BY JEREMY POLLARD

In every industrial application, there is a need to provide alarming for your processes. In most cases, the alarming is taken care of by the HMI application. And in many cases, the ability of the HMI alarming sub-system is inadequate for the mobile work force.

Iconics AlarmWorx was a leader in object linking and embedding for process control-based (OPC) third-party alarming, but it doesn't support dynamic data exchange (DDE), which limits its use.

UCME alarm software from Control-See Software Solutions is the new guy in town. The software supports OPC as well as DDE, so that direct communication products such as Automated Solutions' PLC drivers can now have an alarming sub-system that is packed full of features and capabilities.

An alarm can occur for many reasons, and it is the responsibility of the alarming software to get the information into the right hands in real time.

The software supports telephony using third-party hardware, which reports an alarm to a cell phone by playing a pre-recorded message. You can send an e-mail or text message to various devices, fax the message or play the alarm locally. And all methods can be employed simultaneously.

A very cool feature is the program's ability to parse a text file created by any application. The content of the text file has to follow a format and instructs the software to perform certain actions. However, for certain functions such as short message service messaging, an Internet information services server needs to be installed.

Installation of the product was relatively painless, but there was no help file. Instead, the startup guide is a separate file that has a shortcut in the product directory, which is very thorough.

The software can run on two different computers and can switch to standby automatically. Hardware configurations have to be the same for alarm handling.

I used the product with Cyberlogic's OPC server version 5.0 and Rockwell's RSLinx Version 2.40 (used with DDE).

While OPC tag browsing is available, the DDE server requires that you use the specific address in the PLC, or the application variable name if the DDE client is not a PLC. Once the OPC or DDE server is defined, and tags - PLC addresses that represent alarms - are created, UCME can provide links to those tags and create alarms based on your requirements.

Digital and numeric data tags can be used. Comparisons can be done in the software, and those comparison values can be changed remotely. I prefer to put the comparisons to set points in the PLC, but if there isn't a PLC, this feature is invaluable.

Another really awesome feature is the ability to define a snapshot for the alarm. A snapshot creates a data grid of pertinent information that was present when the alarm occurred. For example, you can view various analogue values that were recorded when the discrete alarm occurred. Viewing can occur via web, cell or RSS feeds.

Creating the actual alarm takes some work, since such things as whom you want to send it to must be defined first. The software wasn't very helpful in directing me to certain areas of the program where I needed to provide this information.

When I created my first alarm, I configured the software to send me an e-mail. It didn't take too long, and once I created the lookup lists, setting up the alarm parameters went pretty quickly.

I received the e-mail on alarm set and alarm reset (per my instructions). The ID number associated with the alarm allowed me to change the alarm parameters remotely if I wanted to.

The logging functions are extensive and aid in the troubleshooting of the system, especially when you are trying to get things to work for the first time. I purposely misspelled the DDE topic name, and got a "DDE Server connection failed" message as a result. The intent was to make a mistake in the data entry so that the software would explain why the alarm didn't work. In this case, it told me that the communication connection between the DDE server and the client failed, which allows me to review the data I put in. Most software solutions aren't as pointed in their error reporting.

This software is very complete in functionality, but I wouldn't describe it as being polished as far as the interface is concerned. I think that the biggest asset is the ability to deal with different source alarms. Another bonus: Import utilities allow you to use the alarm database from various HMI products.

While I think that the pricing is on the high side, if it serves your needs it's priceless. Download a demo at www.controlsee.com.


Jeremy Pollard is a 25-year veteran of the industrial automation industry. He has worked as a systems integrator, consultant and an educator in the field. Jeremy can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .