OPC UA (Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture) is a modern industrial communication protocol, based on open standards, designed for secure, scalable, and platform-independent exchange of industrial data between devices, software, and corporate systems.
It is the evolution of the old OPC COM/DCOM specification, offering unified, object-oriented communication compatible with Ethernet and Internet networks.
🔧 Technical Features of OPC UA
- 🌐 Independent of operating system or programming language
- 🔒 Built-in security: authentication, encryption, digital signature, and access control
- 🧠 Rich data model with hierarchical structure, typing, and metadata
- 🔁 Communication via client-server or publisher-subscriber (PubSub)
- 🔗 Native support for IPv4, IPv6, TCP, WebSockets, MQTT, and HTTPs
- 📦 Allows simultaneous access to data, events, histories, and control methods
🧩 Typical Applications
- Integration of test systems with industrial databases
- Communication between PLCs, smart sensors, SCADA, and MES/ERP systems
- Real-time production supervision with dashboards and web interfaces
- Historical data collection and traceability of measurements and events
- Implementation of Industry 4.0 and IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things)
⚙️ Advantages of OPC UA
- 📡 Real interoperability between devices from different vendors
- 🧰 Ideal for distributed and connected environments (edge, cloud, on-premise)
- 🔁 Transport flexibility (TCP, MQTT, HTTP) and formats (binary, JSON, XML)
- 🛡️ Reliable, secure, and scalable for any system size
- 🔍 Support for automatic discovery of nodes and services
🔧 How AJOLLY Testing Supports Your Project with OPC UA
AJOLLY Testing integrates OPC UA into test solutions, data acquisition, and industrial automation, providing secure and traceable communication between systems at different layers.
🧪 Integration with Test Systems
- OPC UA communication with PLCs, I/O devices, gateways, sensors
- Reading and writing process variables during tests (LabVIEW, C#, Python, TestStand)
- Remote control of test parameters via OPC methods (function calls)
- Generation of alarms, events, and historical reading directly in the test software
📊 Logging and Traceability
- Logging OPC UA data in SQL database, CSV, XML, or JSON files
- Associating read data with serial number, operator, cycle time
- Automated report export with graphs and OPC variable status
🔗 Integration with Corporate Systems
- Direct connection with MES, SCADA, ERP, dashboards, and cloud
- Deployment of OPC UA gateways for universal data collection on the production line
- Integration of legacy systems with modern OPC devices
With AJOLLY Testing, you ensure that your tests, data, and devices are connected by a modern, secure, and scalable protocol — ready for the challenges of Industry 4.0.