IMAC Sentinel
Comprehensive Alarm Handling
IMAC Sentinel is a powerful yet easy to use software package
which is adopted by many large
multi-national blue-chip companies. Click
here for a list of some of IMAC’s current users.
It is designed to accept data from multiple devices (e.g. DCS,
SCADA, PLC etc.). The data is logged in a secure format on the hard disk and
displayed to the users in real-time. Having captured the data IMAC Sentinel
allows you to view all stored alarms and events instantly. Frequency Analysis
and Alarm Rate monitors identify nuisance and chattering alarms as well as
trending alarms against operator workload.
Key Features
• Connects to multiple control systems simultaneously via OPC,
Ethernet, RS-232 and Flat File.
• Replaces any alarm or screen dump printer, including Postscript and
PCL.
• Performs powerful SQL search queries.
• Open architecture integrates easily with other packages such as MS SQL,
Oracle and Excel.
• Automatically archives data for long term storage.
• Secure database complies with 21 CFR Part 11.
• Fully configurable real time viewer.
• Web enabled.
IMAC Sentinel takes the raw data from your control systems and
transforms it into useful information immediately with little configuration and
no changes to your existing systems. What’s more IMAC Sentinel is not vendor
specific, each of the inputs are configured separately so for example, some can
be configured for Honeywell while others for Foxboro.
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Sample Movie
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Screenshots
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IMAC Sentinel Functionality
IMAC Sentinel adopts a client/server architecture allowing both feature rich
and thin clients to be deployed around the network all having real-time access
to the data. The Sentinel Server connects to your devices and logs the data to
its hard disk. The Sentinel Clients are then used to view and analyse the data.
Real Time Viewer
IMAC Sentinel’s unique interface allows all configured inputs to be viewed on
screen at the same time. Analysis, including searching and alarm frequency
distribution can then be quickly and easily performed on this data. No matter
what analysis or monitoring is being carried out the real time data is always
visible on screen.
Searching
There are several search methods available. These include a simple ‘type and
go’ option where you enter your search criteria and IMAC Sentinel shows you all
messages that match that criteria. You can then expand on your search results
to see the alarms and events that occurred before and after a particular alarm,
useful in fault finding. There is also a customisable SQL option where you can
write your own search queries. Finally a real-time option which automatically
runs a pre-defined search query every minute and displays the search results in
real-time.
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Standard
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Advanced
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Real Time
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Exporting Data
Any alarm, event, report or screen dump logged by IMAC Sentinel can be printed
or exported to plain text files, word documents or database tables. In addition
ODBC functionality allows data to be exported in real-time to 3rd party
software packages such as Microsoft Excel and Oracle. This enables IMAC
Sentinel to populate a database, spreadsheet or application with any message
logged to the system.
Screen Dump Capture
IMAC Sentinel has the ability to handle graphical screen dumps sent from
control systems. When a screen dump is received it is automatically converted
and saved as a JPEG. This is then displayed in the relevant window on the
screen. It can automatically print this image to the default Windows printer,
regardless of its make and model.
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Sample Honeywell Screen Dump
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Sample Postscript Screen Dump
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Alarm Prioritisation and Filtering
Any alarm or event logged by IMAC can be tagged as a priority alarm. This
automatically changes the colour of that message. Searches and filters can be
applied to certain priorities of messages making it easier to identify
problems. In addition, any one of these messages can be copied or moved to
another window on the screen, for example you could separate all the alarms and
operator actions, or copy all the critical alarms to another window.
Alarm Analysis
IMAC Sentinel provides two types of alarm analysis, Frequency and Alarm Rates.
Frequency Analysis is used to show which alarms and events are occurring most
often. This can help identify nuisance or chattering alarms.
The Alarm Rates function counts all alarms over any time period,
displaying the results as a graph and table. It is possible to overlay graphs
to show operator actions as well as alarms. This quickly shows the operator
workload superimposed on top of the alarm rates.
All reports generated can be configured to run automatically
multiple times a day.
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Frequency Analysis
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Alarms Rates
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IMAC Sentinel has many more standard features including automatic report
printing, inhibited alarm trackers and dual redundancy support. It also has a
complete range of add-on modules offering additional functionality including
automated backups and SMS text alerts. More
IMAC Sentinel can be enhanced further by using
IMAC Xpert, adding a real-time, on-demand analysis tool which can be
used to rationalise alarms ensuring optimum plant efficiency.
IMAC Sentinel can easily be deployed around your site. Click the image below to
see the full size connectivity diagram.
Contact us at sales@ics-ltd.co.uk to
arrange a demonstration or contact our developers for technical discussions at
imac-technical@ics-ltd.co.uk
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