Quick walkthrough how to connect to an interface.
Optipus provides a variaty of interfaces to connect Optipus to your laboratory. Depending on your needs, you can start one or several interface processes. Each interface process can handle multiple connections to different devices or systems. To start an interface process, navigate to the "Interfaces" section in the Optipus and the required Interface-Sub-page. Here, you can choose from available interfaces and configure them according to your requirements. After configuring the interface, you can start the process, which will establish connections to the specified devices or systems.
File Handlers are interfaces that read data from files or write data to files. This is useful for integrating Optipus with systems that generate data files or require data to be stored in specific formats. To configure a File Handler interface, navigate to the "File Handler" sub-page under the "Interfaces" section. Here, you can start a new File Handler process and within the process, you can add multiple file connections. For each connection, specify the file path. One configured, the files can be used as data sources or destinations in any other process within Optipus.
The Data-Server interface setups a server that allows external systems to connect and exchange data with Optipus in real-time. This is particularly useful for integrating with laboratory equipment or software that supports network communication. To configure a Data-Server interface, navigate to the "Data-Server" sub-page under the "Interfaces" section. Here, you can start a new Data-Server process and within the process, you can add multiple server connections. For each connection, specify the server settings such as IP address and port number. Once configured, external systems can connect to the Data-Server to send or receive data during optimization processes.
Within the Data-Server-Mask you can add and alter new data points that can be used by other processes. Data points represent individual variables or parameters that can be read from or written to the connected external systems. Thereby you can add a tree-like structure of data points, which can be organized in groups and subgroups for better management. For instance, you can set a data point "Sensors.FTIR.value" and "Sensors.UVis.value" to set up a tree structure for different sensor readings where "Sensors" is the main group and "FTIR" and "UVis" are subgroups containing the respective "value" data points.
When you navigate to the specified IP address and port in a web browser, you can access the Data-Server interface. Here, you can find an overview of all available data points and their current values and other useful commands and functions to interact with the Data-Server.
All specified data points can be used in other processes within Optipus.
The OPC UA (Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture) Server interface allows Optipus to communicate with industrial equipment and control systems that support the OPC UA protocol. This is particularly useful for integrating Optipus into manufacturing environments where OPC UA is commonly used for data exchange. To configure an OPC UA Server interface, navigate to the "OPC UA - Server" sub-page under the "Interfaces" section. Here, you can start a new OPC UA Server process. For each connection, specify the server settings such as endpoint URL and ports. Once configured, external OPC UA clients can connect to the server to read or write data points during optimization processes.
Analog to the OPC UA Server, the OPC UA Client interface allows Optipus to connect to external OPC UA servers to read data from or write data to industrial equipment and control systems. This is useful for integrating data from existing OPC UA servers into Optipus processes. To configure an OPC UA Client interface, navigate to the "OPC UA - Client" sub-page under the "Interfaces" section. Here, you can start a new OPC UA Client process. For each connection, specify the server settings such as endpoint URL and port. Once configured, Optipus can interact with the connected OPC UA servers to exchange data.
If you need further assistance, feel free to contact the Optipus support team via email at support@optipus.net.