FactoryTalk® Optix™

The new collaborative cloud-based platform for HMI and Edge Computing applications

Lifecycle status: Active
Release: March 2023
OptixPanel Compact
OptixPanel Standard
MQTT
OPC UA

HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Unprecedented collaboration, scalability and interoperability thanks to the new SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) model 
  • Modular object-oriented and cross-platform architecture for ARM/x86 systems running Windows/Linux 
  • Full support for the OPC UA standard for data acquisition from the field, M2M (Machine to Machine) communications and interfacing to MES systems, ERP and Cloud infrastructures 
  • Modern, responsive HMI interfaces, automatically adaptable to any display format and size 
  • Automatic management of PLC interchangeability at Runtime 
  • Scripts in C# to add custom methods and functionality that can be executed both at Runtime and within the editor to automate project development 
  • Natively integrated into OptixPanel™ Compact and OptixPanel™ Standard operator panels 
  • Optionally integrable into all IPCs to build complete visualization, Industrial IoT and Edge Computing solutions 
  • HTML5 web interface that provides the same user experience as the native GUI without the need for conversions and compromises


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Visualization for visionaries

It is the innovative software platform perfect for building modern, responsive HMIs with a high-level user experience, IIoT Gateways, Edge Computing applications and in general solutions related to Industry 4.0 needs. 

Thanks to a fully modular and extremely flexible architecture developed with cross-platform technologies, FT Optix™ enables the creation of applications compatible with ARM and x86 platforms with Windows and Linux operating systems, providing maximum flexibility to designers, who can choose the platform that best suits the application. 

FT Optix™ is part of the cloud-based FactoryTalk® Design Hub™ suite, which allows the design team to collaborate on HMI application development through a distributed version control system, simplifying software management, increasing productivity and accelerating time to market.

Cloud-based editor and collaborative development

This is the age of remote working, hybrid office and SaaS, and companies-especially SMEs-must ride the wave of these new trends to succeed in today's highly dynamic and competitive marketplace. The modern workforce expects a flexible and agile experience: teams want to work with efficient, intuitive tools that add real value to their daily operations. SaaS enables this because it breaks down the barriers of the traditional office. Today it is not uncommon to see distributed teams, with both onsite and remote employees able to collaborate in real time on the same data and projects. Companies have realized that hybrid office and a remote workforce are the key to success. 

"The new SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) model, which parallels the classic on-premise model, allows the development environment to be used directly from a browser at any time and from anywhere, lowering management costs and ensuring that the most up-to-date version available and even all previous versions are always used without the need for multiple local installations. Not only that, by leveraging a distributed version control system such as GitHub, developers can collaborate individually and in parallel, saving their own changes in the cloud and later sharing and merging them with those of others. The system automatically keeps track of who, what, and when made the changes, allowing easy management of any conflict, all without the need for centralized private server support."

Extreme modularity to reduce time to market

We know that manufacturing processes must be able to adapt quickly to new requirements. To respond efficiently to this evolution, it is necessary to increase the flexibility of machine and plant utilization through modular manufacturing, which reduces production costs and time to market while ensuring maximum flexibility of operations and interoperability between systems. 

"The fully modular and highly flexible object-oriented architecture of FT Optix™ makes it possible to reduce application development time without compromising on functionality and performance, enabling an agile approach to machine development, guaranteeing reduced design time and extreme flexibility of the applications built, which are easy to modify according to new customer needs and reusable on different machines. In fact, in FT Optix it is possible to define models (types) for any object (graphical and non-graphical) that can be instantiated both in the design phase and during the execution of the project even allowing the complete automatic creation of the project without the use of the FT Optix™ Studio development environment. With FT Optix™, it is also possible to completely customize the functionality of applications by programming in the C# language, even integrating existing programs to create unique solutions perfectly tailored to the specific needs of customers."

Maximum efficiency in monitoring and sharing data

The manufacturing sector is constantly looking for solutions that increase productivity and overall plant efficiency. Machinery and plants will have to become increasingly connected, handle increasingly complex situations autonomously, automatically and adaptively, and monitoring functions will have to become increasingly efficient. HMI systems will therefore have to aggregate and display information clearly to facilitate machine operators' decisions and improve productivity. Flexibly managing interaction with PLCs will therefore become crucial. 

"In FT Optix™ each communication protocol supports the import of variables from the PLC programming environment or directly online from the PLC memory itself. At any time it is possible to check and compare the imported variables with the current PLC variables, highlighting any differences with a choice of how the variables are synchronized. In FT Optix the concept of "data context," that is, the set of information to which an object refers, is applicable to all objects (graphical and non-graphical) and at any level. In the case where it is applied to the entire project, all the data referenced in the project can change instantaneously enabling automatic PLC change. In FT Optix, it is also possible, when supported by the PLC communication protocol, to perform the import of variables from controller memory even at Runtime, creating the data structure of the HMI project at the time of project execution."

Full Industrial Interoperability: Natively OPC UA for maximum interoperability

In the era of Industry 4.0, data exchange is a prerequisite for efficiency and competitiveness. Every industrial application must be enabled to acquire and manage all relevant information from automation devices; much more than in the past, devices must support machine-to-machine communication without depending on the controller used. Plant connectivity must also support secure communication with cloud-based systems that are becoming the preferred place for data storage and analysis. The interoperability standard par excellence for M2M communication, data acquisition from the field and interfacing to MES systems, ERP and Cloud infrastructures is the flexible and scalable OPC UA protocol, suitable for any industry. 

"FT Optix™ natively integrates OPC UA to ensure future-proof, secure solutions that are open to the integration of third-party systems, offering new strategies in the design of Industry 4.0-compliant M2M and Industrial IoT applications. In fact, in FT Optix™ all project resources such as data structures, graphs, users, recipes, dataloggers, etc. are structured in OPC UA objects with properties, methods and events. This simplifies automatic interfacing to systems or solutions that support the OPC UA standard. In addition, FT Optix provides full support for Companion Specifications defined by consortia in different industries (MTP, PackML, Machinery...) and which simplify integration between automation systems.."

Responsive and modern HMIs compatible with every device

Levels of human-machine interaction are increasingly sophisticated and advanced, requiring modern user interface design to provide the best possible experience for operators who are operating the machine or line. Traditional process skills and knowledge in the control room or in the field are being replaced by new "digital native" operators who often have on the one hand less process skills but on the other hand can rely on more skills regarding modern technologies that manage increasingly interconnected and integrated production systems. In addition, web and mobile technologies typical of the consumer world have also become commonplace in the industrial sphere and offer greater flexibility, speed and real-time information ensuring greater efficiency and improving productivity.

"With FT Optix, user interface designs are not structured in pages but in containers in which the placement of objects automatically adapts to the display format, e.g., 4:3 rather than Wide or vice versa, and to the resolution of the display. Object containers allow the automatic arrangement of elements in rows, columns, or arrays and also allow the use of multitouch gestures. In addition to the ability to create native multi-platform HMI designs, FT Optix also allows for HTML5 browser-compatible interfaces for full compatibility with any device. FT Optix also provides for the management of OPC UA's international localization settings, which allow the creation of multilingual projects. Should the project be used by operators of different languages, localization settings such as time format and units of measure will automatically change."

Expandable and shareable library of graphic symbols and widgets

Using a graphichs library in industrial HMI software can help save time and effort, ensure consistency, improve usability, and give the HMI system a professional look. 

"FT Optix™ has a rich library containing predefined and preconfigured symbols, widgets and scripts for use in your HMI project, and you can create new ones based on your own needs. The personal libraries inherit the same collaboration model available for the entire project, i.e., they leverage a distributed version control system such as GitHub allowing sharing and parallel development of applications that are different from each other but use the same libraries."

Confidentiality, integrity and availability assured

Since an HMI application is an important component of monitoring and control of industrial processes and machinery, its security is critical to ensure the safe and reliable operation of such systems. Among the main reasons why such security is so important are: confidentiality of sensitive data such as production data, process parameters, and proprietary algorithms; data integrity by preventing unauthorized modification; and availability by ensuring that the system is always available and not vulnerable to unauthorized access.

"FT Optix™ makes it possible to fully cover different aspects of security by acting on multiple aspects. The project can be encrypted to protect its intellectual property. Taking advantage of user and group management, it is possible to assign areas of access to the project to specific groups or users that can be either local to the project or domain-based. The application also can be developed to meet the 21 CFR Part 11 standard by allowing auditing of users and variables, signing and double-signing of changes, and allowing protection of exported data to ensure its integrity. It is also possible to take advantage of all the latest security standards in networking such as HTTPS for browser-based access to the project or certificate exchange for OPC UA communication."


FT Optix platform

FT Optix™ Studio

The innovative desktop or cloud-based development environment (IDE) for building FT Optix™ applications, with a programming interface that streamlines and simplifies the flow of actions performed by the programmer. The environment consists of the following seven main sections that enable the proper configuration of all elements of a project and can be local or cloud-based. FT Optix™ Studio is available in Standard and Pro versions.

APPLICATION & FT Optix™ Runtime

The project created in FT Optix™ Studio is then compiled and transferred to the target becoming an FT Optix™ Application, i.e., an application that runs on the device that contains the compiled project and the Runtime components necessary to run the project i.e., FT Optix™ Runtime.

FT Optix™ Framework & FT Optix™ Components

FT Optix™ Framework is the set of low-level software components developed by ASEM and Rockwell Automation for building industrial automation applications and include all commonly used functionalities, including user authentication and profile, data historization, and event management. FT Optix™ Components are the high-level components that manage the essential functionality of an HMI project such as graph objects, alarms, recipes, communication with PLCs, data management, interfacing to databases, etc.. Through FT Optix™ Studio, the designer builds the project using FT Optix™ objects and components by extending and integrating them as needed either through the graph editor or through logics written in C# language for maximum flexibility.

FactoryTalk® Optix™ Studio - Versions

Business model

A highly modular and flexible solution such as the FT Optix™ platform also provides an innovative sales model, which offers maximum flexibility in achieving the best price/performance trade-off of a license or embedded system.

No limits!

Unlike traditional solutions, FT Optix™ Runtime licenses and embedded systems with FT Optix™ do not have the traditional limitations and constraints on the number of variables, number of alarms, project pages, etc.

Cross-platform support

FT Optix™ Runtime licenses are available: 

  • for both Windows and Linux operating systems 
  • for x86 ASEM VK/ HT/QT/BM/PB platforms, ASEM 6300 and third-party systems 
  • for ARM platforms on OptixPanel embedded systems ​

The license as a container of tokens

Each FT Optix™ Runtime license corresponds to a "token container" within which the designer can select and activate the functions necessary for application development. Each function has a token value associated with it, and some functions can be used for free without having a token cost. The selection of components and functions to be activated and used in the project is done at the time of programming with FT Optix™ Studio. FT Optix™ Runtime verifies that the total amount of tokens associated with all features actually activated is within the token limit of the purchased license.

Licenses & Tokens

Functional components

Communication protocols

Not only HMI

IIoT Edge Gateway for Industry 4.0 Solutions

FT Optix™ allows effective interfacing with any system that supports OPC UA and enables the creation of smart HMI projects:

  • IIoT Gateway solutions with Edge Computing functions that process data collected from machines and then communicate it via OPC UA in M2M scenarios and to cloud infrastructures via MQTT protocol 
  • Docker container-based apps to be installed in the cloud to easily manage the ingestion and processing of data sent from IIoT Edge Gateway devices allowing the creation of plant management dashboards and the implementation of production process improvement logic ​

OptixPanels™

HIGHLIGHTS

• Integrated solutions to build modern, ergonomic and flexible native interfaces that take full advantage of the systems' graphical performance, with built-in remote assistance for maximum connectivity 

• Full industrial interoperability for M2M scenarios and interfacing to MES and ERP systems thanks to native support for OPC UA protocol, simple two-way communication with Cloud infrastructures via MQTT protocol 
• Front panels available in aluminum, aluminum and glass and stainless steel with display sizes from 4.3" to 21.5" and resistive or capacitive multitouch touchscreens 
• NXP® i.MX 8M Quad Core processors for uncompromised performance 
• OptixPanel™ Compact and OptixPanel™ Standard already include the Runtime license, which can be upgraded to meet any need 
• Integrated communication interfaces such as USB 2.0 or 3.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet network ports

Comparison table

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