Understanding The Mechanics Of Data Acquisition

If you are new to the world of software, you have a lot of catching up to do. In today’s’ world, software does a lot of things which are built upon systems. One of them is SCADA. Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) is a control system architecture that uses computers, networked data communications and graphical user interfaces for high-level process supervisory management, but uses other peripheral devices such as programmable logic controllers and discrete PID controllers to interface to the process plant or machinery. There is also Modbus which finds implementation in the same software scenario. Modbus is a serial communication protocol developed by Modicon published by Modicon® in 1979 for use with its programmable logic controllers (PLCs). In simple terms, it is a method used for transmitting information over serial lines between electronic devices.

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•    In larger SCADA systems, the master station may include several HMIs hosted on client computers, multiple servers for data acquisition, distributed software applications, and disaster recovery sites. To increase the integrity of the system the multiple servers will often be configured in a dual-redundant or hot-standby formation, providing continuous control and monitoring in the event of a server malfunction or breakdown. Companies around the world are using it to run their businesses while they also find successful application in day to day life. These have been used and successfully implemented in a lot of real world scenarios including data acquisition. You would be surprised to see the places you go to often run on such systems. That is the ingenuity of the system that it doesn’t let you find out about it at all. If you want to learn more about such systems you can visit a store or a factory.

•    Modbus enables communication among many devices connected to the same network, for example a system that measures temperature and humidity and communicates the results to a computer. Modbus is often used to connect a supervisory computer with a remote terminal unit (RTU) in supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. Many of the data types are named for its use in driving relays: a single-bit physical output is called a coil, and a single-bit physical input is called a discrete input or a contact. There are various types of them. A Modbus RTU is used in serial communication & makes use of a compact, binary representation of the data for protocol communication. The RTU format follows the commands/data with a cyclic redundancy check checksum as an error check mechanism to ensure the reliability of data. Modbus RTU is the most common implementation available for Modbus. A Modbus RTU message must be transmitted continuously without inter-character hesitations. Modbus messages are framed (separated) by idle (silent) periods. Each device intended to communicate using Modbus is given a unique address. In serial and MB+ networks, only the node assigned as the Master may initiate a command. On Ethernet, any device can send out a Modbus command, although usually only one master device does so. A Modbus command contains the Modbus address of the device it is intended for (1 to 247).



Hey myself Archer Finch. Even though I took extra care about my systems, but still it was more prone to hacking. With the introduction of the data acquisition, my system is now very much safe from all sorts of threats, as most of the Modbus are connected to web based portals or products.

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