Control.com - Nerds in Control

I study a specific control command solution with ZENON software as supervisor and STRATON as automation software. ZENON is a COPA-DATA software (Austria) and STRATON is a COPALP software (French). COPALP Company is more or less part of COPA-DATA Company.

This solution is totally embedded in one PC. No need of a specific and separate controller to manage the process and the I/O.

STRATON is a runtime compiled software. Both run in a standard Windows XP or 2003 server PC. It's possible to have several PC with ZENON and STRATON to split the process on different units. The I/O modules can be connected to the ZENON/STRATON PC using serial link, Profinet link, CAN link, TCP link....

- Do anybody has experience with this solution?

- What is the reliability and availability of this solution?

- How are the Engineering tools (for displays built and automation program)?

Reliability and availability can't be any better than the Windows host. I consider that poor in comparison to PLCs or any other option. I suppose it depends on what you are controlling.

Regards
cww

Although the original post sounds a little like a advertisment as he seems to know alot about the Zenon/Straton Environment. To answer the questions the reliablity will be fine. Beckhoff IPC's all run Windows (whether it be NT, 2000, XP Vista, CE or XPe) and reliability is fine. Availabily is also fine. have experience in ZenOn and a little in Straton and it all seems fine. If you need very quick processing however you may want to look at a more established PLC and use ZenOn as the visualisation.

One must bear in mind that reliability that is fine for a trash compactor might not be fine for an ingot crane. I've rebooted plenty of the Beckhoff stuff. Fortunately, the consequences were only a truly awesome paper mess and some downtime.

Regards
cww

Hi fjr1300,

Answering your third question the engineering tool can be used for PC and Windows CE panels as well. We decided which panels we would like to have and afterward we put the software on it. They have a tool which automatically detects the processor and the OS.

I used to work with DCS for 15 years ago (Fox, ABB, Yoko, Honeywell, Siemens...) and I had a commercial presentation of Zenon and Straton. That's why my initial post sounds like an advertisement...

My process is 90% Digital Inputs, and there is about 15 000 I/O by plant.

Financially, it could be really interesting to replace the operator station and controller by one PC.

I don't like this kind of solution "all in one" PC. But I have to study all solutions and specially this one because my hierarchy asks to me.

Thereby, I would like to know if on this community somebody had experience with these products in such amount of I/O?