With the TwinCAT OPC UA software suite, Beckhoff Automation provides customers a feature-filled supplement that has been on the market since 2007, and is one of the top OPC UA servers in the automation industry. This software package includes an OPC UA client based on PLCopen function blocks, an OPC UA server – which allows read/write access to real-time symbols – and functionalities that support the implementation of a software-oriented-architecture PLC (SoA PLC), e.g. via OPC UA method calls into the real-time. Completing the feature set are profiles like Historical Access and Alarms & Conditions, as well as sophisticated security mechanisms that offer the possibility to configure different user roles and access levels for nodes and namespaces.
In the latest version, the TwinCAT OPC UA Server includes a so-called “configuration namespace”, which permits the full remote configuration of all server features via a secure OPC UA channel. In order to ensure a graphical, easy-to-use frontend for the configuration namespace, Beckhoff provides a software plug-in package for Microsoft Visual Studio. This aids in configuration and secure connectivity to a remote TwinCAT OPC UA Server, as well as in monitoring or maintenance tasks.
For more information: beckhoff.com/TwinCAT3