Snappiness of my Perspective setup (reaction time math)

Ignition
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Rookie alert, I swear I searched forums, Ignition 8.1.35.

As title implies, I'm a bit spoiled with snappy quick responses to operator input in WinCC HMI applications where I'm much more seasoned and am looking for similar speed using Ignition. Before I keep going I'd like to say that Ignition is head and shoulders better than WinCC, so even if I have to twitch a little bit each time an operator touches a button, I can live with that, thank you for existing.

Current performance: operator pushes a button to activate a mode, button changes tag value, PLC evaluates the tag when high as well as other interlocks, responds with an activated mode bit, resets tag from HMI, button color bound to mode active tag to indicate mode is active, else popup with restrictions that aren't met so operator can resolve (e.g. "safety gate #5 open"). Current time between button press and mode color change is a bit random and averages between 1 and 2 seconds.

Diving into current hardware and config using one cell as an example:

Data hop 1, going backwards:
Siemens S7-1515TF PLC connected via X2 NIC port to NIC #1 on PC running Ignition Edge 8.1.35 as a tag provider. Connection is via Siemens Device connection (OPC tag type, referencing non-optimized data block address, (e.g. [edge]DB23,X1900.2). OPC publishing speed is set to 200 ms (not sure if this matters with Device connection?) which is the minimum for that PLC. Tag group is currently set as polling 100ms (I'm greedy).

Data hop 2:
Edge PC NIC #2 connects to and is a tag provider for a Server PC running "full" Ignition 8.1.35 (i.e. not edge). Reported latency is ~12ms between these two.

Data hop 3:
Server PC hosts the HMI screens. Same Edge PC that is a tag provider is also running Microsoft Edge, which is in Kiosk mode to look at the server defined HMI screen.

So to summarize the full sequence going forward:
Operator presses HMI button in Microsoft Edge. That changes a tag state on the Server PC which is connected to the Edge PC, which is connected to the PLC. PLC cycle time is less than 5ms, flips a different bit, which is linked to a bit in the Edge PC, which changes a bit in the Server PC, which visually changes the color of a button in Microsoft Edge.

Math here doesn't seem like it should be 1-2 seconds? I feel like I'm missing a timing value that is default to 1000ms somewhere.

1 Like
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Tags from remote tag providers update no faster than 1000ms. This is not configurable right now. Tag updates are batched and transferred in bulk.

TBH I'm not sure why this limitation really exists or at least why it's not configurable. This isn't an area of the product I work in.

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Ahh that makes sense! That being said, if I was looking for something snappier, if I deployed the HMIs from the Edge PC vs the Server PC, or ran the server as the tag handler and got rid of the edge style network (Either way, get the HMI on the same PC as the tag provider), then it could technically speed up? If so, then its a balance between workload and my sanity and if I can sell the work hours requirement to my colleagues.... cake may be involved....

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Those are options, if a little extreme re: the amount of architecture change needed.

Depending on how many tags you're using from the remote tag provider it might be easier to just set up an OPC UA connection to the Edge Gateways instead, assuming they are IIoT edition / appropriately licensed to receive external connections.

You could also publish tags from the Edge Gateways using the MQTT modules instead, which is perhaps the most popular way to share tags from an Edge Gateway.