Computer virtualisation is an example of yet another trend from the IT sector that is rapidly gaining acceptance in the more conservative arena of process automation. It is achieved by constructing a virtual (versus a physical) computer platform using an executing software module between the actual hardware and the operating system(s). One of the big advantages of the approach is that software executed on these virtual machines is separated from the underlying hardware resources. Quoting from Wikipedia: “For example, a computer that is running Microsoft Windows may host a virtual machine that looks like a computer with the Ubuntu Linux operating system, allowing Ubuntu-based software to be run on the newly created virtual platform.” Instead of relying on the old ‘one server, one application’ model that leads to underutilised resources, virtual resources are dynamically applied to meet business needs without any excess fat.
Platform independence
Invensys Operations Management’s VP of platform and applications, Rob McGreevy, spoke of it this way during the recent Invensys X-Change 2013 conference. “The primary benefits of virtualisation are hardware independence and cost savings. Computer technology is getting more powerful every day and what virtualisation does is to make it very easy to upgrade from one hardware platform to another. You just transfer the entire virtual machine from the old hardware to the new. Another benefit is that you can keep the software pieces running as is, regardless of operating system upgrades. This can be particularly helpful in regulated industries like pharmaceuticals, because users do not have to revalidate the entire system every time there is an OS upgrade.”
ARC Advisory Group consultant, Peter Reynolds, has more to say on the subject in an article ‘Virtualisation goes mainstream’ featured in this month’s IT in manufacturing section. He says that while virtualisation was initially met with scepticism for industrial applications, this has changed big time, largely driven by end user demands to reduce costs and make more efficient use of existing computing resources.
ARC believes the virtualisation trend will continue, as it is part of a larger trend in the automation and control industry in which less and less physical hardware is required. Put differently, software functionality is replacing physical devices across the control architecture. The example given cites how much of the traditional physical I/O of process automation has moved to largely software-based configurable I/O. In some cases, one smart physical I/O board running software has replaced as many as 20 physical part-numbered I/O hardware boards.
As the demand for virtualisation gains traction, many of the automation vendors are responding with their own customised systems. One of these is Honeywell who announces the launch of its newest Experion virtualisation solutions package in this issue.
Designed for oil and gas, refining and petrochemical customers, the turnkey blade solution is designed to increase operations availability and reduce the total cost of ownership of a control system. The new platform, leveraging blade server technology from IBM, was chosen because of its highly integrated design and overall improved server utilisation. See 'Honeywell introduces turnkey virtualisation system'.
‘Kinetic Rain’ wows passengers in Singapore
The applications that Beckhoff Automation manages to solve with its PC and EtherCAT-based control platform continue to amaze. One of the latest examples, dubbed a perfect symbiosis between technology and art, is the world’s largest kinetic sculpture that was recently unveiled at Singapore’s Changi Airport.
The installation consists of 1216 brilliantly sparkling, copper plated ‘droplets’. Each is suspended from the ceiling on a thin steel wire and moved under the control of a servomotor. During a 15-minute show, the droplets are continually repositioned to create a dynamic sequence of images all related to the subject of flying.
If you are interested in learning how to solve the challenge of moving 1216 servo axes synchronously and with no perceptible jerkiness, in a show that wows at one of the world’s most sophisticated airports – the answer is in 'Ethercat synchronises the movement of 1216 servo axes'. View the official airport video at http://tinyurl.com/pxyghlg
I hope you enjoy the read.
Steven Meyer
Editor: SA Instrumentation & Control
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