics community. Check out some cool statistics for 2014: - We welcomed 5,713 new members to our user forum… -…who made 2,113 posts in 467 new topics… - …that were viewed 132,568 times! In addition to our Unitronics support team staff, there are some fine forum members who devote a great deal of time to helping others, writing detailed answers to questions and helping people trouble-shoot their applications. Our top UniGuru MVPs for 2014 are: Joe Tauser Simon Webb Barry Lanier (forum name: Flex727) Ober Yela (forum name: HighTech) In addition to his activity on the forum, Ober has posted a number of videos featuring Unitronics products—check them out on his channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/oberyela/videos To show our appreciation, the profiles of our MVPs will be marked with a new icon: It is no small thing, when time is your most valuable commodity, to use that time to help other people benefit from your expertise – kudos to you all! Okay—without further ado, please join me—here it is, the Unitronics’ 2014 Roundup! Our Industry Awards I am proud to note that this is the third year in a row that Unitronics’ products were honored to receive a Control Engineering Engineers’ Choice award—and this year, we won in one category, and received an honorable mention in another! Samba, All in One PLC + HMI received the Engineers’ Choice Award in the category: Hardware—Integrated HMI Controllers. UniLogic Studio, the unified environment for UniStream hardware and communication configuration, Ladder, and HMI applications, received an Honorable Mention in the category: Software — HMI. Unitronics Product Launches Samba, available in 3.5, 4.3, and 7”, was not the only new product line launched in 2014. Vision™: our award-winning series of powerful PLC + Color-touch HMI controllers, welcomed additional offerings: Vision430™, a new line comprising a beautiful LED 4.3” wide graphic touch-screen. Currently available in 9 models, the V430 offers an expandable I/O configuration with a broad range of digital, analog, high-speed, and temperature I/Os, USB programming and serial ports, and a CANbus or Ethernet port option. Vision1210™ - Black, an elegant, big-screen model with a flat, black fascia and an NEMA4X/IP66/IP65 rating—excellent for applications that require a powerful, flexible controller with a big screen that matches the spray & wipe requirements of the food and beverage industry. The EXF-RC15 -a stand- alone, remote I/O Module that brings you high-Speed I/O plus PWM/PTO. The UniStream™ platform is our completely modular PLC + HMI controller for large-scale machine applications. This 2014 Engineers’ Choice award winner also broadened its range: UniStream 15.6" HMI panel – big and elegant, this LED touch-panel gives you 1366 x 768 resolution and a 16M (24-bit) color range. You can snap up to 5 Uni-I/O modules onto the back of the panel, integrate up to 2048 local & remote I/Os – and communicate with third-party devices via a broad range of CANbus and IP protocols, including EtherNet/IP. Uni-I/O™ modules can be snapped to a panel or hooked up via Expansion adapters. New modules include a thermocouple module and new analog options, plus a new line of space-saving, densely-populated ‘wide’ I/Os. Expansion Adapters are now available in more lengths, from: 125cm up to 3000cm. Our Jazz line is the PLC + textual HMI + onboard I/Os that replaces “smart relays” with a real PLC—for the same low price. Two new models were launched in 2014: JZ20-T10: 6 Digital Inputs, 4 Transistor Outputs JZ20-T18: 6 Digital, 2 Analog/Digital, 2 Analog Inputs, 8 Transistor Outputs Other products released to market are compatible with all of our PLC + HMI controllers: GSM/GPRS modem BACnet to MODBUS Gateway More than ever, Unitronics offers you true All-in-One value: a complete range of automation products and software from the pioneers of the PLC + HMI controller, backed by Unitronics unparalleled sales and tech support. Enjoy them in the coming year!

Hi Flex There is something that I need to point out about UniStream, that is very different from—and in many cases, represents an advantage over—Vision. In UniStream the Ladder processor and HMI processor are two separate entities in all respects. The benefit: - You can create a complex, ginormous Ladder application, much bigger and more complex than in Vision, and the Ladder code will have ZERO effect on your HMI application. - You can create an absolutely gorgeous HMI application, much bigger than in Vision—and you can include embedded video, STREAMING video, animated gifs, and much more The PLC scan cycle has no effect on the HMI application, and vice-versa. NONE. So, you don't have to worry about that at all Regarding your observations on the HMI itself, it is true that some of the responses, currently, are not as fast as in Vision, and some transitions are therefore visible to the naked eye (and we are working to improve that). However, when we weigh the slight lag against: · UDFBs, snap-to ladder programming, the easy-to-use Toolbox, program Actions… · Huge gains in HMI such as video, streaming video, .pdf display, animated gifs, user-formatted Data Table widget, transparency and rotation, and user controls… · True Webserver with a great design editor that is basically identical to the HMI editor, user controls and all… · The big leap in communications—the configuration method, as opposed to programming, in addition to the fact that UniStream supports more protocols and unlimited sockets… · A portable User Library for Ladder functions and HMI screens… · Tag database…and…and…and Well, UniStream is in a different class—even if, currently, certain transitions of screens and objects have a slight visible lag. I want to add this—Vision is, in my humble opinion, a GREAT product (not that I am biased, of course ) and if it suits a particular application like a hand in a glove—no reason to switch. If you are swatting flies, best to use a fly-swatter and not an elephant gun—and if you are using a controller to automate a gumball machine, best to select Samba over the 15" UniStream supreme But when you need the size, power, and flexibility for a large application, or any of the other benefits that UniStream has to offer—a half-second lag in disappearing that button may not be so crucial. Please do continue to report issues as you see them. As you know, having worked with our products for longer than either of us care to remember…we at Unitronics take feedback and criticism very seriously, and are always working to improve our breed. BTW—The CAPS lock issue was a bug, and I understand it is fixed in the coming version. Flex, please send me your application - I'd like the Support dudes to check it for specific issues. Thanks!

Thanks for the input so far--I hope some more people will participate. >what com protocols do I have to use regularly as compared to what would I like to use. < Keith--so, what would you like to use? :-)

Hello, people I am curious... You've got your PLC. You've got your I/Os, barcode readers, frequency converters...a whole universe of devices. You've got to get them talking... What is your preferred protocol? Which do you find is the easiest to set up and use? Is there one that you really love ​ ...or really hate ?

It is working right now--but just to make sure you can access it, here is the .url for the Downloads page. http://www.unitronics.com/support/downloads http://www.unitronics.com/support/downloads

OK--I believe I fixed it...please check and let me know!

Sorry--are you still getting this, or is it visible?

oy

A mathematician finishes a large meal and says: √(-1/64) ---------------- Because: √(-1/64) = √(-1)/(8) = i / 8 (I overate) (OK--I had to look--still funny.) AND: A hundred kilopascals go into a bar....

Hi Sohel--just in case you missed it, this has been released, and streaming camera via Ethernet, RSTP, is now supported. http://forum.unitronics.com/index.php?/forum/68-unilogic-11220-now-with-streaming-video/

Last month, I blogged about recent Application Stories. One was a retrofit application - a rice-filling machine - done by Imapsa Automation of Guatemala and Honduras. The story was picked up by IEN. You can find it featured on page 22. Hat-tip to Ober Yela (HighTech on the forum) for collaborating on the application story with us! Remember, guys - if you have an interesting application, we'd love to hear about it http://digital.ien.eu/digitalMagazine?issue_id=573 Imapsa also posted showing the application itself:

Hi GaSo, If you are located in the US, contact Holly.Dillon@unitronics.com for more information. The job board that Eyal mentioned then, now is up and running at http://forum.unitronics.com/index.php?/forum/71-job-board/

All-in-One HMI + PLC programming software, UniLogic™ version 1.12.20, introduces features and enhancements that extend the application reach of UniStream™, Unitronics’ award-winning All-in-One HMI + PLC controller. Machine builders can now display streaming video via an Ethernet networked camera using the RTSP Real Time Streaming Protocol, enabling users to easily integrate a network camera and display its video stream output on the elegant UniStream HMI panel. SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) now enhances UniStream’s broad communication capabilities. UniStream can function as an SNMP Agent and communicate with an SNMP server. In addition, the Ladder Toolbox function SNMP Trap Send, enables UniStream to send SNMP Trap messages to an SNMP server. UniStream supports SNMP Versions 1, 2, and 3. UniLogic’s Webserver’s Drag & Drop editor has added beautifully polished Linear and Circular Gauge widgets, to display running application values for remote users via Internet browser. An enhancement of HMI action elements enables programmers to raise popup message boxes when these elements are touched; the message can ask the user a question, give instructions and warnings, and drive actions via buttons. This version also supports new hardware: a new Uni-I/O™ analog module comprising 8 13-bit analog input channels; with input ranges of 0-10v, 0-20mA and 4-20mA, and a new 3G modem, the Cinterion EHS6T. A novel feature launched with this version, Hardware Configuration profiles, can save considerable programming. These enable a controller to run an application if it has a physical I/O configuration that is different from the full I/O Configuration in the project. The application will run according to the selected profile without error--even if the application uses data tags of I/Os that belong to the full I/O configuration, but that are not part of the selected profile. This feature can save time for programmers who may need to run the same application in systems containing different I/O and COM module configuration. UniLogic 1.12.20 contains a number of additional features and enhancements. The software and complete feature list is available for free download at http://www.unitronics.com/support/downloads