Cybertrol Game Shows the Potential of Cloud-based Automation Solutions

Cybertrol was attending the Rockwell Automation Fair and was looking for a way to show potential and existing clients that they could have a reliable cloud-based automation solution. A game was created — Cyber Paint — to display this possibility in a fun and interactive way.

Challenge

The Cybertrol team only had two months to build, test, and implement the system before the show. Getting a fully consolidated system that included Factory Talk View SE, Factory Talk Directory, and RSLinx Enterprise was also a challenge. Cybertrol also had to choose a cloud service to host the historian and Vantage Point, in addition to getting the HMI to communicate with the cloud systems as if they were on their own.

Solution

A number of technologies and applications were utilized to run Cyber Paint. 

• Other than the CompactLogix PLC, the only other non-cloud device present in the system is the Intel NUC, and it runs the FactoryTalk View SE server, RSLinx Enterprise, and a FactoryTalk Live Data Interface for the FactoryTalk Historian
• FactoryTalk Historian, FactoryTalk VantagePoint, and the Microsoft SQL Server are all virtual machines residing within the Microsoft Azure cloud
• The Pertino Cloud Network Engine provides a software VPN solution to connect the NUC securely to the virtual machines in the cloud, leveraging end-to-end encryption, auto-PKI, and device authentication with a fully cloaked private address space to enable private network security over the public internet

Results

Cyber Paint is a fully functioning HMI game that was played live by over 100 people at the event. Every player received an email detailing the results and inner workings of their playthrough. The game garnered a lot of attention at the fair, resulting in Cybertrol’s most successful Automation Fair to date.