Archive

 28/12/07 Driver I/O shared memory

Progea has made the new driver called I/O Shared memory available to users. This driver has been purposely developed to simplify and make communication easier between the Movicon RealTime DB and external applications through a shared memory area. This driver joins the long list of free drivers already available to users on request to the technical support team. This new driver greatly improves the Movicon Tag sharing, while keeping the “Tags-in-use management” intact and also simplifies data assigning and sharing with any other external application. This solution adds to the others already available for data sharing.
Please contact the technical support team for further information.

 28/12/07 The Christmas Holiday Break

Progea would like to inform everyone that its company offices are closed for the usual Christmas hols from 22nd December to 6th January. However, the Technical support team will still be on hand, in reduced numbers, right through this period.
Progea wishes everyone a great Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year in 2008.

   28/11/07 Movicon 11 Beta Testing – order one now!

Progea is in near completion of the test procedures within the next Movicon 11 release, in order to release a beta version for public testing. The new product, completely compatible with Movicon X2, has many new and interesting features making the Movicon platform even more productive and powerful. Movicon 11 is officially due for release in March 2008, while the public beta testing period is expected to start in January. The Beta version, to go public, will be an amply tested version by a test group of 4 who have been busily at work testing since last September in Progea.
Anyone, being a Solution Provider User or a qualified User, wishing to use the Movicon 11 “Public Beta”, available from January, can start ordering theirs now directly from the Progea offices.

 28/11/07 Progea Sponsors the Grillini Team Grillini-Yamaha in the world 2008 superbike championships

One of Progea’s promotional campaigns for 2008, involves an agreement between Progea and the Grillini Racing Team, who will be participating at the World 2008 Superbike races with a Yamaha YZF R1 driven by the very talented and young Loic Napolieone from France, racing against notorious drivers such as Max Biaggi with a Ducati. The first race will take place on 23rd February 2008 in Qatar and will be televised by LA7, Rai Due and EuroSport.
Good Luck to the Grillini Racing Team!
 

 28/10/07 Movicon X2 Build 958 now available

Progea would like to inform Movicon users that the service update for Movicon X2, identified as Build 958, has been released.  Even though it includes read and minor improvements, it has been mainly released to launch the production of a new official batch of CD-ROMs, which also include documentation updates (German and Spanish only).  This update can be downloaded free for those who wish to have it, on the understanding that the Bugbase section from the Technical Support website be consulted first before implementing it.

 28/10/07 New functions for Movicon Drivers

 Progea has developed important modifications to the Movicon X2 drivers’ “base classes”, anticipating new functionalities in some of the drivers, which will be available for all the following Movicon 11 drivers.  The new base classes, called “250” are now available for some of the drivers only (Simatic S7, Omron, Modbus, Allen Bradley, Panasonic). The other drivers (the most popular) will be updated with the Movicon 11 release.  The added improvements are:

1. Optimization to output task priorities (Higher promptness in response to commands entered).

2. The Status and Command variables have been added for each station, containing a series of information and commands to the driver (activate/deactivate connection, connection status, communication status, etc)

3. New Help on Line structure with greater detailed information

4. Modem connections on event and telephone numbers in variables

5. Offset for static tasks: Consents the use of one unique variable, or variable list, for read/write in indexed (different) addresses in the PLC.

6. Option to customize priorities with which input/output tasks are to be executed

7. Other optimizations expressly created for Movicon 11.

The new drivers are already available in the Movicon X2 958 setup and can be downloaded individually from the appropriate Progea website section.

 28/10/07 The Nuremburg SPS/IPC/Drives 2007 Fair

What has come a traditional venue is almost upon us once again in Nuremburg (Germany), where Progea will expose all its new features at the SPS/IPC/Drives 2007.  The new Movicon 11 version preview is one of the prominent features you will find most interesting at the fair this year along with the dynamic evolution of Movicon X2 (version 10.2) with which it is fully compatible.  This new platform, in Beta version, will be installed on some of the PCs used at the fair where the Progea staff will be only too happy to demonstrate all their main novelties, expected for publication in full detail in December and onwards.   This new product will be released in March 2008, after undergoing the strict testing and quality procedures.

Therefore the Nuremburg fair is a great occasion not to be missed for getting a ‘live’ show and checking out all the great new features offered by the new platform, the ‘par excellence’ of Scada/HMI software platforms.

Progea will be participating at the Nuremburg SPS/IPC/Drives 2007 fair from 27th to 29th November at stand 517, Hall 7A.

 28/10/07 Customer Satisfaction 2007

According to the UNI- EN ISO 9001:2000 quality procedures, Progea is emailing a brief and simple questionnaire to all their clients to find out just how satisfied their clients are.  We are always looking for ways of improving our services and it is essential to know your opinion about us in order to help us do so.  The questionnaire is extremely simple, and is only one Excel page consisting of about 10 questions to answer and give your vote (1-10), needed and linked to quality to obtain absolute values and averages as evaluation indexes and parameters, indispensable in helping us understand where improvements can be made. Your collaboration is very precious to us and we thank you in advance in taking timeout to do so.

 28/09/07  Movicon X2 Build 957 now available

Progea has released a service update for Movicon X2, identified as build 957, which you can download for free if needed by using the normal procedures. You can also check through previous builds by going to the Bugbase section located on the Technical support website. These service builds usually contain minor and circumstantial updates and must be evaluated carefully to see whether they apply to your specific needs. The Movicon X2 Build 957 update is now available for downloading from the Progea website download section.

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 28/09/07  Web Support Center Updates

The Progea Technical Support Website is a daily regular tool for all international Movicon developers. This site an independent location, managed by the Progea technical support technicians to ensure that every developer is kept constantly updated with fixes and provided with a rich source of helpful and vital technical information. In addition to the constant updates, there are also referrals to the Examples and FAQ section, which we would like to point out that from now onwards the website will also contain the activity status of the ongoing update, by indicating not only the problems (minor bugs) fixed but also those acknowledged and in the progress of being fixed. This is intended to equip developers with the most possible technical information they may ever need at all times.
http://www.progea.com/supporto/users/Movicon10/Movicon10.htm

 28/09/07 TCP PlugIn update for uploading projects to remote devices

Progea, starting from build 957, has improved the "Plug In TCP" concerning how Movicon functions when uploading XML project to devices (such as WinCE panels). This recently released update now permits you to upload projects to remote devices through internet dial-up connections, allowing you to choose the most suited connection mode to use before uploading. When connecting with dial-up, transmitted data must be managed differently to avoid communication errors. Therefore the user can now choose which connection type is best to use for making it easier to manage and keep projects residing in remote devices connected through TCP with a dial-up connection.

 28/09/07  Solution Provider Day 2007
The next “Solution Provider Day” has been fixed for 23rd October 2007 and is an annual event reserved for Movicon “Solution Provider”
companies only. As usual, this meeting is purely technical with the aim to reunite all Solution Provider companies together in one meeting place to go over ongoing product updates and gather technical feedback for continuous product improvements. This year’s meeting is more significant than usual where more time will be dedicated to demonstrating a preview of the main new features included in Movicon 11, the new platform due for release at the beginning of 2008 and which is based, as always, on the Movicon X technology generation, with which it is fully compactable.

 28/09/07 Bigger offices for Progea Deutschland GmbH and Progea Schweiz AG

To confirm Progea’s activity growth and expansion beyond the Alps, their German branch has had to move to bigger offices.
Progea Deutschland GmbH has moved from Herrenberg to Villingen, which is also in the south of Stuttgart, to provide more space for their ever-growing staff. Partnerships with Phoenix Contact, Suetron, VIPA and others, who are the main European automation producers based in Germany, have also contributed to Progea GmbH’s growth.
Progea Schweiz AG has also moved to more spacious offices while remaining in the industrial area of Zurich, by crossing over the road from Volketwil to Hinwil.
These much more spacious offices of the Progea branches prove even further Progea’s international vocation and constant growth due to the great success of their Movicon X product, the most modern and innovative solution in today’s panorama of Scada/HMI technology.
 

 26/08/07 The new driver for BacNet/IP now on release

BACnet is a protocol for Building Automation and Control Networks defined by ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers), standardized by ISO, ANSI and DIN 16484. The ANSI/ASHRAE 135-2004 standard defines the protocol requisites where, annex J refers to the BacNet protocol combined with IP, for which Progea has recently developed and released a native driver conforming to this specification.
The BacNet protocol was written to satisfy the specific communication needs in Building Automation and relating control systems (mainly HVAC, ventilation and air-conditioning, heating, illumination, energy). Today the BACNet protocol version combined with IP (Annex J) is fast becoming an international standard, used and integrated by all major system producers such as Siemens BT, Honeywell, and Johnson Controls.
In this context, the BACNet/IP driver native for Movicon permits Progea to provide its Movicon and Movicon BA users a wider range of flexibility and cost effectiveness.
This driver, as for the Konnex/EIB driver, needs an activation code that can be purchased directly from Progea.
 

 26/08/07 Events going on in September: the 3rd C2 Exhibition-Convention in Milan and the Go Automation- INELTEC in Basilea, Switzerland

Progea announces its participation in two important exhibitions, one in Switzerland and the other in Italy. The Ineltec-Go automation fair is the first to take place shortly, from 4th to 7th September, in Basilea and is the most popular and important automation fair in Switzerland where Progea Schweiz AG can be found at stand D27 – Pavilion 1.1.
The next one, the 3rd C2 Control & Communication Exhibition-Convention, will take place in Italy, by now the most popular and significant business fair dedicated to hardware and software control systems. Progea will be taking part on the 20th September in Milan and on 25th September in Bari, to demonstrate its Movicon X and Web Client state of the art technology. Don’t miss this great occasion and get your free CD copy of the Movicon PowerHMI, Movicon entry-level version with Editor.
Entrance is free, just register at link: http://www.ilb2b.it/c2/home.asp
 

 26/08/07 Tool for “raster” printing Movicon screens

Progea now provides a simple tool for free to print screens in “raster” (hard copy) as well, both for Windows CE and Win32. This tool lets you add the “raster” print to the print command integrated as one of the Movicon object functions. The raster allows you to print exactly what you see on screen, including data loaded and displayed in certain objects such at the Trends and Charts. Furthermore, this command can make printing available in Window CE operator panels, independently from the components loaded into the operating system’s image.
This tool is easy to use in any Movicon project and can be obtained, free of charge, directly from the Progea Technical support offices.
 

 26/08/07 New Profibus DP-Slave driver for VIPA HMI now available

Progea Srl and VIPA GmbH have developed their partnership within the HMI sector even further, with the German company researching into world market proposals for HMI operator terminal based on Windows CE 5.0 with Movicon XCE runtime preinstalled. To further increase HMI solutions to these proposals, Progea has developed the Profibus DP Slave Driver on behalf of VIPA, thanks to which Movicon can now communicate directly the DP Slave port in HMI panels. This purpose-built driver, developed by Progea for DP Slave panel interfacing, permits VIPA HMI systems to insert panels directly into any Profibus network even those already existing, in Slave mode. This driver is part of the platform’s for free options.
 

 20/06/07 Driver Released for ELAP devices

Progea has made a new driver public, designed for allowing direct communications, via serial, with the ELAP Spa control devices, deployed as PLCs and axle positioners in the world of machine automation. This driver lets those deploying ELAP controllers aboard their machines to use advanced HMI solutions, whether based on Movicon or Power HMI for WinXP or WinCE.
All the Movicon potentialities therefore allow powerful HMIs to be directly interfaced with the ELAP control devices. This driver can be downloaded from the Progea website but requires an activation code obtainable from local dealers or the Progea offices.
 

 20/06/07 OMRON FINS and NetLink Ethernet/MPI Driver innovations
Progea would like to draw your focus on the OMRON and Hilscher NetLink communication driver innovations. Support has now been introduced for the OMRON FINS serial protocol in addition to the already FINS Ethernet protocol. This new support for the FINS Serial protocol is the newest OMRON communication OPC Driver suite arrival defined by the Host-Link protocol. The new driver for FINS-Serial is for free and can be downloaded from the website by registered users only.

Progea has also decided to renew and enhance the Ethernet/MPI communication driver for Simatic S7-300/400, which uses the Hilscher NetLink device as interface. Thanks to this adapter, obtainable directly from Progea, Movicon users can now communicate nearly 4 times faster than before with Simatic S7 PLCs without needing to install the Hilscher software library locally. Furthermore users can really now exploit output potentialities via the RJ45 Ethernet port to get maximum communication performances in MPI with Simatic S7.
 

 20/06/07 The Customer Support Center takes a short summer break in August
Once again summer is upon us and the Customer Support Offices will be closed for the usual short summer break from 13th to 17th August, traditionally known as ‘Ferragosto’ in Italy.
The Sales Office is due to take a longer break starting from 3rd August and will re-open on 20th August.
We wish everyone a happy summer holiday and a well earnt rest.
 

 20/06/07 Everyday tools for Movicon developers
The International community of Movicon developers has full use of tools provided by Progea for all technicians, planners and software engineers who use the noted supervision platform produced by Progea. An international forum, moderated by Progea, is completely at user disposal where users can get and ask for infos, confrontations, examples, and feel free to give tips and hints. English is the official language used in this forum and access is free upon registering:

http://support.progea.com/Forum/default.asp

The Web Support Center is another precious source of technical information on the official Progea support website. Access is reserved only for developer users who own at least one Movicon developer license. This Web Support Center provides users with systematic and detailed lists of all releases, an analytic bugbase, fixes and new functions along with a vast range of project examples, subdivided analytically by type. Technical answers to various FAQs, received daily by the technical support team, are on hand for quick consultation. This valuable link for all Movicon users is:

http://www.progea.com/support/users/Movicon10/Movicon10.htm
 

 22/05/07  Free Editor for Movicon PowerHMI

Progea has now made hearsay official: a free editor for developing Movicon projects is now available for use. The Progea politics now provides an Entry Level editor for Movicon based on the FreeWare use policy, meaning that anyone can download this Development tool and develop projects without any Demo limits an run them for a maximum of two hours.
This Movicon Entry Level version, called Movicon PowerHMI, is a free downloadable product. This version is part of a business product line designed for the HMI market both for Windows XP and Windows CE. Even though limited to what it can do compared to its ‘Big Brother’ Movicon X2, the Movicon PowerHMI comes complete with an editor tool.
Meaning that Users can now get the chance to use Movicon PowerHMI to develop both Movicon and PowerHMI applications free of charge and then decide later which is the appropriate runtime license to purchase according the project they have created.
The PowerHMI FreeWare policy does not include technical support, which of course, is subject to payment for those users who wish to purchase services or the Movicon developer license.
 

Business Model:

1. Editor Entry Level Movicon PowerHMI = Free of charge, support is provided and is subject to payment. - Runtime available = up to the pre-established limit for Movicon, or one PowerHMI for XP and one for CE.

2. Movicon Editor = subject to payment, with support included according to Editor license type. - Runtime available = all ranges (Movicon and PowerHMI).

Anyone can download the Movicon PowerHMI editor tool after registering at link: http://www.movicon.info/download/setup/PowerHMX2_Setup.zip
To check out the functionalities supported by Movicon PowerHMI go to www.powerhmi.com


 22/05/07  Driver Rockwell for ControlLogix with Tag Mapping.

Progea has developed a new variant of the EtherNet/IP driver to support Movicon supervisor data addressing directly in the Tag names of the PLCs from the Rockwell controlLogix family.
In this way, PLCs from the ControlLogix series can communicate directly without needing to remap Tags in conventional PLC memory areas (Files) as is the case in SLC500, PLC5, etc.
With the driver update (free) Rockwell Users can therefore use the ControlLogix series and save time in not having to configure data exchanging with the supervisor, or referring to the OPC server.
The driver update is available from the download section or can be obtained from the Progea customer care service on request.


 22/05/07  The Deutsche Bank main Milan branch use Movicon X and Web Client

Deutsche Bank, with over 70,000 employees in 73 countries, is one of the biggest world and European banking institutes. The new Italian Deutchse Bank branch is based in Milan in 4 new 7-storey buildings in Piazza del Calendario in the Bicocca area. The bank’s Illumination and blinds are all completely automated using the Konnex/EIB bus system and controlled by a central server with Movicon X2, that also acts as server to all site offices which, thanks to the Movicon Web Client technology, allows user authentication for logging in via browser in the company LAN to control and command the various devices, obtaining maximum functionality efficiency with very little effort. Due to the many devices controlled on bus (over 6,000 lights, blinds and dimmers), Movicon is connected to the Konnex network through 12 access points distributed in the company’s LAN, with KNX/NetIP couplers, each one with a different IP address.
The Movicon X and Web Client technologies have yet again been successful in fulfilling the technological needs requested by a big enterprise such as the Deutsche Bank.


 22/05/07  Solutions for Web Client and Internet Explorer 7

The cause of incompatibility between Movicon Web Client and IExplorer 7 has been identified. Starting from the Microsoft browser 7 version some functional parameters were changed which worked correctly through to the IE6 version but didn’t work at all in the IE7 version.
The HTML page for the Web client, created automatically by Movicon, inserts the <NOEMBED> parameter. This parameter, in the IE7 version, needs a space in order to be interpreted correctly by the Microsoft browser and therefore should be <NO EMBED>. As of yet, no explanations have been given for this change in the new IE7 browser. Therefore the HTML page created by Movicon for Web Client will have to be corrected as indicated when using the IE7 browser. Otherwise you can ask the Progea technical support directly for an updated HTML page.
The next Movicon Build will provide an update to correct this parameter automatically. Meanwhile you can still use the IE7 by correcting the parameter manually in the HTML page.
As already mentioned earlier this month, the Mozilla Firefox browser does not have this problem.
Further useful information: When needing ‘read only’ on the Web client side, you can modify the HTML code of the web page on the server by setting the parameters to “FALSE” which relate to enabling the mouse and keyboard in the client.
<PARAM NAME = "MouseMotion" VALUE = "true">,

<PARAM NAME = "MouseClicks" VALUE = "true">,

<PARAM NAME = "KeyEvents" VALUE = "true">.
The Progea technical support team is always happy to assist you in any enquiries or further technique information needed.

 

 26/04/07  Movicon X2 SP1 now available
The Movicon X2 Service pack has just been released under Build 955. It includes various small improvements and corrections as well as some new functions to enhance platform functionality. These include: new button properties functionalities with now three possibilities to execute commands when pressed down, while down or when released, improvements have been made to the historicals management with IMDB so that archives can now be set to contain a max. number of records, new functions have also been added for enhancing the use of “dropping code” with Power Templates, plus much more. All the other modifications can be viewed in the Service Pack’s analytic list found on the Progea Technical Support website.
The complete Service Pack setup is for free and can be downloaded in the usual way from Progea’s website download section.

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 26/04/07  New driver for Endress+Hauser RMS621.
Progea has developed, on special request, a new driver to allow communications between and Endress + Hauser "Energy Manager RMS621" measuring device. This device is a computerized measuring tool for calculating heat and water in industrial steam energy and provides a vast range of functions making it not only a sophisticated measuring tool but real “controller” as well. The Energy Manager RMS621 is especially deployed in the energy sector, chemical, pharmaceutical, food industries and in building automation. The Movicon driver permits serial communication with the device to acquire all its data and measure contents in the supervision system. The driver functions are enabled according to the type of activation code purchased. For those interested in this device, contact the Progea Sales office or local dealers.


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 26/04/07  Telecontrol using IEC870-5-101 and 104 protocols with Panasonic.
The communication protocol, defined by the IEC 870-5 specifications, is supported by the telecontrol sector especially where energy and utilities are concerned. Movicon X integrates a communication driver both for the 101 (serial) and 104 (Ethernet) specifications, with master quality. This protocol has recently been successfully tested with the Panasonic Electric Works RTU devices, which use this interface. Panasonic Electric Works therefore can offer specific and purposely adapted systems and peripherals for telecontrol. Progea and Panasonic can now provide tested solutions in terms of connectivity based on the IEC 870-5 standard protocol.

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 26/04/07 Driver Konnex/EIB Driver for KNXnet/IP Ethernet
The Movicon X communication driver has been recently updated with the Konnex/EIB protocol, the communication bus standard mainly used in civil automation. This update now permits Movicon to also support Ethernet interfaces for the KNKnet/IP bus directly. With this new functionality, Movicon can interface with the Konnex-EIB bus in serial, USB and Ethernet. On the occasion of this update, Progea has also integrated the license for EIBA Falcon Runtime library and in doing so will incur the relating Konnex Foundation costs. This means that the Movicon driver now comes ready with the Falcon runtime license, with the best advantage to users and greater simplification of the related management.
 

 20/03/07 Designing with Movicon on WinCE touch panels
Growing market interest for HMI solutions based on Windows CE has also led to a widespread increase in demands for solutions based on Movicon XCE worldwide. Today, many HMI manufacturers, following the popular German trend, offer new devices based on Windows CE and often with the Movicon runtime preinstalled. The many advantages gained by using these types of solutions are very evident for those companies operating in the automation field. You can greatly benefit by using WinCE HMI touch panels with Movicon which provides just one software only for all solution types whether Scada or HMI, independently from the hardware being used. By using this all-in-one software you will get a noticeable increase in the incorporated potentialities with enhanced graphics, sophisticated alarm management with recipes and historicals on relational DB as well, full HMI integration in your company network and accessibility via web.
Sometimes, mistakes are made in thinking that an HMI based on Windows CE will do the same job as a Desktop PC (Win32). Therefore it is important that designers fully evaluate whether their hardware is capable of coping with the type of applications they have in mind beforehand. To help you do this Progea has published a document, called “Designing Guidelines for WinCE Touch Panels”, to highlight all restrictions involving PC use and tips to help you design in the best way possible. This manual can be downloaded from the www.progea.com site and will be included in the next Movicon XCE documentation update.


 20/03/07 Movicon Web Client and IExplorer 7
The Movicon X Web Client technology is currently the most innovative, simple and high performing web technology for automation. By using these Web Client solutions, users will be able to make their supervision project screens accessible with any mainstream internet browser, without needing to install or configure anything on both the server or client sides. Just a few simple clicks and a public connection (ie. a normal ADSL) is all that is needed to get the system accessible via web, from any remote workstation, whether by using the pc browser or a mobile phone supporting Java. However we have to warn users that the new version of the Internet Explorer 7 poses a few compatibility problems for the Java Virtual Machine. Until Microsoft or Sun resolve this problem, we suggest clients to use the Internet Explorer 6 (or before) or other browser types, such as the increasingly popular Mozilla Firefox, which can be downloaded free from this link: http://www.firefox2007.eu/it/


 20/03/07 New Sales Manager for Italian Market
Due to the constant increase in recent years and prefixed mid term growth plan and targets, Progea has had to rearrange and add further members to its team with the mission to handle growth and follow though the objectives to innovate technology and keep quality improvements continuous.
A new expert has been employed in the quality testing lab, managed by Maurizio Zaniboni. The Customer’s Care is now managed by Giuseppe Bettini. While Marco Ceriani has been employed as a new sales manager for the Italian market and will work along side JeanMarc Willems, the International Sales Manager.
 

 15/02/07  Important Agreement with KW-Software
The Strategic collaboration agreement with KW-Software has made it possible for Progea to shortly launch on the market a very powerful SoftLogic IEC61131 product, based on the German KW-Software’s MultriProg and Proconos technology. This product will be distributed bundled with the Movicon Scada and HMI versions, and will be completely integrated with the next Movicon version to be presented at the Nuremburg 2007 SPS fair at the end of this year. This product proposed by Progea, included in the Next Movicon 11, is called Logicon and offers the Italian and International markets one of the most powerful and complete solutions in PC-based vision and control systems of today.


 15/02/07  Movicon Build 954
The Movicon Build 954 has just been purposely released in concurrence with the release of the new software products proposed to the International market by the Progea partners. Available along side the build 954 you will also find releases of the new Movicon BA version, orientated at the Building Automation sector, and the new Movicon PowerHMI version, which includes an additional option to have a max. of 2 VBA scripts. This will makes this HMI orientated product even more powerful in fast becoming a real scada capacity like Movicon.
These updates are downloadable from the Progea website www.progea.com.


 15/02/07  Movicon Masters Domotics at the Urbino University
The prestigious "Carlo Bo" University of Ubino has included a Masters course in Domotics for those wishing to specialize in Building automation with the intention of becoming a professional in the continually innovative, complex and competitive world of Domotic Technology and Building Automation. Experts working in the field of Domotics are experted to be fully capable of planning and configuring integrated systems for automating buildings and equipped with the know-how to get various devices, needed in the productive and household structures, to communicate with each other through a computerized network. The EIB civil bus and the Movicon supervision system are the fundamental products used and chosen for this course for their educational elements.


 15/02/07 Panasonic Driver
In succession to the important partnership with Panasonic, Progea would like to inform users that the driver for the Panasonic PLC (Matsushita-NAIS) is now part of the tight circle of those protected with Activation Codes. This won’t change anything for those already using this driver where the sales policies or its use are concerned. This initiative is only valid as a strategic policy for future users who will now need to get an activation code in order to use the Panasonic Driver in Movicon. However, this driver can be used freely in the new Panasonic PanaWay Scada product (based on the Movicon technology).
For any further information please contact the Progea offices.
 

 15/02/07  2006 Balance: Progea continues to grow
The 2006 financial year has closed very positively for Progea’s balance. It has been a profitable year, rich with important agreements at a national and international level, confirming the technological level our company has reached. Let’s talk about figures, the Group yearly turnover has increased by 25% in respect to the previous year, while foreign turnover, on the whole, has increased by 25%, with Germany having the highest increase even though not yet registered on the books yet. The doubled distributed net profits have given the company firm confidence in making further sound investments. 2006 has been a very positive year for which the company would like, above all, to thank its clients and partners. In this context, our clients can feel completely confident with their investments, and be absolutely assured in looking forward, with renewed faith, to the technological developments that the company has planned for the next three years. To give you just an example, Progea has already put into use three new important resources, and is working on a new test structure to improve quality.
We re-enforcing our task to supply powerful and innovative software products, with the endeavor to improve each day as we go along thanks to your confidence and collaboration with us.


 15/01/07  A new Editor: Movicon PowerHMI
A very interesting novelty for those who have to confront HMI problems daily. The PowerHMX product line has slightly changed to fully integrate into Movicon becoming Movicon HMI. This tool is used for developing and running Movicon HMI projects. The functionalities have been increased to provide for the possibility to manage 2 VBA scripts in PowerHMI projects soon to be introduced. But above all, PowerHMI projects are executable from Movicon as well, providing Movicon clients a new reduced and simplified HMI oriented editor shareware. This solution is ideal for those who create HMI software applications (for PC or Touch panels) and wish to use a simplified editor, independent from the runtime license type they wish to purchase. Movicon PowerHMI projects can then be opened from Movicon and integrate all the powerful functionalities provided by the Scada.
The PowerHMI licenses are sold on-line singularly (www.powerhmi.com) or can be bought in batches with special and advantageous OEM formulas.


 15/01/07 New Movicon X2 upgrading policy
Following the next Movicon 954 Build, due to be released at the end of January ’07, the product’s upgrading policies will change to the advantage of all users. The Setup installations will be provided two or three times a year for Service Packs only. The in-between builds will be called HotFixes and will be only available as software update patches.
In this way, the Movicon User will be able to refer to the various Service Packs, which are officially submitted before the product’s regression texts are released. The Support services will be officially referred to these Service Packs. The builds (in patch version compilations) will, however, continue being released every month and will only be available from the Progea Web support “bugbase” section, where users will find the latest Hotfixes stating the reasons for its release but the Regression Test may not always be guaranteed for all fixes and therefore we advise users to download only if really necessary. Otherwise users will be able to find all backdated HotFixes grouped together with guaranteed Regression Tests in the next Service Pack.
In brief:

• Official Release = New product version released after alfa and besta testing has been completed (intenal and external). Upgrading from previous versions must be paid for if not included in Support Contract.

• HotFix = intermediate build to release patches for small problems. Regression tests are not guaranteed so users must download only if effectively needed. Free of charge.

• Service Packs = Grouped HotFixes, including complete setup and Regression test. Free of charge.

 15/01/07  Drivers for Elkron security center
The increase in demands coming from the Build Automation sector has been highlighted in an analysis carried out on the latest new drivers released. Most cases dealt with devices orientated in civil automation security. The latest series of drivers are used in the Elkron Spa anti-intrusion and access devices, one of the leading companies in the security sector, which recently incorporated SIRA, a protagonist in fire alarm systems. These drivers permit Movicon interfacing with Elkron MP100/200 centers and the new Elktron Digit centers. Driver availability is subject to obtaining an activation code paid by “una tantum”. For further information, please contact our sales offices sales@progea.com.
 

 15/12/06  EtherNet-IP Driver for Rockwell’s ControlLogix
An update is being released for the EtherNet-IP communication driver for Rockwell Automation devices. This update allows support to ControlLogix PLC series using traditional Tag/File mapping (data exchange through data files with absolute addresses). This update is free to all MoviconX users.
Another update is due to be released shortly to allow data exchange with the same PLC without using Tag/mapping files, but by using a direct connection to the PLC’s Tag name and value arrays.

 15/12/06  CANOpen Driver with Hilscher
Progea would like to inform you that the Movicon X driver for Hilsher cards can be used independently both for communicating over a Profibus DP network and a CAN-Open network, always in Master mode. The functions for accessing the Hilscher card are the same, independently from the fact that the card uses the Profilbus DP or CanOpen protocols. To get a clearer picture please refer to the Movicon X driver list for the selection of drivers.

 10/11/06   Movicon X2 Build 952 now available
 The Movicon X2 Build 952 service is now available in the usual program update environment. This service is free and can be downloaded from www.progea.com where you will be required to download the complete setup. You can find further technical information and descriptions on fix updates in the “web Support Center – bugbase area” section (access is restricted to users only), where the product’s bugbase and knowledgebase can be checked through.


 10/11/06   Movicon X2 Editor “Easy View” mode
Among the new things integrated into the last version of Movicon you will find a very handy tool to help you with your daily Movicon work: the property window “Easy View” mode. This tool makes property configuring much more easier to do in your projects. By using the new green button in the properties toolbar (activable/deactivable) you can work with the most commonly used properties while keeping those hardly used hidden until needed. Therefore you will have a reduced display of properties enabling you to edit much easier. You can also get the main properties to display in a pop-up window (easy view mode) by CTRL+SHIFT+double clicking on the object when you are editing it. This allows you quicker access to the essential properties of the object you are editing.


 10/11/06   Compatibility tests run on Jampel products
Tests have recently been carried out by both Progea and Jampel Srl, to verify compatibility between Movicon X and products distributed by Jampel. Movicon XCE was installed and verified with success on the WinCon 8331 embedded control device, based on Windows CE. Tests were also run successfully on the MOXA Iologik remote I/O devices using the TCP Modbus protocol. These successful compatibility tests have made it possible for Jampel to market its products guaranteeing perfect compatibility with Movicon X to all its clients.


 10/11/06   SPS/IPC/Drives 2006
As with every year, Progea will be participating at the SPS/IPC/Drives 2006 expo in Nuremburg from 28th to 30th November. This expo, specifically for automation technology covering all components down to the system and integrated automation solutions has been gaining a lot of success through the years. Progea will be there with their Progea GmbH branch to show all their latest innovations to do with supervision, vision, control and web access using the Movicon technology.
You will also find the Movicon X technology on show at other stands of Progea’s international partners. These include Phoenix Contact, VIPA, Suetron, ASEM, Divus, IBD, B&R and others.
Progea will be on show at stand 611 in Halle 7A.
 

 15/10/06  Progea at the OPC DevCon 2006
The first world conference on the new Unified Architecture specification was held by the OPC Foundation in Munich, Germany last week and which Progea was participating. In this three-day conference details and guidelines on this new specification were presented and which over 30 companies worldwide, including Progea, had actively worked on previously to create its architecture. The new OPC UA intends to guide the unification of the latest technologies (XML, WebServices) and existing OPC interfaces, as the real communication technology standard of the future in response to the ever-advancing technologies of today. For further information please go to www.opcfoundation.org
 

 15/10/06  Important ASEM-Progea Agreement
ASEM Spa is a leading company in producing Industrial PCs and Solutions for automation and has been active on the market since 1979. Recently, ASEM launched an innovative market strategy to propose highly added value integrated systems to the industrial automation market, being more client and solution orientated. This new company politics has made it possible for ASEM not only to propose itself as hardware suppliers but as “partners” capable of supplying solutions as well, making visualization software (HMI), control software and field communications the essential components. In achieving this, ASEM has signed an agreement with Progea, the company with the best HMI proposals in terms of technology and competitiveness on today’s market when it comes to visualization software, which involves the release of a new product with the ASEM trademark called Premium HMI based on the Movicon PowerHMI technology.
Due to this new integrated software, ASEM is today capable of proposing a powerful and competitive HMI solution, perfectly integrated into their line of PC Panels based on both WinCE and WinXP. The Progea Scada/HMI technology has made it possible for ASEM to boast about its extremely important “added value” as global partners for companies operating in the PC-based automation field.
 

 15/10/06  New Driver for Mitsubishi FX3U
Mitsubishi Electric recently presented the new compact PLC controller from the FX3U series. This new device offers the possibility to use more extended memory areas than that offered by the Fx2N series, and comes with the Ethernet connection integrated. To support this product better, Progea is on the verge of releasing a new communication driver, expressly developed for the new Fx3U series. This new driver will therefore support the new extensions of these memory areas with the possibility to communicate directly through the device’s Ethernet port.
The new driver will be available for downloading, free-of-charge, from the Progea website’s “download drivers” section reserved for Movicon users only.
 

 15/10/06  New Sales Director for Progea Deutschland GmbH

Due to the increasing sales and important partnerships Progea has created in Germany, the Progea Deutschland GmbH German branch has strengthened its forces by taking on a new Sales Director, Detlef Brenndoefer, who will operate from the Progea offices recently setup in Herrenberg (near Stuttgart). He will be in charge of all the business development activities for both Progea Deutschland and Progea Schweiz.
The German market is of great importance for Progea’s expansion in Europe as the repercussions of the partnership instituted in Germany are in Italy and the rest of the world. The Progea Team would like to wish Detlef Brenndoefer all the best in his new job.
 

 15/10/06  Movicon in the biggest shopping center in Italy

An interesting article has been published on the Progea website, soon to be published in the relevant sector magazines, about an important Movicon application installed for superivising the Leonardo Shopping Center in Rome, the biggest in Italy.
This project was realised by Automation Sud, a company based in Areda (Rome) who have been operating as Movicon Solution Providers for many years.
This article gives full details on this application and can be downloaded from the Progea Website or from this link (Italian):
Http://www.movicon.info/articoli/Superv_Auchan.pdf

 15/09/06 Movicon X2 (10.2 version 10.2) Release
The new Movicon X 10.2 version has been officially released and called simply Movicon X2. This new version contains many innovations among which you will find two standing ovations; the Remote Debug and the IMDB (historical log files in text and XML as alternative to the ODBC). A complete summary of these innovations has been published on the Progea website’s direct link:
http://www.progea.com/ita/prodotti/moviconx_newsx2.html
Updating from Movicon X or X1 to the new X2 version is free of charge and can be downloaded from the Progea Website. Movicon X2 will be installed in a new folder. The web support has also been updated with all the technical details of the MovX2’s new features and other fixes. This information can be accessed by Movicon Users only from the “web Support Center –area bugbase”.


 15/09/06 BIAS concluded, next stop Nuremburg
The BIAS 2006 exho has just come to an end with record breaking public attendance with great interest in the Progea stand.
The new Milan-Rho exho center set the scene for this manifestation where a preview of the new MovX2 version was presented. Progea would like to thank all those who participated and visited their stand and, including those who were unable to make it, invite you all to the next SPS/IPC/Drives 2006 in Nuremburg, Germany 28.11.2006.
All those who make it to this fair will be given some MovX2 2006 gadgets such as the “Movicon X2- Extend your power” baseball caps or the snazzy “Progea” sling back pack (available until stock runs out). So look forward to seeing you in Nuremburg!


 15/09/06 PowerHMX, news for OEMs
PowerHMX is another new feature which was presented at the BIAS 2006. Movicon PowerHMX, to derivative of the HMI product, was also released in context with Movicon X2.
This new line of PowerHMX products aims to offer OEMs and Partners a powerful and at the same time very economical HMI product with a very interesting licensing policy. This HMI product is a reduced version of the powerful Scada functionalities provided by Movicon X2.
It is placed at “entry level” range making editing much easier and is aimed at being very cost efficient.
It has a freely usable Editor on a “shareware” basis and only two types of runtime licensing (one for WinCE and one for WinXP), which can only be purchased through the web. The product has been thought for OEM politics to be sold in quantities or customized with “brand labeling” solutions and eventually with solutions without licenses with “hardware detection”. If you are interested in these solutions please contact the Progea Sales Offices directly or go to the website at www.powerhmi.com .


 15/09/06 The Lego NXT Driver for Movicon X
At this year’s autumn exho Progea demonstrated its new Movicon X2 product by supervising and controlling a very interesting and fun robot with the new LEGO NXT Mindstorm project. The robot was fixed up with 3 motors and a pair of sensors, connected to the Movicon X supervisor through a communication driver purposely created by Progea which, using Bluetooth, controlled the robots directional (Servo) motors and read the main sensors.
This solution may be very interesting for all those who would like to use the LEGO product for demonstrative or educational purposes.
For further information, please contact Progea at (sales@progea.com) or visit the http://mindstorms.lego.com/ link.
 

 25/08/06 Build 908 for Movicon X1
The 908 Build for Movicon X1 has just been released and is available for downloading the complete setup or just the Service Pack free of charge from www.progea.com free of charge as usual. Further technical information will be released in the "web Support Center - area bugbase" section (access granted to users only) to verify solutions and fixes.


 25/08/06 Restyling of the Progea Website
Progea would like to inform its audience of the complete restyling of its website www.progea.com with new designs and contents. The company’s institutional website has been updated with a renewed look and improved navigation to coincide with the forthcoming releases of Movicon X2 and Movicon PowerHMX, which will be on show at the next BIAS, and which can be previewed on the renewed website.
All suggestions and comments to improve the new website are welcomed by sending an email to the following new email accounts:
- webmaster@progea.com = email comments and suggestions relating to website
- newsletter@progea.com = subscription or unsubscription requests for newsletter
- jobs@progea.com = for sending curriculums and job applications.
All the Web Support Center sections, which have reserved access for users only, remain unchanged.


 25/08/06 Working with Templates: Alarms
Movicon provides a powerful template feature. Apart from being used in graphic symbols, the templates can also be used in some object classes such as the Alarms.
Templates drastically reduce time spent in configuring when alarms with the same text but different item and tag associations need to be set repeatedly.
For instance: Let’s take a project that has to manage 200 motors which all have “Motor Overload” alarm conditions. The RealTime Database has imported 200 variables, exchanged with the field, from the PLC relating to the status of the motors. These variables have to generate 200 different alarms, one for each motor, but the alarms are actually all the same except for the motor’s name in the alarm and the linked variable. In this case the Alarm tool as a Template allows you to setup one alarm only with a generic “Motor Overload” text and the relevant intervention threshold. The group of 200 variables are then selected and associated to this Alarm Template by using the mouse’s right key. Each variable will then be monitored for each of the 200 individual alarms created with this template and when one of the variable’s threshold is exceeded an alarm will be generated reporting the <name_variable+text_alarm>.


 25/08/06 Movicon X2
Movicon X2 is the main novelty of Autumn 2006. The new version of Movicon has many new features, to make this famous Scada/HMI platform even more flexible and powerful. The work carried out in Research and Development this year is the result of intense collaboration with European and German partners who have chosen Movicon X for its exclusive and innovative technology. The new version, free of charge to all Movicon X users, now offers new improved and higher potentialities, new tools for improving company productivity to increase business.
Great attention has been paid to solutions based on Windows CE, where, today, Movicon X2 can certainly claim to be the most powerful and versatile product in HMI automation solutions based on embedded technologies.
We look forward to seeing you at the next BIAS, which will take place from 20th to 23rd September in Milan, to demonstrate live all the Movcion X2 potentialities. In the meantime you can check out all the new features by visiting our website at http://www.progea.com/ita/prodotti/moviconx_newsx2.html .
For those of you who cannot wait for the official release, you can download the beta version setup (Release Candidate), which is a pre-official release version, from the download section.
 

 25/07/06The 2006 Summer Break
Progea would like to let everyone know that its sales and technical support offices will be closed for the usual summer holiday break.
- The Technical Support offices will be closed from 14th to 18th August.
Support is however guaranteed for the remaining part of August.
- The Sales offices are closed from 31st July to 18th August. Apart from the week known as “Ferragosto” in Italy, 14th to 18th August, during which Progea will be completely closed, the Sales offices will not be operating in full swing but will deal with emergencies.
Progea wishes its clients all the best and happy and relaxing summer holidays.


 25/07/06 Technical Support webiste update
Progea dedicates a great deal of its resources to its website reserved for technical support. All these efforts add up to one essential tool for all those who use Movicon as a professional daily tool for managing their own automation projects.
Update Link: www.progea.com/supporto/users/Movicon10/Movicon10.htm
The Support Center is a rich source of technical information. Not only are you updated the latest product update releases you can also check through each release to see what has been resolved or what new has been introduced, letting you decide what is best to do. The “bugbase” gives all detailed information on each new build release (service pack), with absolute technical transparency as should be expected by a professional company operating in an industrial environment.
The support site is also used for other sources of precious information: the FAQ, where a you can consult a wide range of answers to questions frequently received by the technical support team and, fundamental, a section on examples to give you a clearer picture. In this section you will find descriptions of numerous classified example projects, showing solutions to technical requirements, which may emerge when creating projects. All these examples are grouped by argument type with exampled descriptions and project download.
A rich source of information with free access reserved for Movicon developers. If you have a developer license but do not have an access password contact our offices!


 25/07/06 Movicon and hi-tech pharmaceutical applications

Among the most interesting and successful Movicon applications you will find one created by Comecer Spa, an Italian company residing in Castel Bolognese which has been operating in the medicine sector for over 30 years and is a leading company in Italy and among the first in Europe in the market of radiation protection systems and machines for medical, research and industrial applications. You will soon find a very interesting article about them on the Progea website. This article highlights how the Comecer machines, which have to be very realiable and simple to operate, use the Movicon softrware technology as the Scada/HMI system aboard their machines.
This article will be found on the Progea website at the “Press Room – Success Stories”.


 25/07/06  The next Autumn BIAS News
A lot of new things will be taking place in the House of Progea next Autumn.
The evolutional Movicon X technology will be followed with the next Movicon
X2 release in September 2006. Updates are free with full compatibility from Movicon X.
Numerous new items have been introduced, above all in the WinCE environment, which are described in the relating section on the website (being prepared).
Progea has another new product: Movicon PowerHMX, a HMI product in "entry level" version destined for OEM and partners, which is low-costing to full effect. This product is based on the Movicon X technology, and is orientated at HMI systems for Windows CE and XP at the low end of the market. The PowerHMX projects are compatible with Movicon X (not viceversa). Already important partners are orientated to use this technology and new important agreements are on the horizon, a testimony of the high level Progea software technology which is fast becoming a reference point on the Market.
This important new produce will be made official in September at the 31st edition of the BIAS exbo which will take place from 20th to 23rd September at the new fair center in Milan.
You will find Progea at stands G41-H44 in pavilion 11.

  23/06/06 Progea becomes Microsoft Certified Partner

To guarantee reliability and transparency in their software products, Progea has joined the Microsoft Certified Partner program, which followed on from passing all the tests to get the Movicon X "Designed for Windows XP" product certificate.  With this new certification, Progea sanctions the pursuit in Microsoft Windows operating systems, for which the Movicon platform is expressly thought and developed, with the maximum competence.  This contributes even further in guaranteeing the user not only increased product quality but also the services supplied by Progea.

  20/06/06 Wizards for creating Movicon projects

Among the advanced Movicon X technique functionalities you will find the possibility to independently produce wizards for creating Movicon X projects.  This interesting tool allows any user to add a procedure, to the creation of new Movicon projects, which is based on VBA to provide automatic XML file creation when generating preconfigured projects with the necessary requirements (variables, screens, objects, etc).  You can get an example of the VBA procedure with XML parser use by contacting technical support. The wizard, adapted appropriately, allows you to pre-configure project auto-creation according to your needs, by automating repetitive procedures to save you time in developing.

 20/06/06 Movicon X1  Build 907

The 907 Build for Movicon X1 is on release.  As usual this update provides Movicon users with an update to insert minor bug fixes.  Those who wish to download this update can find it at www.progea.com from the Downloads section.

18/06/06  Assigning varialbes with Drag & Drop

We would like to highlight the use of the "drag & drop" techniques among the new functionalities introduced to Movicon X.  As you know, objects can be dragged and dropped all over Movicon projects with the mouse.  The usefulness of this technique has often been forgotten or underrated even though it makes programming easier and more userfriendly.  Now you can drag Tags directly from the RealTime Database resource to any graphical object desired on screen (command objects such as buttons, displays, sliders, etc.) which are then assumed by that object’s properties.  If, on the other hand, you preselect an object from the toolbox, a new object in the form of the preselected object will be automatically created when you drag and drop a tag on screen.

The dragging & dropping of tags make editing much quicker to do and can also be used to assign tags to Alarms or DataLoggers in the project explorer window.

20/05/06 New Driver for Lenze

The Progea planners from the Communication Driver department have been hard at work lately.  A series of new drivers have been or are just about to be released.  Among these you will find the communication driver for the Lenz, Germany, Controller and Invertor devices.  Thanks to this new driver, also available for Windows CE, Movicon X  will now be able to communicate directly with device products made by Lenze.

The new driver, which is just about to be released, will be added to those for interbus, Notifier, ELMO and OVA.

20/05/06 Movicon gets gold at the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics

An interesting article, to be published in the Magazines concerned and can be found on the Progea website, has been written about the Pinerolo (Turin) Ice Rink which had a new system realized purposely for the Curling event which gained much public interest in this year’s Winter Olympics.  This ice rink was fitted out with the most modern and innovative technologies supplied by Baron Thermodynamics Spa.  The Movicon supervision system was installed in the ice rink control room and ran and still is running the ice rink complex.

20/05/06 Movicon gets gold at the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics

An interesting article, to be published in the Magazines concerned and can be found on the Progea website, has been written about the Pinerolo (Turin) Ice Rink which had a new system realized purposely for the Curling event which gained much public interest in this year’s Winter Olympics.  This ice rink was fitted out with the most modern and innovative technologies supplied by Baron Thermodynamics Spa.  The Movicon supervision system was installed in the ice rink control room and ran and still is running the ice rink complex.

15/05/06 Get ready for Movicon X2

Progea will present some new important features at the next September BIAS in the new Exbo complex in Milan (Rho-Pero).  These features will conclude the research and development carried out this year.  Movicon will update to its 10.2 version (Movicon X2), by introducing some new and important functionalities.  Among the most important ones you will find the new version for WinCE 5.0, which exploits the new options offered and exceeds many of the OS limits (memory and performances).  In addition to this, a new datalogging  function based on XML (IMDB, In Memory DataBase),  has been included to increase performances and offers a simple and lighter alternative to archives based on Relational DB (SQL, Access, ADOCE).  The new “Easy” mode has also been included to simplify user interfacing in programming by hiding the “Advanced” functionalities visible in the “Advance” mode.  Many other new functionalities can also be found making Movicon X2 the new technological frontier in Scada/HMI.

Further information will be given in the next newsletter.

15/05/06 Phoenix Contact and the plastic industry

Phoenix Contact has recently held a publicity campaign to promote the new solutions orientated at automating machines in the plastic industry sector.  These new solutions were presented at the most recent fairs, such as Hannover 06 and PLAST 2006.  This technology, planned appropriately by the Business Unit of Phoenix for this sector, uses Movicon X for Windows CE or Windows XP as the integrated HMI system.  The final HMI product version will be called VISU+, but however it will be the Movicon X technology of Progea, Italy, who, as always, supplies the font-end in solution innovations for plastic planned by the Phoenix Contact specialists.  

20/04/06 Movicon X1 Build 906 release

According to the almost customary platform update cycle, the Movicon X1 Build 906 has been released and contains some small service updates.  The information relating to these corrections can be found on the technical support website (Support Center , reserved access) We strongly advise you , as always,  to use the Support Center to check  each build release for any fixes, corrections and any new additions.  The support site is continuously updated and is a precious information source for Movicon developers, which includes a bugbase, knowledgebase and a large number of examples for a wide range of application requirements.

The new build can be downloaded, free of charge for all Movicon X users, directly from the www.progea.com website in the software download section.

20/04/06 Driver Interbus

In the midst of the recent collaboration established with Phoenix Contact, we will soon see the release of the Movicon X driver for the interbus bus.

This deterministic field bus, initially introduced by Phoenix Contact, has become one of the field bus standards used in civil and industrial automation (EN 50253 European Standard).

The Movicon X driver for interbuses supports the Phoenix Contact IBS cards and can be used for communicating directly with distributed I/Os or with control CPUs.

The driver is currently in test phase and will be officially released by mid May 2006.

20/04/06 CEI-ABI Drivers for ELMO and NOTIFIER security systems

Progea, as a response to the numerous requests by Movicon users operating in the Building Automation sector, will release (by the end of May) some new communication drivers for security center interfacing using the protocol set by the CEI CEI-ABI 79-5 and CEI-ABI 79-6 standards.   The drivers will specifically support ELMO Spa ETR series security centers (both serial and Ethernet versions) and NOTIFIER AM2000 fire alarm systems (serial).  The CEI-ABI protocol will also be provided for NOTIFIER on Ethernet for interfacing with e-net systems, which allow direct communication to all the NOTIFIER control systems (fire and intrusion  detection).

Thanks to the CEI-ABI driver availability, Movicon can subsequently integrate security systems into Building Automation architectures, simplifying system integration in a sector traditionally heterogeneous like that of civil automation.  In addition to this, serial drivers are being prepared for the Bargellini OVA emergency Iights, which operate in the same sector.

These driver types use the activation code concept, already used by the EIB, SNMP and IEC870-5 drivers.

20/04/06  Parameter-Driven Screens and Numeric Pad new feature

Amongst the technical innovations recently added to Movicon, you will find the chance to customize the Touch Screen management for Numeric and alphanumeric PADs.  This is very handy for those of you who find that the standard virtual keyboard, provided by Movicon, is not exactly the one you

need.   Purpose-made windows have been provided to allow you to customize

the sizes, shape and colors to get the pad that suits you best and which Movicon will use to replace the one for default. Another innovation you will certainly find interesting is how greatly simplified the parameter-driven screen management has become.  This is because the parameterization file is now integrated into the project and ready-to-use for parameter-driving screens.   This makes parameter-driven

screen managing not only a whole lot easier but also a whole lot quicker saving you time in developing.  Screens can also be parameter-driven in the Data Logger and Scheduler resources.

For further information please refer to the relative product documentation

25/02/06Scada/HMI Usability Analysis Published

A scientific analysis on Movicon X usability, in relation to other Scada/HMI products on the market has just been published. The analysis is the result of researches and studies carried out by the Department of Science and Engineering methods at the Modena and Reggio University.  This study applied the Nielsen heuristics, by appropriately adapting it to the Scada/HMI products, to valuate usability criteria which make software more or less user-frienldy, easy and intuitive for the non-expert user.  The User-Centered Design criteria was used for the first time, with Progea, in planning an industrial platform.   The various products were compared with each other, for their usability, by using the same methodologies. The study synthesis, the methods used and the comparison results have been published (italian language only) and can be viewed on the www.progea.com website,in the 'Products' section.

20/02/06Direct Driver for S7-MPI in VIPA Touch panels

Progea, in collaboration with VIPA GmbH, has developed a special communication driver which allows communication with PLC devices (Siemens and VIPA) in MPI network using  the MPI interface integrated on board the new line of VIPA HMI touch panels based on Windows CE.  The new VIPA HMI prodcucts, devices with 6" panels and soon also 8" and 10" panels.  already have the Movicon XCE runtime on board, which due to the direct and integrated connection, allow communications in MPI with the highest efficiency and with unmatched performances. The VIPA GmbH and Progea Srl partnership therefore makes its possible to use high quality and performance HMI software and hardware products.  The HMI product, with the Progea software already installed on board, are distributed worldwide by branch offices and VIPA distributors.

20/02/06Web Client X Demo "live" on Progea Website

A live demo of the potentialities offered by Web Client technology has been inserted on the Progea website.  A Movicon X project is always kept in run mode On one of the public servers in Progea, with some demostrative screen pages.  The pages can be accessed from anywhere in the world using any kind of browser (IExplorer, Netscape, Mozilla, Firefox..). When accessing the website, you will be able to view and interact on the project being run on the server, by using the new Web Client X technology based on the Java and Web Services. Not only will you be able to discover the potentialities provided but you will also get the chance to discover the incredible performances offered by the Web Client X.

You can access as client by using a normal mobile phone (with Java 2.o support), in this case you must install the midlet  free of charge beforehand.

For security reasons, access to the server requires you to log on with a access password which must be supplied by Progea.  This is due to the fact that Progea receives over 10.000 contacts a month, thereby all steps have been taken on their behalf against any improper use of their website and the Movicon X demo.  Access can be requested by using the appropriate information request form or directly from sales@progea.com.

The Web Client server link is Http:\\support.progea.com\webclient

15/01/06 New Driver IEC 870-5-101/104

Progea has developed a communication driver for Movicon X capable of supporting the well-known IEC 870-5-101 and 104 standards. The driver is included in the Movicon package but you will have to pay for an activation code to use it.  

Thanks to this driver, Movicon X can be used without using OPC Servers in all applications where the IEC 870-5 standard is required.

The new driver has been added to the list of Movicon drivers included in the package.