Tech Briefs Magazine - October 2021 - MD-10

OPC UA Standard for Industrial Automation
OPC UA has been adopted as a recommended
standard for Industry
4.0. The spread of OPC UA is progressing
as a global interoperability standard
that supports manufacturing and manufacturing
DX (digital transformation) in
the digital era.
The Industrial Interoperability
Standard
OLE (Object Linking and Embedding)
for Process Control (OPC) Unified Archi -
tecture (OPC UA) is an interoperability
standard for the secure and reliable ex -
change of data in the industrial automation
space and in other industries. This
standard was released by the OPC
Foundation in 2008 and later adopted as
IEC 62541.
In addition, this standard is integrated
with the IEC 61131-3 PLC programming
standard to reliably exchange field data
between machines and IT systems like
SCADA or MES, serving as a basis for the
packaging standard PackML (ANSI/ISATR88)
for the food and household
goods industries and the standard for
exchange of data between injection
molding machines (EUROMAP 77).
Use Case 1: DA to UA
Many of the first-generation OPC technologies
- OPC Data Access (DA) -
have been widely deployed in supervisory
control and operation monitoring of factories.
As these systems continue to be
upgraded, the adoption of OPC UA
increases (Figure 1). There are three key
pieces:
1. The direct connection with the control
devices, such as a PLC, is enabled
and the system configuration becomes
simplified.
2. The ability to exchange not only simple
numerical values and memory da -
ta but also structured data and information
with meaning.
3. Security can be improved.
The increasing choice of SCADA,
PLCs, and controllers that support OPC
UA is also a driver for adoption.
Use Case 2: Securing
Manufacturing Data
To realize industrial IoT and Connected
Factory, cybersecurity at manufacturing
sites is a crucial issue for connection be -
tween industrial automation systems and
10
OPC DA
MES/SCADA
OPC UA
MES/SCADA
OPC DA
Windows PC
OPC Server
Protocol for PLC
Figure 1. OPC DA technologies that are deployed in supervisory control and operation monitoring of factories
are being upgraded to OPC UA.
Quality
Traceability
MES
OPC UA
Unscrambling
Wash, drying
Sterilization
OPC UA
Filling
OPC UA
OPC UA
Capping
Labelling
OPC UA
Palletizing
OPC UA
Packaging
Figure 2. Machines and devices of various manufacturers in one production line may not have a standardized
connection method between the upper system and the machines. OPC UA connection with the quality traceability
database can be standardized with the database direct connection feature.
MES/SCADA
Database
Direct access to SQL
NX102
NX701
Figure 3. The NX701 Series machine automation controller can simultaneously and directly connect to two
host systems: an OPC UA server and a database.
the host IT system, remote access maintenance,
and advanced use of the Internet
to pursue productivity improvements.
OPC UA security is based on recognized
standards that are also used for secure
communication on the Internet and satisfies
the three security requirements: confidentiality,
integrity, and availability. In -
tegrity by digitally signing the messages
and confidentiality by en crypting the messages
ensure a secure connection between
automation systems and IT systems.
In order to simplify the implementation
of data integrity, OPC UA - which
supports digital signatures - is being
adopted for this purpose. OPC UA provides
secure connection and data transmission,
which is one of the reasons it is
Motion Design, October 2021
Cov
ToC

http://info.hotims.com/79418-936

Tech Briefs Magazine - October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Tech Briefs Magazine - October 2021