Processes like controlling, supervising, collecting and analysing data and generating reports are crucial for any industry. It is always wise to automate these processes. For the same, there are a number of such control system software available, but supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) tools have always been reliable. One such SCADA system is IndigoSCADA.
Noteworthy traits of IndigoSCADA
IndigoSCADA is a powerful SCADA tool used in small custom projects where MODBUS, DNP3, OPC DA 2.05, OPC A&E 1.1, IEC 60870-5-101, IEC 60870-5-103 and IEC 60870-5-104 are used. There are a lot of special features that make IndigoSCADA useful when compared to other SCADA software.
The deal with data.
IndigoSCADA uses data to generate daily, weekly or monthly management of reports and graphically presents both historical and real-time data. It consists of an inbuilt structured query language (SQL) editor that allows for online maintenance of real-time and historical databases. In this system, resources such as people and plant assets are optimised, thus, promising high-level control over the plant environment.
Amenities by general-purpose licences.
A key feature of IndigoSCADA is that it is an open source software, distributed under GNU lesser general-public licence, and some of the drivers under non-FLOSS licence. However, being open source, the whole software is well grounded because of the number of iterations and revisions it has gone through. Also, frequent developments in the code make constant updating of features possible.
The language boon.
This system is developed entirely in C and C++ with multiple operating system support and multiple front-end protocol drivers. This makes it easier for industries to customise the code according to their needs. IndigoSCADA also makes sure that they work with lower-level languages as much as possible.
Worker’s point of view.
Safety of workers and equipment is increased through predefined processes managed by SCADA system. This, thereby, reduces engineering costs, time risk and also provides easy integration with all plant devices. Further, maintenance costs are also reduced through centralised control monitoring that minimises downtime.
Better productivity and quality.
Productivity is increased via analysis of processes used to improve plant and production efficiencies. When it comes to quality, it is improved because of repetitive analysis of process data, which prevents errors even before these occur. Operators are more effective here because it consolidates various plant processes and provides users with a comprehensive overview of operations. Also, mobility solutions in SCADA provide operators with the freedom to observe operations in the first hand no matter where they are.
Extended benefits.
IndigoSCADA supports multiple users with different access rights, which makes it easier to control the whole system. IndigoSCADA supports multiple human-machine interface (HMI) windows and multiple dedicated lines on the front-end that make multiprocessing easier. Alarms are centrally-managed, which improves operational effectiveness by not overwhelming operators unnecessarily and also provides real-time event and alarm notifications.
Software architecture
The inter-process communication of IndigoSCADA is based on client/server and publish/subscribe pattern. Inside a process, the observer pattern (a subset of publish/subscribe pattern) is used. It uses signals and slots language construct, introduced in Qt, which makes it easy to implement the observer pattern. HMI designer of IndigoSCADA acts as a tool that allows you to use data for generating management reports. In this, you can insert and edit elements such as widgets, buttons and containers. All of these are highly-customisable and can be manipulated with ease.
Being a volunteer-driven project, IndigoSCADA welcomes contributions in the form of code, bug fixes, bug reports, contributed documentation, advocacy and supporting other users on IndigoSCADA forum.
Also, there are a lot of financial contributors providing funding and sponsorships to IndigoSCADA. This ensures that when you work on Indigo SCADA, there are many helping hands to resolve your issue in many ways, thereby making IndigoSCADA a conducive SCADA software.
Download the latest version of the software
Ankita K.S. is an engineering graduate and a volunteer with IEEE. She is currently based at EFY, Bengaluru, where she writes articles on engineering and technology
Dear Collegues,
I’m a partner and a close friend of the inventor and owner of the IndingoSCADA Solution Eng Angelo paganini, mean while my business partner is Eng Ragvendra Owner of a small but brilliant company focusede on sismology and smart grid technology.
As you probably know IndingoSCADA has been evaluated as one of the 4 best Open Source SCADA Systems woldwide by an Australia center of research finaced by Siemens AG Germany.
Please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected] account truly you Filippo