New technology solution for computer monitoring of water gates: PLC+HMI+SQL

I. Project Status:

The computer automatic monitoring system of Meixi Bridge and Lock in Shantou City was completed and put into use in July 2001. The system mainly has the following functions: 1. Monitoring function. Accurately monitor the water level of the bridge and lock, the gate position, automatically control the sluice and ship lock, and perform fault diagnosis and dynamic simulation display at the same time, so as to achieve the purpose of controlling the upstream water level and completing the operation and regulation tasks. 2. Management function. Sort, analyze and back up the water and rainfall conditions, sluice and ship lock working data, generate charts and curves, automatically print as required, and provide historical or real-time query retrieval.

The computer monitoring system of Meixi Bridge and Lock in Shantou City is composed of the upper computer and the lower computer. The upper computer includes: industrial control computer, server, and offline management computer. The lower computer includes: PLC control cabinet, water level meter, gate level meter, gate control box, etc.

The main components of the system are shown in the figure below:

The software part of this system is developed based on the Windows 98 operating system. The configuration software is RSVIEW 32 6.2 of Rockwell Division of the United States, the server operating system is Windows 2000 Server, and the database is SQL 6.0; the hardware equipment computer is Advantech Industrial Control Computer IPC-610 model, and the host chip is PIII.

II. Necessity of project upgrade and transformation:

This system has been in operation for more than ten years and plays an important role in water storage, flood control, moisture prevention, and remote control of Meixi Bridge Lock.

1. Software needs to be upgraded 

⑴ Operating system upgrade

Because it was developed based on the Windows 98 operating system at that time, the configuration software RSVIEW and configuration software development and production based on this are only applicable to Windows 98. Now the Windows operating system has undergone four generations of updates, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 7, and Windows 8, and the original development system cannot run on the latest Windows.

⑵ Configuration software upgrade

The original configuration software is Rockwell RSVIEW6.0, with a warranty period of one year. It has been running for ten years and has expired. It cannot run on the latest Windows.

⑶ Configuration software design and production

Configuration software design and production are based on configuration software. Configuration software is a development platform. Now that the development platform has been upgraded, the configuration software design and production also need to be redesigned and produced.

⑷ Server software and SQL database

The server operating system and SQL database are windows application software and need to be upgraded to the latest version. And compatibility with the configuration software should be considered.

2. Hardware needs to be upgraded

⑴ The industrial control computer of this system is Advantech industrial control computer, IPC-610, and the processor is PIII. Now the industrial control computer has been upgraded to dual-core and quad-core processing chips, especially the original computer 32-bit processor can no longer install windows 7 and windows 8 operating systems.

⑵ The offline management computer of this system is a DELL commercial machine with a processor of PIII, and the hardware needs to be upgraded.

⑶ The server is DELL, the processor is PIII, and can only install Windows 2000 Server, and cannot adapt to Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8 operating systems.

This computer monitoring system is running continuously for 24 hours. As time goes by, the hard disk of the industrial control computer is damaged. The original model of industrial control computer has been discontinued. The Windows 98, Windows 2000, RSView 6.0, SQL 2000 and other software on the original computer cannot be installed on the latest industrial control computer, so the upgrade and transformation of this computer monitoring system is imperative.

III. System upgrade and transformation plan:

This computer monitoring system can be divided into the upper computer part and the lower computer part in terms of structure. The upper computer part includes: monitoring computer, offline management computer, server; the lower computer part includes: PLC control cabinet and other parts.

This system upgrade and transformation plan is mainly for the upper computer part, and the lower computer PLC part can continue to be used.

Renovation scheme system structure diagram

The upgrade and transformation of the host computer includes two parts: hardware and software. The hardware part includes HMI touch screen and monitoring management computer.
The software part includes the design, compilation and production of touch screen configuration software. The software functions include water and rain data collection, remote control of sluice gates, remote control of ship locks, fault alarm, data recording, etc.

The monitoring management computer can browse and operate the touch screen in the local area network using a browser. SQL management software is installed on the monitoring management computer, and HMI backs up the data to the monitoring management computer at regular intervals. SQL management software automatically or manually imports the backup data into the SQL database to print water and rain information tables and gate working condition reports.

The programming flow chart of SQL management software is as follows:

IV. Comparison between the system upgrade plan and the original plan:

1. The system cost is reduced. The new plan adopts PLC+HMI+SQL control technology, eliminates hardware such as servers and industrial computers, eliminates server operating systems such as Windows 2008 Server, configuration software KingView, RSVIEW, WINCC, IFIX and other software parts, greatly reducing the system cost and saving costs.

2. The stability and reliability of the system have been greatly improved. The original system requires servers and industrial computers, and each computer works in real time. Generally, if a computer works continuously for about 3 to 4 years, it will enter the peak period of failure. When any computer or server fails, especially when the industrial computer fails, the configuration software has encryption protection, resulting in encryption loss. If you want to restore it, you have to pay service fees, and it cannot be solved immediately, which causes the entire system to be paralyzed. The new system eliminates servers, industrial computers, and configuration software, and adopts HMI+SQL control technology. The HMI can work continuously for 50,000 hours, which is equivalent to 6 years of safe operation. If an HMI failure occurs, you can directly replace an HMI, which is very convenient.

3. The monitoring and management computer works in offline mode and can be turned off at night. The basic data is stored in the HMI in real time. The HMI can save one year of data after inserting an SD card. The data can be imported manually during the day shift of the next day. After importing the SQL database, the SQL database management software can query and print daily, weekly, monthly, and annual reports and curves.

4. After the system is simplified, power consumption is reduced and the cost of use is saved. In the original system, the server, industrial computer, and offline machine all run continuously for 24 hours. After the transformation, only the HMI runs continuously for 24 hours, and the server and industrial computer are cancelled. The monitoring and management computer is only turned on when it is used, which greatly reduces the power consumption and maintenance cost of the system.

V. Innovation description of system upgrade solution:

Change the server, offline computer, industrial control computer + PLC control technology to PLC + HMI + SQL control technology to realize computer remote control of water gates, data collection and data information processing.

PLC + HMI control technology is mature, but this technology is suitable for factory machine control. The data is real-time data collection, and the original data cannot be sorted, such as the maximum value, minimum value, average value, etc. of the day, and it cannot form daily, weekly, monthly, and annual statistical reports and curves according to customer requirements.

PLC + HMI + SQL control technology maintains the advantages of PLC + HMI in real-time data recording and stable monitoring of the system. At the same time, it solves the query and printing of daily, weekly, monthly, and annual reports and curves through SQL management software. SQL management software can design various reports and curves according to customer requirements, and improves system stability and reliability. It is particularly suitable for the upgrade and transformation of small and medium-sized SCADA, DCS and other systems.