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OPC UA Connectivity

ProtoTwin Connect supports the OPC UA protocol for connection to most PLCs, including CODESYS-based PLCs. Note that most PLCs require some configuration for the PLC in order to enable the OPC UA server. It is recommended to use a client, such as UA Expert, in order to first check that you can connect to the OPC UA server running on the PLC.

Server Configuration

Click the “Add Server” button in the “Servers” tab of the IO Browser and configure the server as follows:

  • Protocol: Select “OPC UA” from the list.
  • Name: Enter a (preferably) unique name, which will be used to identify the server.
  • Host: Enter the static IP address of the PLC.
  • Port: Enter the port number for the OPC UA server (typically 4840).
  • Scan Rate: Enter the desired scan rate, which is the interval (in seconds) at which ProtoTwin Connect will read and write tag values.

Note that the scan rate is the desired interval at which tags are read and written. The actual rate will depend on the performance of the PLC and networking latency. You can set the scan rate to zero in order to read/write as fast as possible.

Save the configuration to add the server.

Importing Tags

Select the server and then click the “Import Tags” button. This will launch the “Object Browser”, allowing you to explore the OPC UA node tree for the server and select the nodes that you wish to import as tags. Please note that ProtoTwin Connect does not currently support UDTs or Arrays. Please refer to the IO Browser documentation for the complete list of supported data types.