Tag Archives: industry

Business Case, CO2, Humidity, News, Process, Sensors, TechNotes, Temperature, Training

What is the latest monitoring system from Rotronic? A practical answer and a technical answer.

September 1, 2017 rotronicuk Leave a comment

The Rotronic Monitoring System (RMS) has now been officially launched globally for 12 months and in use at some key clients for over two years.

RMS is a modern continuous monitoring system that embraces open architecture and interoperability as well as providing a compliant system for validated applications.

But how is this achieved and what exactly is RMS. There are two ways I find myself answering this…

The technical answer – for IT project managers, system integrators and cyber security managers.
The practical answer – for end users, project managers and smaller organisations.

What is RMS – The Practical Answer…

The practical answer is more visible via our online demonstration (request guest access here) and via the details on our RMS satellite website.

In short RMS provides a modern and complete monitoring system with a detailed web interface. The system provides users with ease of access to data, reliable and manageable alarms and extensive reporting. Importantly RMS can support existing hardware and interact with other software/hardware platforms.

RMS can be provided as a hosted cloud service or using a traditional licence whereby the client installs the system on their servers (local or cloud).

In summary RMS provides amongst other things…

Live interactive charts
Full reporting and automated/scheduled report generation
Complete event logging in line with GxP requirements
Full alarming with logic and time schedules
Email, phone, sms, relay and custom protocol alarm outputs
Auto back fill and retrospective alarms (ideal for transport logging)
Interactive layouts
Complete user rights management
Compliant to GxP designed around ease of validation

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Core RMS hardware includes Ethernet, WiFi, industrial wireless and RS485 devices as well as full support for existing Rotronic devices, 3rd party analogue devices and 3rd party digital devices using any of the above interfaces. The below graphic outlines the wide range of options available.

What is RMS – The Technical Answer…

Let’s now go a bit deeper. For many organisations once end-users approve of a system the challenge is getting the system approved and installed in line with wider corporate policies and security. So far we have found that in discussions with IT project managers and cyber security managers, RMS has met their requirements – usually much to the surprise of the end users who perhaps initially expect a protracted battle! Typically for larger more secure organisations software is required to be installed within their network rather than using the Rotronic Cloud service. Below we discuss the main elements of this type of RMS installation.

RMS has two core elements.

1. Webservice; This is software aspect of RMS. The webservice provides the interactive webpage to present data for end users and allow system configuration. The webservice also works in the background to interact with hardware and the database. Typically the webpage will be part of the local intranet with an address like rms.yourorganisation.com, optionally the webpage can also be made accessible from the internet outside your organisation (like our cloud service which is available at http://rms.rotronic.com/rms – request guest access to the demo system here). For the clients (end users) no special software or plugins are required just a standard web-browser.

More technically the RMS webservice is built around ASP.Net framework and runs under Windows IIS (internet information services). The webservice therefore requires a Windows Server (2008, 2012 or 2016). The RMS software can be run on a standard PC with IIS enabled but this is not usually advised except for specific applications.

A note on RMS hardware; All Rotronic hardware initiates communication with the webservice via port 80. For cloud applications this means only port 80 must be opened outbound to allow the devices to initiate outbound communications to the server. All gateways have standard IP configurations (DHCP or fixed).

2. SQL Database; The second part of the RMS is its database. All device, configuration, user and measured data is stored within a standard MS-SQL database. The database is accessed by the webservice to store and read data as required. An existing SQL server can be used if available otherwise SQL-Express is free to install.

More technically the RMS database requires Microsoft-SQL Express or higher, the database can be on the same server as the webservice or a separate machine.

As RMS is built around standard server based systems, there is full support for load balancing and failover, as such should a webserver or sql server fail a redundant/spare can take over. This is standard procedure for larger IT systems.

Some other technical points about RMS.

Supports LDAP (so you can use windows login and password)
No personal data stored outside SQL database (hardware only stores unique serial code, date, time and measured values – as such no private data passes between hardware and software).
Webpage data is binary coded and authentication uses AES128 encryption.
Key exchange uses diffie-hellman key alogrithm.
3rd party data / device support is possible via RESTful API or direct interaction with SQL database.

An overview of the RMS communication can be seen here.

For many projects clearly we go much deeper but hopefully this provides an overview. Our experience to date has shown that RMS is closely inline with what our clients expect in terms of operations and security. Further developments are always underway, lead by our customers and their requirements.

Please contact us if you wish to discuss a project or gather further information.

Dr Jeremy Wingate
Rotronic UK

Humidity, Meteorology, News, Process, Temperature, Water Activity

Durable, Adaptable, Accurate

July 31, 2017 rotronicuk Leave a comment

Campbell Scientific (CSC) are an ISO 9001 certified company who are a leading manufacturer in a variety of applications related to weather, water, energy, gas flux and turbulence, infrastructure, and soil. Campbell Scientific, are committed to satisfying the instrumentation needs of their customers, and are internationally recognised in the measurement and control industry for producing accurate and dependable instruments

CSC systems are acclaimed for their dependability, which they demonstrate even in the most extreme weather climates. Their attributes include wide operating ranges, low energy usage, many communications options, and the flexibility to support a wide variety of measurement and control applications. Applications include, agriculture, air quality, fire warning, water quality, weather and climate recording, structural monitoring, Geo-technical monitoring and mining.

Rotronic and CSC have been business partners for many years, CSC uses the standard Rotronic meteo probe in many applications. Recently CSC installed the probe in a network of Road Weather Information Systems in Kelowna, British Columbia. CSC selected the probe because of its reliability, ease of use and accuracy. The HC2A-S3 is also highly regarded for its ability to function in extreme temperatures, this makes it good for the Canadian climate, and a perfect complement to Campbell Scientific systems.

: ” We value the Rotronic HC2A-S3 probe for its ability to function at extreme temperatures.” Mike Ryder Campbell Scientific, Canada

For more information on the latest HC2A-S click here ,or for any of our products please visit the Rotronic website.

Humidity, News, Process, Sensors

The Great British Bake Off… It’s all about humidity!

August 27, 2014 rotronicuk Leave a comment

Bread – The stuff of life!

Most of us have a never ending choice of the most delicious breads, cakes and pastries to please both the palate and the eyes. We have become so used to this diverse range of bread and baked products, but do you how bread originally came into existence?

The interesting history of what is now called the “staff of life”, bread, and the making of it, started in comparatively recent times.

At the very beginning of recorded history there was the discovery of fire making and thus along with light, heat could be generated. Then it was found that different grasses and their seeds could be prepared for nourishment.

Later, with the combination of grain, water and heat, it was possible to prepare a kind of dense broth. Hot stones were covered with this broth or the broth was roasted on embers and “hey presto” the first unsoured flat bread was created. This ability to prepare stable food radically changed the eating habits and lifestyles of our early ancestors. They progressed from being hunters to settlers.

Facts & figures:

Records show that as early as 2600-2100 B.C. bread was baked by Egyptians, who it is believed had learned the skill from the Babylonians.
On average, every American consumes around 53 lb (24 kg) of bread per year.
The “pocket” in pita bread is made by steam. The steam puffs up the dough and, as the bread cools and flattens, a pocket is left in the middle.
US Farmers receive just 5 cents (or less) for each loaf of bread sold.

Why the need to measure humidity?

The production of baked goods such as bread, cakes, biscuits and pastries requires a number of processing steps in which humidity and temperature play an important role.

After mixing, it is typical to divide the dough into pieces and allow it to rest for a few minutes so that the gluten network in the dough can relax allowing easier moulding, which is the next step.

If at that stage, the temperature is too hot the dough will be too sticky and cannot be easily processed further, if too cold the dough can become damaged during moulding which leads to holes forming in the bread. If the humidity level prior to the moulding process was too low a skin of dry dough can form on the dough surface. This makes it harder for the dough to increase its volume during the next
process step called proving.

Proving is the professional term for the final dough-rise step before baking, where 90% of the bread volume is achieved. To achieve consistently good dough rising results special chambers are used. These chambers can maintain the ideal environment for the yeast to grow. Depending on the yeast and flour used, temperatures between 38…42°C and humidity levels between 70…80%rh are considered ideal.

In summary, the use of quality ingredients and careful handling throughout the various stages of production will not result in a quality product unless the dough temperature, and the temperature and humidity of the bakery are carefully regulated. Modern day bakeries use custom ventilation systems that are controlled by precision humidity and temperature sensors.

So once again the behavior of the humble water molecule is to blame! In this case for the stricken faces of The Great British Bake Off contestants as they stress about the quality of their crust and whether the dough will be cooked through to perfection!

Rotronic – BLOG