Hi guys,
I’m hoping someone can help me. I’m trying to use ignition as part of a final year project for college and it involves adding a few devices such as pumps and tanks to a HMI for a demo. I’ve began by trying to follow along to the inductive Automation tutorial videos.(Design Like a Pro Webinar Series: Part 1 - Laying the Foundation for Successful HMI / SCADA Projects - YouTube) When I try create a new OPC UA device the status goes from connecting to reconnecting and never connects.
I’m really down to the wire at the moment. if anyone can give me some advice id really appreciate it.
The legacy driver is not appropriate any recently-acquired Logix devices. What model and firmware version is the Logix device you have?
I don’t have a physical device, I assumed that all the devices available in the configuration tab were there to simulate physical devices so I could created a sandbox automated plant where I could demo opening and closing some valves etc. for my college project.
I was hoping on using the features of the designer to create my project but if i need physical devices im going to have to completely rethink my project
From IA, only a device identified as a Simulator is a simulator. (:
As luck would have it, though, there is a module that can more thoroughly simulate a Logix processor…
https://inductiveautomation.com/moduleshowcase/module/automation-professionals-llc-ethernetip-class-1-communications
Yes, it works with Ignition’s two-hour resettable trial mode, so you don’t have to buy it for your simulation.
/shameless self-promotion (:
So am i right in saying , I wont be able to use ignition to produce a demo for my supervisor without buying additional hardware or add-ons? From all of the videos I’ve seen online by Inductive Automation its made out like I can use the designer to add a few pumps , valves and tanks and just demo that. I’m aware that I wont be able to link it to a physical server with SQL database and PLC. but just for the visual representation of a plant/water treatment setup, can i do this using the designer only?
Sorry if I’m not explaining myself properly, I’m really new to this software
You can use the programmable device simulator driver without any real hardware to connect it to.
https://docs.inductiveautomation.com/display/DOC81/Programmable+Device+Simulator
Excellent, I will take a look at that straight away. Thanks so much for your help
You can also create memory tags without connecting to any devices or simulators. You can read/write to/from these tags in the same way you would normal device tags. There are also expression/query tags that you can use in conjunction with the memory tags. Might be enough for your project.
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I seen some tutorials on using tags, maybe that might be enough to get me through the project, thanks for your help
Memory tags are the way I would go as well
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Thanks, I’m currently working my way through the videos provided by Inductive University to become more familiar with the basics first. Is there any other material ye would recommend to learn how to use ignition 8.1 besides what’s on Inductive University? I’m completely new to this kind of software.
Because you’re using Maker edition which means you’ll be using Perspective for the visualisation module, you should also look at the basics of CSS as this is how you will be able to style your components nicely. CSS properties are generally applied to a component via its props.style property, and you can create a library of styles using Perspective ‘Styles’ which are located under the Perspective section in the Designer, alongside Views. P. Styles allow you to create a template for a collection of CSS properties that you can then use again and again on components via their props.style.classes property by using a named reference to them. For example, you might have Perspective Styles defined for device states: Devices/States/Stopped (backgroundColor: grey), Devices/States/Running (backgroundColor: green), Devices/States/Faulted (backgroundColor: red). Obviously i’m glossing over a lot here…
Yeah that’s sounds great as I will need to change properties in the demonstration just to show that I know what I’m doing, I’m finding the videos provided very informative so I’m hoping that I retain enough information to create something that actually makes sense 
As another option, are you required to use Maker? The full ignition platform has a 2 hour trial that you can reset indefinitely. This is what I and many others have used to create demo/interview/PoC projects. When I first started using Ignition this is what I used for an entire summer to prove out that the platform would work for our use case before we purchased a license. Perspective is still very much a work in progress. You’ll find that there are a lot more training/learning/forum resources out there for Vision and I personally think the learning curve is not nearly as steep as it is for Perspective at the moment. Just my 2 cents.
While I agree that Perspective does have some issues at the moment in terms of performance for larger projects and screens with lots going on, for a uni project, would you prefer working with older or newer tech? The fundamentals are certainly all there currently in Perspective and you can create really nice designs. For a final year project, you shouldn’t run into any of the performance issues.
In terms of styling as well, Perspective is the clear winner as it’s just so easy to create standards for your styling that you can use throughout your project, where Vision is old and super clunky.
If you’re not from a Web dev background (I wasn’t), then certainly Perspective has a learning curve for those coming from other SCADA packages. But being a uni undergrad, this isn’t the case, and any package will have a learning curve 
better starting with the future rather than the past imo
I agree to some extent. I feel like at the moment with Perspective and new Ignition users, they get so stuck on trying to get something to look good that they don’t learn the fundamentals as well with tags, expressions, scripts, databases, etc as they would if starting with Vision first. Just my experience with new hires. On top of that, it feels like there are a lot of hidden things with Perspective that you just have to know if you want to use them. I’ll admit, personally, I still don’t understand how you all create pipes with labels 
. Definitely agree though that Perspective is the future and should definitely learn it. I just feel differently about whether or not that is the best tool for a user to jump into, completely green, with no SCADA experience. At least currently. I definitely think as Perspective continues to mature that my viewpoint will change and Perspective will be a great point to start off from in the SCADA world. Just my personal opinion though
