Communication and Automation
OPC UA is an open communication protocol that allows industrial devices to communicate independently of the manufacturer, securely and with a standard data model. In injection molding, the machine, mold temperature control unit, hot runner controller and doser publish data as OPC UA servers; an MES or monitoring system reads this data from a single interface. The EUROMAP 77 and 82 series standards are built on OPC UA.
Its difference from classic serial communication (RS-485, Modbus) is that the meaning of the data is also standard: "mold inlet temperature" is found under the same node name on every device. Certificate-based (X.509) security is mandatory; a device open to the plant network cannot be accessed without identification.
Rummel temperature control units and FIEGE hot runner controllers are offered with an OPC UA interface; set values and alarms are exchanged with the machine this way.
It is enough for the device to contain an OPC UA server and to have an Ethernet connection. On the client side, an MES, a SCADA system or simple OPC UA client software can read the data.