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People, over here at headquarters, we are curious.
As you know, we are now embedding our PLCs with technologies that enable them to support IIoT,  technologies such as  MQTT that are need for Industry 4.0 applications.

We want to know:

  • Do your current projects require IIoT support?
  • Are your clients expecting your  solutions to support Industry 4.0?
  • What features would you like to see in Unitronics controllers to help you with these projects?
  • Do you feel ready for this stage of technology--do you feel that you have the knowledge, the resources that you need?

Remember--your feedback helps us to set direction for R&D.

We would love to receive application stories involving MQTT :)

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I've been investigating a little bit more about MQTT with Azure and I'd like to share my findings with you.

The problem with the connection is the limit in the password field (128). Azure requires a SAS token for authentication that requires much more than 128 characters. The other option for authenticating to Azure IoT Hub (MQTT) is using a x.509 client certificate. That authentication option is neither supported by UniStream 5 MQTT implementation.

My question is: would be possible to extend the password field limit? I'm assuming that implementing client certificate authentication is much more complex.

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Hello,

Thanks for posting!

Starting from last version 1.24.56, the maximal length of the MQTT password had been extended to 255 characters.

Is that enough for your Azure broker? 

Quote

I'm assuming that implementing client certificate authentication is much more complex

You're right, but it is right now in process and this new feature will be available in next UniLogic version (very soon)

Hope it will help!

Rivka

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5 hours ago, Rivka said:

Hello,

Thanks for posting!

Starting from last version 1.24.56, the maximal length of the MQTT password had been extended to 255 characters.

Is that enough for your Azure broker? 

You're right, but it is right now in process and this new feature will be available in next UniLogic version (very soon)

Hope it will help!

Rivka

Hi Rivka,

Those are excelent news. The point with the password is that Microsoft uses a SAS token for authenticating the client. This token exceeds the 128 characters. In my case my token is 139 characters long, so I think that this new limit of 255 character for the MQTT password is more than enough.

Regarding the authentication using client certificates is also a real good news. It will add a good value for our projects.

Thanks for the update Rivka!!

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Not sure this is the proper location for my question, but will there be a .NET driver or communications protocol for the UniStream as there is for the Vision? 

I've used literally dozens of Vision PLC's simply because I can tie together PLC operations and production control operations with several other peripheral devices (bar code scanners, RFID readers, measurement gauges, keyboard wedge devices, etc.) into a single PC based application, then integrate it into my customer's production systems or warehouse systems (SAP,  SAGE, MFG Pro, and custom SQL databases).  I've hesitated migrating to the Unistream models because I haven't seen a method as clean as the Vision .NET driver to read and write to specific memory locations in the PLC.

Thanks,

-Chris

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 2/5/2019 at 5:40 PM, cmarcus said:

Not sure this is the proper location for my question, but will there be a .NET driver or communications protocol for the UniStream as there is for the Vision? 

I've used literally dozens of Vision PLC's simply because I can tie together PLC operations and production control operations with several other peripheral devices (bar code scanners, RFID readers, measurement gauges, keyboard wedge devices, etc.) into a single PC based application, then integrate it into my customer's production systems or warehouse systems (SAP,  SAGE, MFG Pro, and custom SQL databases).  I've hesitated migrating to the Unistream models because I haven't seen a method as clean as the Vision .NET driver to read and write to specific memory locations in the PLC.

Thanks,

-Chris

Hi all,

untill now I used the MODBUS protocol to connect the PLC with PC (C#) ...now I am trying for the first time the SQL and FTP (two different jobs) but a library/driver for the .NET like in the VISION (I took a fast look) could be nice.

thanks

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On 3/13/2018 at 9:24 PM, Cara Bereck Levy said:

People, over here at headquarters, we are curious.
As you know, we are now embedding our PLCs with technologies that enable them to support IIoT,  technologies such as  MQTT that are need for Industry 4.0 applications.

We want to know:

  • Do your current projects require IIoT support?
  • Are your clients expecting your  solutions to support Industry 4.0?
  • What features would you like to see in Unitronics controllers to help you with these projects?
  • Do you feel ready for this stage of technology--do you feel that you have the knowledge, the resources that you need?

Remember--your feedback helps us to set direction for R&D.

We would love to receive application stories involving MQTT :)

I have a mqtt project with 40 identical machines all using the exact same application program. I am currently using Get and Set topic to add machine identifier for each plc. What would be a great feature is to have a tickbox to automatically add the unit id to the topic instead of doing Get and set in ladder. It would also save alot of work if the publish and subscribe lists could be exported and imported to a csv. 

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20 hours ago, chrishavenga said:

I have a mqtt project with 40 identical machines all using the exact same application program. I am currently using Get and Set topic to add machine identifier for each plc. What would be a great feature is to have a tickbox to automatically add the unit id to the topic instead of doing Get and set in ladder. It would also save alot of work if the publish and subscribe lists could be exported and imported to a csv. 

Hello there :)
I just submitted your requests to the team leaders--I will let you k now what they reply.

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On 2/5/2019 at 6:40 PM, cmarcus said:

Not sure this is the proper location for my question, but will there be a .NET driver or communications protocol for the UniStream as there is for the Vision? 

I've used literally dozens of Vision PLC's simply because I can tie together PLC operations and production control operations with several other peripheral devices (bar code scanners, RFID readers, measurement gauges, keyboard wedge devices, etc.) into a single PC based application, then integrate it into my customer's production systems or warehouse systems (SAP,  SAGE, MFG Pro, and custom SQL databases).  I've hesitated migrating to the Unistream models because I haven't seen a method as clean as the Vision .NET driver to read and write to specific memory locations in the PLC.

Thanks,

-Chris

Sorry--I missed this when it was posted--apologies!
I've submitted your question to the team, and I will update you when I receive a reply :)

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In IoT projects, one of the most common problems I've encountered so far was Remote Access.

Usually I have to connect a modem or a specialized WiFi/LAN gateway, and then configure DDNS, and setup some firewalling to be able to safely access PLC over the Internet.

Wouldn't it be great for Unitronics to have a kind of own cloud service, which would allow a remote access to a PLC, regardless of their internet connection? Something similar to what Secomea is doing. You buy a subscription from Unitronics, and for example, $50/year you can access up to 20 different PLCs worldwide, through Unitronics Cloud, without the hassle of setting up VPNs, DDNS, and all that network stuff which usually fail the first time an engineer opens the cabinet and resets a router ;)

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