As always, Rick Kephart hit the stage ready to talk about technology, once again focused on Emerson’s Boundless Automation vision—from the field to the cloud. While Rick’s entire roadmap for innovation plans for today, tomorrow, and the distant future, his opening presentation focused on short-term technology innovations; those that are coming in the next few years.
A new Ovation
Everything that is new and exciting at the 2024 Ovation Users’ Group culminates in the release of Ovation 4.0. We got our first inclination as to when the software would be here when Rick shared that Ovation 4.0 will become available with the public release of Microsoft Server 2025.
One big change coming with Ovation 4.0 is compatibility with the public cloud—not with the intention for production systems—but rather for simplified, smooth connectivity to the many critical third-party applications that are becoming available in the cloud. Users will have access to better analytics, business tools, and more, without having to build fragile, insecure custom connections.
Ovation 4.0 will also release with new, modernized HTML5 based graphics capability. Graphics will natively scale to any device—tablets, phones, EDS consumption, and more. It will support any graphics style from basic 2D dashboards to modern 3D visuals, integrating critical key performance indicators.
But even more importantly, the new design tool will have an extensive object-based library, full of widgets like pumps, valves, switches, and more, making it easy to build graphics customized to an organization’s unique operations.
Ovation Green SCADA
Rick also announced that Ovation Green SCADA has been updated to version 6.0. The newest Ovation Green SCADA will have native communication capability to allow it to sit on top of Ovation systems or Ovation standalone controllers—with up to 300 multinetworked Ovation systems communicating together.
The Ovation HMI application will also be integrated in the Ovation Green SCADA, providing users consistency in look and feel. Rick explained,
“Now we can have the same graphics at the Ovation system that we have on Ovation Green SCADA.”
More modern control
Rick shared the release of a new software-defined controller with a lot of compute power—a virtual machine that works natively in a virtual environment. The system will scale much more easily than a hardware-based controller, perfect for renewables and water applications.
Rick also revealed news that many people have been waiting for, the impending release of the OMC100 controller with software-defined I/O. The OMC100 has all the standard control functions of a traditional controller, but also contains 32 channels of software-defined I/O, allowing users to configure I/O dynamically upon implementation.
Ovation 4.0 will also provide users the ability to take advantage of smart grid extensions to further improve the Ovation digital twin. Ovation digital twin smart grid extensions can be used with grid-level simulation packages to enable simulation of the total power system from generation to distribution. These extensions help teams manage the interconnectedness of the many distributed generation systems necessary to maintain a sustainable, reliable grid.
AI
Rick also delved into one of the most anticipated topics of the Ovation Users’ Conference: AI. He shared his opinion that artificial intelligence is the biggest technological innovation in his career, exploring just how the team plans make AI a valuable tool for an Ovation audience,
“It all is built around the Ovation Intelligence Framework. This is where the AI model comes in. It’s an app in the Ovation Intelligence Framework, and all the other apps can connect to it.”
AI, Rick explained, will change the game for plant control and reliability. Apps like Lifecycle Prognostics, Battery Prognostics, Performance Monitoring, Ovation Health, and more will all work together with the AI to help users make better decisions about their operations and maintenance activities, 24×7.
Users will be able to see Ovation 4.0, and its new HMI and GenAI in action throughout the Ovation Users’ Group conference, both in breakout sessions and in the exhibit hall. If you can’t be here, keep following the Emerson Automation Experts blog for regular updates and a view into the events!
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