Company
HPF GmbH is specialized in development of 100% customized automation software. The company delivers to the customers individually tailored automation solutions based on a highly flexible automation framework – SPIDERnet.
Product
The “Simplified Platform Independent Data Exchange Relay” network is a future-oriented, flexible and efficient communication network for any number of automation components.
SPIDERnet seizes the idea of the distributed automation, based on intelligent modules, to perform specific tasks. With SPIDERnet users finally have the communication platform where the individual modules interchange data through a uniform high-performance language to synchronize their temporal task completion.
SPIDERnet allows the distribution of these modules on multiple computers and even to other platforms like Mac, Windows, PLC. In this way, several problems are solved at once. On the one hand the relevant tasks are performed on the optimal platform and on the other hand the lack of performance will be eliminated.
SPIDERnet uses the TCP/IP protocol for data exchange incorporating one of the world’s most common and supported communication protocol. It means that users can revert to existing infrastructure such as corporate network or the internet without the need to construct expensive and proprietary communication infrastructures.
Challenge
Any automation system needs a dashboard that will provide a quick look of the monitored objects and that will provide some controls to manage them, for example, by correcting values, switching on/off pumps, switches, etc. As the entire framework works on web technologies we considered it would be great to offer to our clients the ability to create such dashboards online in the web browser. So, the challenge was to find a suitable data visualization component that will be attractive and powerful, yet lightweight. And we were extremely glad to find Perfect Widgets which offered a rich library of HTML5 gauges with great design and amazing customization ability.
Solution
We actually use the Perfect Widgets controls for our generic Web-Visu system. SPIDERnet®-WebVisu is the completely web-based visualization platform based on the SPIDERnet automation framework. It offers an online editor for managing and designing pages under a customer project, where the user can position and layout dashboard controls on the pages and link them to variables of the SPIDERnet-communication server.
In this way, users can create interactive dashboards according to the individual needs, connected to the automation system in the background without web programming efforts.
As this is a web-based editor users can access it from any devices: notebook, tablet PC or smartphone. SPIDERnet®-WebVisu is the comprehensive and user-friendly plug-and-play solution.
Benefits
Perfect Widgets was the best solution in the field because it contains an extensive set of pre-designed data visualization controls. We were able to select the most suitable gauges and adjust them a little. The great benefit is availability of the widgets designer. It allows us to make a completely customized control exactly tailored to customer/system requirements and host it inside our WebVisu system. And it will show up on any device in the same look.
The gauges are easily added to the web page and we were able to provide to our customers access to the gauge properties via the web. Our users are able to layout the complete dashboard, set gauges appearance and connect to variables. This ability makes our automation system complete and easy-to-use.
Christian Pohl
Sales Manager, HPF GmbH
Head of Branch Office – Chemnitz
