Methods for Embedding Video Streams in SCADA Systems

Transcription

1 Methods for Embedding Video Streams in SCADA Systems Released on April 24, 2009 Harry Hsiao, Product Manager, Industrial Video Networking Product Division Overview In industrial automation systems, SCADA/HMI plays an important role in remote monitoring and control. Accompanied by the popularity of IP video surveillance solutions, there is a trend towards using IP video with SCADA/HMI systems to augment remote monitoring since seeing the field site situation is more comprehensible and convincing than reading alarm messages displayed on a screen. Unlike general I/O data that is familiar to automation engineers, IP video streams require considerably more time and effort to understand the SDK documents, programming code, and trial and error tests. This white paper provides some tips for embedding video streams into your SCADA systems for viewing and camera control. A Good Tool: ActiveX Control SDK Most IP video devices provide ActiveX Control components for video decoding and related process handling in Internet Explorer. ActiveX Control is an OCX component that uses Microsoft COM (Component Object Model) technology to enable software components to communicate. It is not only widely used with platforms that support WIN32, IE Plug-in, and Visual Basic, but also popular in automation system software Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. All rights reserved. Moxa manufactures a wide array of device networking products for industrial automation. Information about all Moxa products, which include embedded computers, Ethernet switches, wireless solutions, serial device servers, multiport serial boards, media converters, USB-to-serial converters, embedded device servers, video networking products, and industrial I/O solutions, is available on Moxa's corporate website at How to contact Moxa Tel: Fax: Web: info@moxa.com This document was produced by the Moxa Technical Writing Center (TWC). Please send your comments or suggestions about this or other Moxa documents to twc@moxa.com.

2 such as SCADA. Therefore, most IP video device suppliers provide ActiveX Control SDKs (software development kit) for convenient integration with other Windows-based platforms. In the following section, we will use VPort ActiveX SDK PLUS to illustrate how to embed IP video streams into two popular SCADA systems: Citect and Intouch. The first step is to install VPort ActiveX SDK PLUS onto the PC or server that is running your SCADA software. Using VPort ActiveX SDK PLUS with Citect 1. Click the ActiveX icon from the tool box (Figure 1). Click here Figure 1 Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 2 of 28

3 2. Choose VPortSDK Control (Figure 2.1) from the ActiveX Controls list. The VPortSDK components will then appear on the main screen (Figure 2.2). Figure 2.1 Figure 2.2 Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 3 of 28

4 3. Double click on the VPortSDK icon and a window like Figure 3.1 will appear. You can get the Object Name under Access Identification (AN202 in the following figure). You can then add a new button to the main screen (Figure 3.2) by choosing Input and adding the required code for the Down command (Figure 3.3). Example:_ ObjectSetProperty(ObjectByName("AN202"),"ServerIP", " "); ObjectSetProperty(ObjectByName("AN202"),"VideoProtocol", 1); ObjectCallMethod(ObjectByName("AN202"),"Connect"); Figure 3.1 Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 4 of 28

5 Figure 3.2 Figure 3.3 Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 5 of 28

6 4. Then, Compile and Run. You can view the video stream in the Citect window. Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 6 of 28

7 Using VPort ActiveX SDK PLUS with Intouch 1. Set up the new window in Intouch WindowMaker (Figure 1.1). Figure 1.1 Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 7 of 28

8 2. Right-click on Configure Wizard/ActiveX Installation in the tree menu. Then, click on Open and select ActiveX Control Installation in the Wizard/ActiveX Installation dialog box to install VPortSDK Control (Figure 2.1) Figure 2.1 Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 8 of 28

9 3. Choose the Wizard Selection icon from the top toolbar. Then click on VPortSDKCtrl (Figure 3.2) Figure 3.2 Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 9 of 28

10 4. Add a new button, and select the Action checkbox. After that, click on the Action button (Figure 4.1) and a window will appear as shown in Figure 4.2. Select Insert ActiveX Control from the top toolbar and set up the Method/Property in the ActiveX Control Browser (Figure 4.3). Then, set up the related parameters for each property (Figure 4.4). 2 1 Figure 4.1 Figure Figure 4.3 Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 10 of 28

11 5 Figure After completing all the above steps, Save the file and Run it (Figure 5.1). Figure 5.1 Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 11 of 28

12 From the above instructions, you can see only a few steps are needed to embed IP video streams into your SCADA system by using ActiveX Control components. Of course, there are plenty of functions supported by ActiveX Control SDK for video streams and camera control, such as Connect, Disconnect, Decode, Get Snapshot, Media Type, etc. Most system integrators can benefit from these functions to build a comprehensive SCADA/HMI system with IP video surveillance. In the next section, we will introduce a method familiar to automation engineers to set up and control an IP video device from the SCADA/HMI system. Modbus/TCP is the most commonly used communication protocol in SCADA/HMI systems. An IP video device should support the Modbus/TCP protocol in order to make use of it. Here, we use Moxa s VPort 254, a 4-channel industrial video encoder, with Citect SCADA software as an example. Using the VPort 254 s Modbus/TCP with Citect 1. Connect 1.1. In the project setup window, click on OK after creating a new project for ModBus_Demo. The new Modbus_Demo project will be displayed on the project list of Citect Explorer. Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 12 of 28

13 1.2. Click on the new ModBus_demo project and choose Communications to set the parameters for communications and connections There are several items under Contents of Communications. Choose Express I/O Device Setup, and the Express Communications Wizard will initiate setup On the 1 st page of the wizard, there is a simple description for each function and purpose. Click on Next to continue On the 2 nd page, you will need to set up the I/O Server Name for this project. The default name is IOServer. Click on Next when you have finished On the 3 rd page, you will need to set the I/O Device Name for the connected device. The default name is IODev. Click on Next when you have finished. Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 13 of 28

14 1.7. On the 4 th page, choose External I/O Device for the I/O Device type and click on Next to continue On the 5 th page, choose Modicon TSX Quantum Ethernet (TCP/IP) to select the Driver Type. Click on Next to continue On the 6 th page, set up the IP address and TCP port for the connection. Be certain to select TCP for the protocol. When you have finished, click on Next to continue On the 7 th page, you can set up whether to read the external database or not. Then, click on Next to continue On the 8 th page, you can see a complete list of configurations to be made. Click on Complete once you have confirmed all the settings. Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 14 of 28

15 2. Configure Data Tag 2.1. Click on Tags after you finish configuring the tags for Communications If you want to monitor DI1 (Digital Input 1) of the VPort 254, then configure the Variable Tags setup page as follows: Variable Tag Name: VPort254_DI1 Data Type: INT I/O Device Name: IODev Address: Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 15 of 28

16 2.3. The Address can be obtained from the Modbus Address Map. The Address of DI1 is 0x0080, which can be transferred to 128 in decimals Different function codes have different address definitions in Citect. For example, the address definition of Output Coils in the figure below is , Input Status is , and Input Register is Since the VPort 254 s Modbus/TCP Server currently only supports Input Register, the Address is 128 plus Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 16 of 28

17 2.6. Since the UnitID of the VPort 254 is fixed at 1, additional setup is required. Click on I/O Devices of Communications in Citect Explorer to display the content for the Modbus_Demo project in Citect Project Editor Input 1 in the Address column refers to the UnitID 1 for communications. If the address is incorrect, communication between Modbus_Demo and the VPort 254 will fail. Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 17 of 28

18 2.8. Since the initial Citect address for Modbus is 40001, you must change the initial address to Select Help Driver Help in Citect Explorer to open the Citect Driver Help menu Select the Content tab in the Help menu and open MODNET Parameters There will be a series of setup items under Parameters. The [MODNET] InitVar column confirms if the Device connection at startup was successful or not. The default value is 40001, but the VPort 254 only supports the function code for Input Register. So, the address of does not exist on the VPort 254. Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 18 of 28

19 2.8.4 To change the address to 30001, click on Click here to view/edit the values for this parameter and then change the value of InitVar to Click on Confirm to complete setup After you finish configuring, you can start compiling the tags. Click on File Compile and then wait for the compilation process to complete. A Compilation successful dialog box will appear. 3. Design Graphics 3.1. After completing the configurations for Communications and Tags, you can design the presentation user interface In Citect Explorer, go to Graphics Pages, double-click on Citect Graphics Builder and the setup window will appear. Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 19 of 28

20 3.3. In the Citect Graphics Builder setup window, select your preferred template, such as Normal or XP_Style, from the Template List From the menu bar, select Objects Number to display the return values as numbers Place the Object a blank section of the screen, and the setup window for this Object will appear You must set up the Type, Numeric Expression, and Format There is no need to change the Type because it is automatically displayed. Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 20 of 28

21 3.8. In the Format list, select #### to represent values that do not have digits after the decimal point Click the icon to the right of Numeric Expression and select Insert Tag to display the designated Tag List. Select the tag you want to use. Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 21 of 28

22 3.10. After setting the values, choose Objects Symbol Set if you want to use a light to indicate the status Drag the Symbol Set to a blank section of the screen and the Symbol Set setup window will appear. It is just like the Number setup window except for the additional Type box on the right Since the status for DI1 is 0 OFF and 1 ON, you must select Multi-state for the Appearance Type. Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 22 of 28

23 3.13. In the Conditions setup box, configure A as VPort254_DI1=0 and B as VPort254_DI1=1. The rule is that the light will be green when A is valid, and the light will be red when B is valid After the screen is designed, Save the screen and click Compile on the File menu. Compilation is complete when the Compilation successful message appears. Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 23 of 28

24 4. Run 4.1. After completing the design and compilation of the Graphic, you can start to run the project screen Choose Run from the File menu in the Citect Graphics Builder to go to the Start screen In the Start screen, choose Pages Update Page List Page Name after the compilation appears. Select this page for the next step After the page is selected, if DI1 of the VPort 254 is off, then the light will be green, and the number will be 0; if DI1 is on, then the light will be red and the number will be 1. Now, we can combine Modbus/TCP protocol design with the previous ActiveX Control SDK design. Using the VPort 254 s Modbus/TCP with the Connect Function of VPort ActiveX SDK PLUS 1. Create a new ModBusDemo Cicode page in Cicode Files. Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 24 of 28

25 2. Edit ModBusDemo.ci After creating the new page, add the Demo_Connect function. EX: FUNCTION Demo_Connect() IF CH1_VideoStatus=1 THEN _ObjectCallMethod(ObjectByName("VPort"),"Disconnect"); ELSE _ObjectSetProperty(ObjectByName("VPort"),"ServerIP", " "); _ObjectSetProperty(ObjectByName("VPort"),"VideoProtocol", 1); _ObjectSetProperty(ObjectByName("VPort"),"IgnoreCaption", 1); _ObjectCallMethod(ObjectByName("VPort"),"Connect"); END END 3. Choose Objects Cicode Object in Citect Graphics Builder. Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 25 of 28

26 4. Select Demo_Connect from the Insert Function list. 5. Compile and Run the project. DI1 Off Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 26 of 28

27 When DI1 is triggered, the above window will appear and VPortSDK can automatically connect to the video encoder. Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 27 of 28

28 Summary ActiveX Control components offer an easier and quicker way to embed IP video streams into a SCADA/HMI system. Although the ActiveX Control SDK can also support the controls and configurations, it would be more beneficial to use Modbus or TCP protocols for these functions because they are more familiar to automation engineers. Even though there may not be a best method according to the integration viewpoint, the optimal method would allow engineers to do their job quickly, precisely, and easily with the most familiar tools. Moxa is dedicated to developing industrial video networking solutions for automation systems and applications. You are welcome to contact us with any questions or suggestions related to embedding video streams into SCADA/HMI systems, or other types of automation systems. inquiries can be sent to info@moxa.com. Disclaimer This document is provided for information purposes only, and the contents hereof are subject to change without notice. This document is not warranted to be error-free, nor subject to any other warranties or conditions, whether expressed orally or implied by law, including implied warranties and conditions of merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose. We specifically disclaim any liability with respect to this document and no contractual obligations are formed either directly or indirectly by this document. This document may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form for any purpose, without our prior written permission. Copyright 2009 Moxa Inc. Page 28 of 28