Since the launch of the Nexto Xpress solution, our latest line of compact PLCs, we have added features capable of further increasing the connectivity level of the products, which were born IoT ready. Over the past few months, we have made available new communication features, such as support for the MQTT protocol, scalability, through the expansion of inputs and outputs via the CAN interface, and development, with the launch of the XP340 model, the first in the line with an embedded Web Server. Now, we will have a new wave of upgrades that promise to increase the power of PLCs and enable their use in new applications.
One of these new features is support for the IEC 60870-5-104 Server protocol, the fifth part of the IEC 60870 standard. Common to the electrical segment, the standard provides a communication profile for supervision and data acquisition between power systems. Based on the client-server model, the IEC 104 standard allows communication between the control station and a substation through a TCP/IP network. This feature, which was already available in the NX3005, NX3010 and NX3020 CPUs, models from the modular line of the Nexto Series, and in the HX3040 CPU, model from the Hadron Xtorm Series, can now be found in the XP340 PLC, model from the Nexto Xpress solution.
The functionality allows Nexto PLCs to be used as Remote Terminal Units (RTUs), collecting and sending data from power systems with event logging in industries, buildings or even Small Hydroelectric Power Plants (SHPs). By combining IEC 104 support with the Web Server embedded in the XP340 PLC, you gain a complete local control and telesupervision solution for electrical systems, since the feature allows the creation of monitoring screens without the need to use SCADA software. If you are not yet very familiar with this feature, we suggest you watch the webinar Web Server embedded in PLC: Practicality + Economy, available on our YouTube channel.
