One of my favorite Rockwell Automation trade show sessions is “What’s New in View.”
This year, the ROKLive presentation that came closet to that classic presentation was VZ02, “Visualization What’s New,” and in today’s article I’ll highlight the slides that caught my attention:
(Note: To see a complete list of products featured in the presentation, register on Rockwell’s ROKLive website and search for VZ02.)
What’s New in Visualization Hardware:
First up were a lot of slides covering Rockwell’s acquisition of Italy-based ASEM, S.p.A., and a long list of Industrial Monitors, Box PCs, Panel PC, and thin clients Rockwell will be adding to their line.
If you use a lot of Industrial PCs and Monitors, you’d probably find this section quite interesting.
Next up was news about the 5510 and 5310 HMIs becoming available with Conformal Coating later this summer:
Followed by news about the PanelView Plus 7 Performance is now available with a Stainless Steel IP69K bezel (with replaceable food grade gasket) in the 9 and 12 inch “brandless” models:
This is a big deal for OEMs making equipment for food processing plants, as it supports high temperature and pressure washdowns.
Following these slides was one about COVID-19 and cleaning Rockwell HMIs.
The short version being that Rockwell only recommends cleaning their HMIs with Isopropyl Alcohol in a 70% or lower concentration.
See Tech Note QA3878 for more details.
What’s New in Visualization Software
Rockwell began this section by highlighting new features coming in FactoryTalk View version 12 (due out later this summer.)
FactoryTalk View Studio’s New Features:
– A refreshed and modern look and feel that’s more consistent with Studio 5000
– The new ability to organize Graphic Displays in folders up to three levels deep. Note that this does not change physical location of the display files, nor does it effect the “Display” command’s syntax.
– On the usability side, a new searchable Toolbox and Object Explorer have been added, as well as support for quick zooming in and out using CTRL Scroll or CTRL+/- shortcuts.
– And on the monitor front, support for clearer graphics on high resolution 4K displays, and ScreenPrint command support for Multi-Monitor displays has been added.
View Site Edition New Features:
– New “Data Grid” object to display SQL Server data
– Server-side PowerShell script execution (similar to VBA in View32)
– Symbol Factory upgraded to version 3.0
– Added support for SVG (scaleable vector graphics) images
Machine Edition New Features:
Machine Edition is listed as getting a couple of new features, including:
– Enhanced XY Plot to allow for plotting actual values against desired values
– New audit messages to track recipe value changes in the recipe file
Additionally, Machine Edition version 12 will no longer support creating Pre-version 6.0 runtimes, so those of you who need to continue to support old PVPlus terminals will need to be sure you continue to have access to version 11 (or earlier.)
Studio 5000 View Designer New Features:
On the Studio 5000 View Designer side (used with the PanelView 5310 and 5510,) the top features planned for version 7 (due out later this summer) include:
– New Alarm History Viewer with support of up to 40,000 tag and/or instruction-based alarms, exportable to a zipped csv file.
– Support for Extended Tag Properties in Alarm Messages
– Configurable screen update rates of 100ms, 250ms, and 500ms now available for all screens.
It’s important to note that the update rate will automatically be lowered during runtime if it’s overloading the terminal. The “actual” update rate be displayed using the system tag, “CurrentScreenUpdateRate.”
Studio 5000 View Designer v7 also will be adding these features:
– Larger keypad option
– Bindable “ImageNameproperty”
– Arc drawing tool
– Clear Data Log command
– Color adjustment HMI Device tags
– FactoryTalk Linx for communications
Those our my highlights from this year’s ROKLive equivalent to the classic “What’s New in View” presentation.
If you’d like to see the entire presentation, head over to Rockwell’s ROKLive website and search for presentation VZ02 (you may need to register first.)
And if you think I left something out, or would like to share your own thoughts and comments, I invite you to do so by clicking on the “comment” link below my signature.
Until next time, Peace ✌️
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Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator
Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.
I'm a lifelong Technology Enthusiast who started programing in the early 80's on the new Apple II and VIC-20 personal computers. After earning a degree in Electronics, I worked as a Certified Automation Specialist for 25 years before leaving to focus on teaching at The Automation School, as well as publishing industry news and product how-to’s at The Automation Blog.
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