4 ms·

Nice enthusiastic marketing fuzz. > You won't be building your Grandma's control systems much longer, a whole new world is already here and <new tech> is a big

Nice enthusiastic marketing fuzz. > You won't be building your Grandma's control systems much longer, a whole new world is already here and <new tech> is a big part of it. Yeah, I hear that claim from different sales reps of basically every relevant company in the industry automation sector since the early 90s. > You can get an OPC server/client onto a sub $10 microprocessor. Yes. All you need on top of that is an Ethernet phy and a OPC UA software stack, which are basically free, right? Modbus RTU (basically any µC capable of UART) plus the RS485 phy are less than a dollar.

airbreather 4y ago
Try ESP32 with wifi and Ethernet built in, just over $2 USD in ones. As for marketing, I am not trying to sell you anything - I am telling you what I have done, and what I am doing, for controls systems on processing plants being put into service, today. Most recently a $2B+ processing plant that will supply a significant portion, maybe 20%, of the global requirements for a very high demand mineral product. I see there is comfort, certainty and perceived low risk rolling out the established and straightforward controls solutions that (old and aging) management are prepared to sign off on. But the benefits available from some of the contemporary technologies are rapidly becoming overwhelming in the risk vs reward balance. It's rapidly becoming of the nature where you innovate or be left behind, in the industrial controls sector. This is especially the case as a huge portion of the worlds control systems are past due for rejuvenation, roll out the same old, same old now and you heavily buy into being stuck with that architecture another 30 years, if the business can remain competitive for that long.
- numlock86 4y ago
  > I am not trying to sell you anything - I am telling you what I have done, and what I am doing, for controls systems on processing plants being put into service, today. I am not trying to convince you or anything - I am telling you what I have done, and what I am doing and will be doing, according to the market of industrial automation, for the next two decades at least. > Most recently a $2B+ processing plant that will supply a significant portion, maybe 20%, of the global requirements for a very high demand mineral product. Most recently a €5B+ automation line on global scale that will supply a significant portion of I don't know how many percent of global molding machine equipment and operation ranging from spoons, medical equipment to car parts of basically every major vendor you can think of. See, it's cool you use OPC UA on a infrastructure level. But on the field it's digital and analog IOs with Modbus and other archaic field buses. If you bought into the idea that every light, sensor and actuator having OPC UA wouldn't add costs in the billions for large installations, well, I have bad news for you ...
p_l 4y ago
Cabling and controlling all that RS485 is bigger obstacle these days, it seems, than enjoying plug & play profinet with PoE combined with OPC UA for higher levels

airbreather 4y ago

Try ESP32 with wifi and Ethernet built in, just over $2 USD in ones. As for marketing, I am not trying to sell you anything - I am telling you what I have done, and what I am doing, for controls systems on processing plants being put into service, today. Most recently a $2B+ processing plant that will supply a significant portion, maybe 20%, of the global requirements for a very high demand mineral product. I see there is comfort, certainty and perceived low risk rolling out the established and straightforward controls solutions that (old and aging) management are prepared to sign off on. But the benefits available from some of the contemporary technologies are rapidly becoming overwhelming in the risk vs reward balance. It's rapidly becoming of the nature where you innovate or be left behind, in the industrial controls sector. This is especially the case as a huge portion of the worlds control systems are past due for rejuvenation, roll out the same old, same old now and you heavily buy into being stuck with that architecture another 30 years, if the business can remain competitive for that long.

numlock86 4y ago
> I am not trying to sell you anything - I am telling you what I have done, and what I am doing, for controls systems on processing plants being put into service, today. I am not trying to convince you or anything - I am telling you what I have done, and what I am doing and will be doing, according to the market of industrial automation, for the next two decades at least. > Most recently a $2B+ processing plant that will supply a significant portion, maybe 20%, of the global requirements for a very high demand mineral product. Most recently a €5B+ automation line on global scale that will supply a significant portion of I don't know how many percent of global molding machine equipment and operation ranging from spoons, medical equipment to car parts of basically every major vendor you can think of. See, it's cool you use OPC UA on a infrastructure level. But on the field it's digital and analog IOs with Modbus and other archaic field buses. If you bought into the idea that every light, sensor and actuator having OPC UA wouldn't add costs in the billions for large installations, well, I have bad news for you ...

p_l 4y ago

Cabling and controlling all that RS485 is bigger obstacle these days, it seems, than enjoying plug & play profinet with PoE combined with OPC UA for higher levels