Scada package claims more for less

The DAQFactory low-cost supervisory control and data acquisition package now boasts even more functionality including PID loops, alarms and Modbus support.

The DAQFactory low-cost supervisory control and data acquisition package now boasts even more functionality including PID loops, alarms and Modbus support.

DAQFactory 5 provides all the tools needed to acquire data from a process, log it, share it on a network, display it on the screen, graph it, analyse it, and automate a project.

All of this can be done quickly without programming, letting users concentrate on keeping their processes running or acquiring data.

With Release 5, DAQFactory now offers new on-screen components, alarm capability and PID loop control, new scripting sequences and a connectivity pack that allows DAQFactory to talk with a wide range of additional Modbus devices and PLCs.

Data channels are simple to configure and the channel setup page includes a graph and table of the data and allows users to set outputs without creating any screens; this is useful for quickly testing hardware.

The channel view also has room for any notes users may want to keep about a channel.

Once users have created some channels, they can save their data to disk in both ASCII and binary files formats, or to an ODBC compliant database.

DAQFactory provides a significant amount of data processing and analysis tools to convert data into something useful.

As DAQFactory integrates the data analysis with the data acquisition and data display, users can perform their data analysis on their data as they are acquired.

DAQFactory allows users to design an unlimited number of user screens to display data and control a system in just the way they want.

Unlike most other data acquisition software packages, the applications you develop in DAQFactory do not require compilation.

Users can design screens, add control loops, tweak logging, or edit channels while taking data.

There is no need to stop the process and recompile.

There are 40 screen components that users can use to display data in various formats, such as charts, bar graphs, meters etc.

DAQFactory includes a 3800 industrial image library of everything from pumps and motors, to buildings and cars, to standard symbols.

All these images can be animated, rotated, have their colour changed, or move around the screen to best depict the state of a system.

DAQFactory includes a built-in web-server, so user screens can be viewed and modified by any network connected PC through a web browser.

For maximum flexibility DAQFactory also includes a complete multitasking scripting language called Sequences.

Sequences is basically a data acquisition programming language, allowing users to interact programmatically with most DAQFactory tools.

Sequences can be used for all sorts of tasks.

These can be as simple as setting a few output values to a preset state, to complex control loops.

DAQFactory Release 5 now includes PID control loops.

Users can create as many PID loops as they need and eliminate the need for expensive hardware controllers.

Like most of the DAQFactory tools, setting up a PID loop is as simple as filling in a few values in a dialogue box with the desired parameters.

If users need help determining the P, I and D parameters, DAQFactory can autotune them as well.

DAQFactory alarms allows users to watch for different events that may occur within a system and flag them.

Unlike other Scada software which only allows users to monitor for a single parameter going above or below one or two threshold points, DAQFactory allows users to create an alarm that watches for multiple conditions to occur.

DAQFactory can for example alarm when the temperature gets above 300C and the pressure is above 100lb/in2.

When an alarm does occur, the alarm is logged to disk and displayed in a table.

The alarm remains displayed in the table until the operator acknowledges it has been seen.

DAQFactory can also play a sound, send e-mail, or perform any automated task when the alarm event occurs.

DAQFactory has drivers for many well know data acquisition and control hardware in addition to Audon's own range of USB and PCI hardware.

There is also a generic serial device driver and DAQFactory supports DDE and OPC so it can communicate with virtually any piece of hardware.

New drivers can be added on request free of charge.

Also, new to Release 5, is a Modbus connectivity pack which allows DAQFactory to communicate with any Modbus device such as PLCs, RTUs and temperature controllers.

Pricing is very competitive with four DAQFactory versions for every budget.

The feature-limited "Lite" version with 32 I/Os is only GBP 119, and the full version is only GBP 499.

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