The Wide World of Wireless

We had a full house last week here in Charlotte, as we played host to a large group from the Savannah River Site. The focus of the three days was Wireless HART (WiHART) networks, and we had extensive, hands-on sessions.

Security was a primary focus, both to make sure the WiHART networks didn’t interfere with other RF domains and to make sure the WiHART network was secure from outside interference, both accidental and intentional.

We set up 20 different wireless instruments throughout our campus, both indoors and out, on three separate wireless gateways connected to DeltaV. Larry Wolfe, Director of Technology Deployment, and Carl Price, Director of PlantWeb Services, developed a variety of deployment scenarios to test such things as long distances (in excess of 500 ft) and signal paths through solid and glass doors.

Jeff Potter, Rosemount’s wireless security expert provided a detailed overview of the many features incorporated into Emerson’s WiHART technology specifically designed to keep it safe. One thing I learned was the way the gateway and instrument change up their encryption. See, if you had an instrument that was reading the same value all the time or one that changes very slowly (think outside air temperature), the signal back to the gateway, while encrypted, would be the same. Not so with the smarts built into WiHART. By modulating the encryption, eavesdropping or snooping become problematic.

Another clever security feature is the ability to use a HART modem attached to AMS to automatically setup the join keys on the wireless devices. This way, knowledge of the join key is limited, and only instruments that get temporally connected before being deployed to the field can join the appropriate gateway.

Our guests came well prepared also, bringing a couple of guys in from Oak Ridge with all sorts of RF sniffing tools. They were specifically looking at our 4 wireless office networks and how the WiHART devices were showing up in the RF world.

After the 3 days, the visit was considered a success.  Emerson’s WiHART passed the test and with apologies to UPS, Rosemount and RE Mason can ask “what can Blue do for you”?

Work Order Integration, the Sequel

Hollywood usually waits months if not years to come out with a sequel, especially when the first movie is a blockbuster. Now my DeltaV to SAP integration video won’t win an Oscar (maybe a Golden Globe or Duncan), but I wanted to get the companion video out quick.

The DeltaV to Maximo integration video isn’t as exciting the original, but what’s neat about it is that there’s no operator or technician intervention required when a HART or Foundation Fieldbus device alert is triggered. The work order is automatically generated in Maximo using AMS and Asset Portal.

Check it out at www.YouTube.com/AcmeBiotech or at the Process Automation Usability Project.

One Stop Shopping

We’ve just finished putting together a couple of very compelling demos that really showcase the tight vertical integration that’s possible with DeltaV. I’ll describe them below, but I’ll be posting a couple of videos on the Process Automation Usability Project YouTube web site.

First, we configured a Rosemount HART temperature transmitter in DeltaV and enabled its device alerts. Since DeltaV and AMS Device Manager are fully integrated with each other, we only had to configure Asset Portal 3.2 and connect it, via a web service, to Maximo. The result? A device alert from a broken RTD wire automatically generates a work order in Maximo. No intervention required.

For the second demo, we simulated a drive fault in an AB Powerflex 70. When the alarm comes into the module in DeltaV, the operator can navigate to the detail display, determine the exact fault, and press the Create WO button.

The module then builds up a URL string and issues it to AMS Asset Portal 4.0 (powered by Meridium). A work order screen pops up, with many of the required fields already populated for the drive. The operator then enters some additional information and saves the work order request. Asset Portal then automatically transmits the request to SAP, which returns the WO number.

So why is this important? It demonstrates the power and simplicity of a single interface for operating and maintaining your plant. So now when you’re ready to start an order, DeltaV can check if the operator is trained, the equipment is clean, the instruments are calibrated, and there are no outstanding work orders. Just like going to Wal-Mart.