What Do You Get?

2 hours of video instruction
47 lessons
1 downloadable resource
Unlimited access
Certificate of Completion
30 day money back guarantee


How Will This Course Benefit You?

The key to getting ahead in the process automation field is to acquire higher value added skills. You have to gain knowledge on subjects like programmable logic controllers, intelligent devices, data communications, and enterprise plant software solutions. One of the key skills that will make you very valuable is knowing how to connect plant devices to enterprise software such as human machine interfaces and historians.

And to do that you will need to have a practical working knowledge of the technology called OPC and that is what this course will give you.

By the end of this course, you will be able to install and configure OPC software to connect data from plant devices to enterprise software. You will be able to add significant value to your organization or your clients making you a very valuable team member.


In this course, you will:

- Have an appreciation of the reason OPC was developed.
- Understand how OPC is able to achieve cross-platform software integration.
- Become aware of the various OPC specifications.
- Be able to choose the appropriate OPC software application based on technical needs.
- Understand the structure of OPC DA and HDA.
- Download and configure an OPC server application and connect with it using an OPC client application.
- Simulate an OPC conversation using a Modbus slave simulator.
- Configure an OPC server application to communicate with a physical programmable logic controller (PLC).
- Connect an HMI OPC Client to the OPC Server and link graphics.


Are there any requirements?

You will need a very basic understanding of Modbus protocol.
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Course curriculum

    1. What You Will Learn in this Course

    2. Course Execution Plan

    3. Accessing Attached Resources

    4. Contacting Your Instructor

    1. The reason for OPC - An Example Scenario

    2. The reason for OPC - The Pre-OPC Mess

    3. The reason for OPC - The Eventual (Pre-OPC) Solution

    4. OPC is Developed Through Pressure from Customers

    5. OPC Compliance by Vendors

    6. The Client-Server Model of OPC

    7. OPC - Multiple Clients and Servers

    8. OPC and Data Type Normalizaion

    9. Solving the original Customer Problem with OPC

    10. Section Recap

    1. The various Specifications within OPC

    2. Choosing OPC Application Software - What to Keep in Mind

    3. OPC and COM/DCOM Microsoft Technologies

    4. Understanding the OPC Data Item

    5. Exploring OPC DA

    6. Exploring OPC HDA

    7. Exploring OPC A&E

    8. OPC Quality Codes

    9. Section Recap

    1. PLEASE! ... Learn by doing

    2. The Software Tools that we will be using in this section

    3. How we will be setting up the Software Tools

    4. Downloading Modsim32 and Virtual Serial Port

    5. Downloading the Modbus OPC Server and the OPC Client

    6. Configuring Virtual Serial Port and Modsim32

    7. Configuring Matrikon Modbus OPC Server

    8. Using OPC Server documentation to determine Data Item formats

    9. Configuring Matrikon OPC Explorer (OPC Client)

    10. Performing a Write to a Data Item

    11. Section Recap

    1. Modifying the Software Tools Setup

    2. Overview of the Direct Logic 05 PLC

    3. Looking at the Direct Logic PLC on my desk

    4. DL05 PLC Modbus Addressing

    5. Configuring the Software Tools for connection to DL06 PLC

    6. Running the Hardware/Software Setup for OPC Communication

    1. The Software Tools Setup we will be using

    2. Introduction to the OPC Server Simulator

    3. Downloading the Matrikon OPC HDA Explorer

    4. Connecting to the OPC Server Simulator with the OPC Explorer

    5. Configuring and Running the OPC HDA Explorer

About this course

  • $10.00
  • 47 lessons
  • 2 hours of video content