I have a project that requires OPC interfaces.
Anyone out there that is well versed with OPC?
Full Version: OPC Help Needed
Pretty broad question, can you be more specific?
What are you trying to accomplish? What hardware or software do you have?
For data collection, SCADA systems etc, I just use off the shelf OPC servers. There are several on the market. My favorite is KepWare.
But, for AB PLC's I sometimes use RsLinx OEM. Many people prefer Matrikon.
What are you trying to accomplish? What hardware or software do you have?
For data collection, SCADA systems etc, I just use off the shelf OPC servers. There are several on the market. My favorite is KepWare.
But, for AB PLC's I sometimes use RsLinx OEM. Many people prefer Matrikon.
My unbiased response is to use MatrikonOPC for everything 
Ken's nailed it on the head; we'd need an idea on what hardware you had and what you wanted to do. If you were looking at connecting to popular/standard PLC's, there are off the shelf OPC Servers that cover data access. If you're looking at a non-standard device and you were pretty handy with protocols, you could use something like Matrikon's OPC Genie to get the job done: http://matrikonopc.com/opc-drivers/815/index.aspx
Typically when interfacing OPC Servers with PLC's, you use OPC DA 1.0a, 2.05, or 3.0. Most popular OPC Servers and Clients support all 3 versions of the specification, but be sure to verify with your vendor as the versions are incompatible with each other and some vendors do not support all of them.
If you wanted to get your feet wet on OPC, we've got some tutorials available at: http://matrikonopc.com/resources/opc-tutorials.aspx
Adriel Michaud
MatrikonOPC
Ken's nailed it on the head; we'd need an idea on what hardware you had and what you wanted to do. If you were looking at connecting to popular/standard PLC's, there are off the shelf OPC Servers that cover data access. If you're looking at a non-standard device and you were pretty handy with protocols, you could use something like Matrikon's OPC Genie to get the job done: http://matrikonopc.com/opc-drivers/815/index.aspx
Typically when interfacing OPC Servers with PLC's, you use OPC DA 1.0a, 2.05, or 3.0. Most popular OPC Servers and Clients support all 3 versions of the specification, but be sure to verify with your vendor as the versions are incompatible with each other and some vendors do not support all of them.
If you wanted to get your feet wet on OPC, we've got some tutorials available at: http://matrikonopc.com/resources/opc-tutorials.aspx
Adriel Michaud
MatrikonOPC
Depedning upon the SCADA/HMI package that you are using you may already have access to the Kepware server and drivers as many of the major manufacturers OEM the software for distibution with thier packages. Go to Kepware's web site http://www.kepware.com for a list of the manufacuters they work with.
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