How to connect AX and WinCC Unified

0
Hi AX-forum, how would one use Simatic AX with a HMI (WinCC Unified)? Currently we use DBs to aggregate the information received/sent to the HMI, but I cannot find any examples on communication between these technologies.
asked
2 answers
4

Hi René,

currently SIMATIC AX capabilities to expose variables to external/internal are limited. There are no integrated/internal connection mechanisms as of now, but you can declare variables to be exposed and use external mechanisms.

 

For any external client who wants to access the variables from the PLC-1500 runtime (AX loaded), we recommend creating an OPC UA server interface.

 

  • Activate the OPC UA server in the hardware configuration
  • Declare variables first with the {S7.extern=...} pragma followed by the {OpcUa=...} pragma, which need to be considered for exposure. Example:
{OpcUa=ReadWrite}
{S7.extern=ReadWrite}
VAR_GLOBAL
    var1 : BOOL;
    var2 : typeA;
END_VAR
  • Install OSCr:
apax add @ax/opcua-server-config
  • Compile your software (STC) > compile your hardware configuration (HWC) > load hardware (HWL) > load software (SLD) > install server interface (OSCr)
  • Export the server interface nodeset.xml using OSCr
  • Share the server interface XML with OPC UA clients (in this case, your WinCC Unified Runtime project) or alternatively browse live for the OPC UA server interface to create your variables mapping in the desired tool

 

On a side note:

Any variables exposed via the {S7.extern=...} pragma this way will be accessible by any client tools that can establish a non-integrated S7 connection (including browsing). For example: NX MCD.

If you know the FQN of the variables on the runtime, you may be able to make other mechanisms work as well. This is at your own risk and may be subject to change, so be aware.

 

If you have any further questions or need additional support, feel free to reach out to me!

 

Greetings

Fabian

answered
2

You could also have a look at the "coupling DBs" feature

https://console.simatic-ax.siemens.io/docs/tia2st/import-db

 

This allows you to generate a SIMATIC AX library to include in your project which provides access to DBs defined in TIA Portal.

 

Access to HMI data blocks is one of the listed use cases.

answered