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Top 5 SCADA and automation apps for iPhones and iPads
From music, social networking and yes, making calls, the iPhone and its stablemates have evolved and are finding their way onto the plant floor.
Applications exist to access and monitor tag variables as well as the memory of PLCs via the iPhone. The so-called iDevices allow any plant engineer to know the state of their industrial processes and for PLC programmers to have instant access to their systems.
Following is a round-up of five of the best SCADA and automation apps available for download in the iTunes store.
ScadaMobile
SweetWilliam, S.L., based in Catalonia, creates various versions of ScadaMobile besides the regular, full-featured version, including ScadaMobile Lite and ScadaMobile ONE.
ScadaMobile is suited for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. It is a simple HMI/SCADA application for supervising variables and memory of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) and Remote Terminal Units (RTUs).
This app is suited for plant engineers, PLC software developers, maintenance people, and anyone dealing with PLC based systems. It is compatible with major US and Japanese PLC brands and can be used as a wireless local or remote HMI.
Additionally, it supports Omron PLCs, Modbus/TCP and Ethernet/ IP protocols. ScadaMobile is highly configurable, and OEMs can offer it as an extension to their systems.
It supports simultaneous connections to a number of remote PLCs and RTUs, and includes automation features which make it easy to organise large numbers of tags.
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