OPC Router Plug-Ins

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About

The central Industry 4.0 platform enables data exchange in your networked production processes to be automated and optimised. The OPC Router connects systems vertically and horizontally, from sensors and controls to ERP and the cloud, from printers and scales to MES, SCADA or LIMS. Find the solution for your connectivity project from the multitude of plug-ins.

The OPC Router enables you to optimise and digitalise your production processes. Data is automatically exchanged by integrating systems such as OPC UA, SAP, SQL, MQTT, REST, SOAP, Excel, labellers and so on. The acquisition of process data gives you a continuous overview of your production.

The latest middleware with standard interfaces for data exchange
Various connection types using powerful plugins
Visualisation of all data transfers

Graphic configuration, exemplary monitoring and extreme reliability mean that the OPC router paves the way for your Industry 4.0 projects.

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Features

Connections between and to the various systems are implemented using plugins. The OPC router server licence applies for as many data points and connections as required. For special requirements the OPC router can be designed with a modular format. Only plugins that you would like to apply for your use case have to be licensed.

Realise projects for automation and data exchange step by step without programming to modernise your production processes.

Lots of connection options, freely combinable for your project.

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OPC Router Base System

OPC Router Base System – Main Functions.

The Base System of the OPC Router already offers many helpful functions to create transfers within the OPC Router. Furthermore, use of calculations, notes, variables and constants is possible. Data transfers can be executed or prompted. Additionally, various trigger configurations are contained.

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MQTT Client

Simply connect your systems to MQTT

The MQTT protocol (What is MQTT?) is a widely used protocol in the IoT (Internet of Things). MQTT works according to the publisher/subscriber principle and operates via a central broker. This means that senders and recipients have no direct connection, but the data sources report their data via a publish and all recipients interested in certain messages (identified by the “topic”) receive the data because they have registered as subscribers.
In the industrial environment there are many sensors as publishers and superimposed systems as subscribers. In contrast to OPC UA, the data content of messages remains unspecified and is specified by the publisher. In OPC UA, on the other hand, the structures of the communicated data are predefined.

With the OPC Router as MQTT subscriber you can use data from MQTT Publisher and pass it on to any system via the other plug-ins (OPC UA, SAP, SQL Databases, Email, REST, etc.). As a MQTT publisher the OPC Router can send data from non-MQTT-enabled sources to a broker to provide any MQTT subscriber with data.

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REST protocol

Connecting and providing RESTful Web Services

With the REST protocol different systems can be connected to the REST interface. It works on pure web technologies and on the basis of stateless logic for querying and editing data in systems. It is used in many modern application platforms that allow access and data exchange for external systems via the REST interface.

The OPC Router is able to access and query REST WebServices. Thus almost any system can be connected with REST API and allows to retrieve data from these systems or to transfer data. Via the REST Trigger the OPC Router can also provide REST functions for calling and thus enables the creation of an own REST API for any system which is connected with the available plug-ins.

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OPC UA Server Plug-in

Provide variables via OPC UA with the OPC UA Server in the OPC Router

OPC UA is the standard-communication-protocol in Industry 4.0. The protocol is used to provide data from various systems and devices (OPC UA Server) and on the other hand connected and processed by many systems (OPC UA Clients). Classically, the OPC Router has always been an OPC Client with the OPC UA Client Plug-in. Data from automation-systems and devices is retrieved via OPC UA and exchanged with other systems. Due to the widespread use of the OPC UA Standard, the number of OPC UA Clients is increasing and with it the requirement for the OPC Router to provide the processed data from the connected systems as a server via OPC UA.

This task is fulfilled by the OPC UA Server Plug-in. The Plug-in makes the internal variables of the OPC Router available to clients for reading and writing via OPC UA. Since the variables can be used in any OPC Router connections with any third party system, the variables can be used for data exchange between OPC Clients and connected systems of the OPC Router. Data points can be defined individually in the OPC UA Server Plug-in. Using these data points it is possible for OPC Clients to monitor the operation of the OPC Router. Performance and status data of other Plug-ins and connections can also be made available to the OPC UA Server Plug-in.

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ThingWorx®

ThingWorx® Connector

The IoT platform ThingWorx from PTC is one of the leading in the market. With the concept of the digital twin, ThingWorx is the core piece for the virtual mapping of devices, machines, sensors, etc.. In a digital model, all properties are made available digitally. The applications range from visualization and analytics to augmented reality.
With the ThingWorx® Plug-in, OPC Router can connect the properties and methods of the digital twins (Things) via the open connection API and transfer or retrieve data. Through this connection, all systems connected via the OPC Router Plug-in can be supplied with data from ThingWorx systems or the data from the systems can be transferred to ThingWorx to complete the digital twins.

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ERP/SOAP Web Services

Graphically connect ERP/SOAP Web Services

A web service enables communication between system on the basis of the web protocols HTTP and HTTPS. Upon connection, data is exchanged and functions are called. Each and every web service has its own unique address (URL) and is described by its very own descriptive data file (WSDL).
With the OPC Router you can link your systems graphically to any WSDL ERP/SOAP Web Service and realize read and write data exchange.

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Telegram Bot

Telegram Bot Programming

Since smartphones have been available, completely new possibilities have opened up for remote access to industrial processes. The interactions that are possible with the smartphone can be designed in a variety of convenient ways and go beyond simple text notifications.
With the Telegram Bot connection, the OPC Router enables the “Telegram” messenger to be linked to the industrial process (see Video). Authenticated users of the bot can receive messages, i.e. alarms, production messages, operating states, (push notifications), but can also actively trigger actions via the Telegram Bot. Application-specific queries and activities can be configured in the OPC Router, which are then called up from the smartphone via authenticated remote access.
You can easily create a convenient remote access to your production system and give the users the possibility for quick reactions in exceptional situations and easy access to production data.

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Email

Email notification via SMTP

Email remains one of the simplest and most common notification and alerting methods. The Email notification Plug-in works with the simple SMTP protocol and thus has easy access to almost any mail system. With the Email notification Plug-in you can create your own email templates for various alerting functions and fill them at precisely definable times with data from connected systems such as OPC UA, SAP, SQL databases, REST, MQTT and many more.
The graphical designer allows you to project your own email alerting according to application-specific requirements (see example).

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Network File Access Plug-in

Automate file transfer and network processing

The exchange of information via files still exists even in automation. Files with information are used as data packets between systems for asynchronous data exchange. In modern infrastructures the files are also exchanged in the network.
Protocols are available in the network that can be used for secure and authenticated data transfer. With the Network File Access plug-in of the OPC Router, file handling and network-wide file transfer can be implemented. The plug-in supports FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and SMB (Server Message Block) protocols. Files can be exchanged between file servers in any network via FTP if they offer a corresponding FTP server service. The SMB protocol is mainly found on Microsoft Windows systems and implements the classic drive sharing. The Network File Access Plug-in reads, writes, deletes and moves files. The OPC Router and its basic components also process or generate data. Transfer objects are available for data structured as JSON, XML and CSV. The file contents can be obtained from or transferred to the many OPC Router plug-ins as required.
With the Network File Access plug-in, systems are easily coupled via their native interfaces.

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Heidenhain

Heidenhain CNC control connection

Heidenhain CNC controllers are one of the leading CNC controllers in the market. By using the same communication protocol, controls of different series and years of manufacture can be connected in the same way. A Heidenhain CNC machine can be easily connected using OPC Router Heidenhain Plug-in.
The communication protocol is used to retrieve the data points of CNC machines hierarchically and select them for setting up data transfer connections. The data points of the control can be read and written.

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Zebra Printer Integration

Easy integration of Zebra/ZPL printers

Zebra printers are used in many industrial labelling applications. Zebra printers are supplied with printing information via the ZPL (Zebra Programming Language). ZPL is also implemented by many other labeling systems. With the OPC Router, these printers can easily be supplied with data from various systems. The connection is made via this plug-in and the data transfers are configured via the graphical configuration.

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Domino Label Printer

Easy data supply for Domino printers

Domino is one of the leading identification technology manufacturers, which is used across various industries. The OPC Router is able to connect all printer of following series: A-Series, A-Series+, as well as printers with the CODENET protocol.
The connection to the many different plug-ins of the OPC Router is done graphically by Drag&Drop. Label printing can thus be supplied with data from various systems and existing media breaks can be eliminated. The electronic transmission of the correct print data at the right time saves time by avoiding manual activities and money by avoiding wrongly labelled goods due to input errors.

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Videojet

Videojet Inkjet connector

Videojet has been supplying reliable marking systems for many years. This also includes the inkjet printer product line.
The printers are used in industrial packaging systems for efficient coding and labeling of products. The smooth and reliable setup of the printer before production is important for efficient marking. Too long set-up times due to manual processes cost valuable time. Incorrect print data due to errors during manual set-up cause expensive rejects due to incorrectly labelled products.
By connecting the Videojet inkjet printers via OPC Router, automatic setup of the printers at production start is possible. Data can be obtained automatically from various source systems (SQL database, SAP, SPS via OPC, etc.) and transferred directly to the printer without loss of time and 100% valid.

The supported printers are Videojet 1510, Videojet 1530, Videojet 1610, Videojet 1620, Videojet 1630, Videojet 1710.

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Wolke Inkjet Printers

Wolke Thermal InkJet Printers.

Wolke printing systems print with ink and at very high resolutions. Printing products are used in industrial applications for product labeling. The printers are integrated into industrial plans and can be addressed from inside the company’s network architecture. The printing setup allows various layouts that can be called upon before printing. Besides the possibility of manual data entry into pre-configured fields, it is also possible to retrieve data via the OPC Router through the available network connection.

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Windows Printers

All printers that facilitate windows drivers can be addressed with this plug-in. The OPC Router offers a visual interface, which functions as label designer; thus allowing easy configuration of layout and printing fields. There is no need to make use of manufacturer-based design software. You can use conventional label printers to get your label printing jobs nicely and easily done.

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Generic Printers

Generic TCP/IP Printers

Even small and simple printers are often network-ready devices with a defined TCP/IP interface. These devices mostly use a simply telegram structure with printing fields for content transmission. The Generic Printer plug-in of the OPC Router allows easy configuration of the telegram format as well as easy definition of dynamic fields. The telegram can then be sent to the printer to prompt the printing process.

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RFID-AutoID (OPC UA)

RFID via AutoID Standard

Working with RFID readers has long been characterized by manufacturer-specific protocols and connection types. With the OPC UA AutoID Companion Specification, this has now fundamentally changed. In the specification, communication with the reader is standardized and the communication protocol is set to OPC UA. Thus, manufacturer independence is achieved on the application side.

The OPC Router implements the RFID part of the AutoID specification and is therefore able to easily connect compatible RFID readers and integrate them into Industry 4.0 environments. AutoID compatible readers are available e.g. from Harting, Siemens and TURCK.

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Oracle

Oracle DB Client

The Oracle database is a top-performing database for manifold business applications. Via OPC Router a native connection can be established by using the respective Oracle client driver and TNS.

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InfluxDB

Easy data transfer to InfluxDB

The Influx database is a powerful BigData / NoSQL database for time series data from InfluxData. Due to new non-relational database concepts, InfluxDB is able to store large amounts of time related data very quickly and efficiently and to load and make them available again.
With its plug-ins, the OPC Router has connections to various industrial infrastructure systems and thus has access to their data. With the InfluxDB plug-in it is possible now to transfer this data directly to the Influx database and make it available to BigData and analysis applications. Data sources are connected to InfluxDB as usual in a graphical configuration of Drag&Drop.

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Mongo DB Client

Connect MongoDB and Industry 4.0

MongoDB database is one of the most used NoSQL databases. The document-oriented database is very well suited for distributed use and the processing of large quantities of JSON documents. With the MongoDB Plug-in of OPC Router it is very easy to connect the infrastructure of industry 4.0 with the MongoDB. OPC Router masters the handling of replicated MongoDB infrastructures. Using various OPC Router plug-ins, data from other systems can be transferred to MongoDB and data from MongoDB can also be made accessible to the systems.

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ODBC

ODBC – Open Database Connectivity

The ODBC interface has been available very early on for successfully establishing connections with various databases. The ODBC standard allows immediate abstraction of the databank system – as well as addressing the database in a generalized manner. In connection with the OPC Router, access to smaller databases can be established easily. To make the connection work, the appropriate ODBC driver for the respective database needs to be installed. For well-known databases, native access ist often more appropriate because of its higher functional scope and its better performance.

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MYSQL

MySQL Database Server

The MySQL Server is a widely used Open Source database, which is supported by the OPC Router via its MySQL plug-in for MySQL versions up to version 8. Native access is provided.

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SAP HANA®

SAP HANA® Database Connection

With HANA, SAP^® has created a development platform for Big Data applications and provides a high-performance in-memory database. The relational database in SAP HANA^® stores all data in the working memory and can therefore guarantee optimal access times to large amounts of data. The SAP HANA database is not only designed for applications with SAP^®, but can also be used for various high-performance database applications.

The procedure for connecting external applications to SAP HANA^® is very similar to other relational databases. With the SAP HANA^® plug-in of the OPC router, connections to the HANA database can be configured graphically. With its plug-in, the OPC Router can write data to the database, change data, read from it and call procedures in SAP HANA^®. These options, in combination with the other available plug-ins, make it easy to quickly integrate us into the SAP HANA^® infrastructure.

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Microsoft Access

Access is a useful small Microsoft database. The database is used in office settings as well as for smaller system setups. More demanding applications are not suitable for Access because of lack of multiple user profiles and a limited performance scope. The OPC Router connects Access databases to other systems within the higher system architecture of any company.

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Microsoft Excel

The spreadsheet program Excel is the most widely used tool of its kind. A lot of information is administered, stored and calculated manually in tabular form. The OPC Router can access the files with the Excel plug-in, with access to all tables and cells to read and write data.

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Euromap 77

The Euromap 77 standard describes the interface between injection molding machines Spritzgussmaschinen und systems above, such as MES, ERP, QM, etc. Euromap 77 is a relatively young standard, which has established a common interface for injection molding machines for all injection molding machines manufacturers. Euromap 77 supercedes the Euromap 63 and is based on OPC UA, which is one of the most widely used Industry 4.0 protocolls.

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Euromap 63

The Euromap 63 standard is the predecessor to Euromap 77 and defines the data exchange with injection moulding machines via files. With its Euromap 63 plug-in, the OPC Router implements the file handling to the injection molding machine defined in the standard. The Euromap plug-in writes the so-called request files and accepts response files. Processed files are archived. The plug-in of the OPC Router guides the user through the predefined transfer mechanisms.
The plug-in is particularly suitable for the implementation of special Euromap 63 applications, such as recipe and parameter transfers, for which the respective data is specially designed. For the retrieval of standardized Euromap 63 data points, the Euromap 63 driver of the Kepware OPC Server is a good alternative, since the corresponding files are already defined here (previously available for ENGEL, FANUC, Krauss Maffai, Cincinnati Milacron, Sumitomo Demag, TOYO).

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XPath

XPath – XML Query Language.

The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is an important standard for communicating structured data across the internet. For this reason, XML is also used both for value or parameter entry and output in IT-connected and internet-ready production systems around the world. The XML Path Language – in short XPATH – allows easy XML data access for the OPC Router. The XPath plug-in allows easy extraction of desired information, which is then passed on to other customer-specified destinations in other connected systems.

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JSON

JPath – JSON Query Language

JSON is a JavaScript-based standard used for transmission of structured data via the internet. JSON is often used as value or parameter input or output. JSON is a valuable exchange format between Web client and backend services.

JPath is designed for server responses containing JSON. JPath and works on the same principle as XPath function, and allows easy access to data contained in JSON data packages, thus enabling the OPC Router to extract and provide the desired information whenever and whereever needed.

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Charm EZ Reader

Charm EZ Reader – Inhibitor Screening Test

In order to control production and manage raw materials well, analytical data is very important. Processes need to be closely aligned to provide the most efficient and best production procedures. This includes permissions and rights management. The Inhibitor Screening Test by Charm is an intelligent testing and screening device that is network-ready.
The OPC Router with the Charm EZ System plug-in serves as a central receiving point for analyses. A handshaking procedure ensures that all analyses are buffered and transmitted from the devices to the OPC Router so that no analyses get lost. The OPC Router receives analyses from any number of Charm EZ readers and transmits the results to databases or other systems (see Plug-ins). With OPC Router, is a fast and automatic reaction to antibiotic or mycotoxin contamination in raw materials possible.

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.NET C# Script

Scripting with .NET / C#

No system can cater for each and every need. This is why a certain degree of flexibility is always needed. The Script plug-in offers additional flexibility because it allows you to define transfer objects and triggers for use with the OPC Router yourself. You are permitted to use basic functions of the OPC Router directly in the script. You can also connect external .NET assemblies, if this is important for your project.

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Generic bar code reader

Barcode readers, connected via RS232 to the COM port of the PC, are the simplest variant of barcode readers in industrial environments. These barcode readers normally supply a character string with the barcode information after the scan. The OPC Router Plug-in for generic bar code readers enables the reception and further processing of the character string.

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SQLite

SQLite Database

SQLite is a program library in the public domain, which contains a relational database system. SQLite supports a wide range of SQL voice commands for the SQL92-standard. SQLite is an embedded SQL database engine that provides direct data access.

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Codebase / FoxPro

Codebase / FoxPro Database

Codebase is a program library with a relational database system in a single or multi-user file. Codebase is binary compatible with FoxPro.

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