Industrial Technology News

SCInterface developed by Netarus LLC, is a solutions-oriented, software and interface development firm that creates innovative control solutions. SCInterface consists of a three-tier architecture that allows a piece of machinery to be monitored, managed and controlled half a world away in real time securely through the World Wide Web. The company spent nearly three years developing the advanced technology.

SCInterface v1.5 includes the following features and enhancements:
• BACnet, Oceana Sensors ICHM®, Crossbow and X10 support Enhanced AJAX Interface
• Execute triggers based on certain thresholds
• Cached status to improve performance
• … and more

“We are very excited about being able to integrate BACnet into the SCInterface framework. BACnet has been a proven protocol within the automation industry. However, it lacks the ability to work with other platforms outside of the BACnet protocol. By providing support for BACnet protocol, SCInterface provides our customers with the ability to integrate BACnet enabled devices into their existing environments,” says Christopher Machut, Netarus’ CEO and founder.

Netarus designed SCInterface to gather and manage data gained from a multitude of sensing activities, including but not limited to:
• Factory and Process Automation
• Power Monitoring
• Indoor and Outdoor Environmental Monitoring
• Seismic and Structural Monitoring

The SCInterface advances the process of information retrieval and analysis. It can take information from a motor at a plant in St. Louis and relay it securely and in real time to a technician across the factory, the country, or the world, via the Internet to a person's computer, PDA or cell phone.

"SCInterface can be easily customized to meet any user’s needs," says John Goulah, SCInterface’s interface and XML developer. “With BACnet support, we can take data from traditional BACnet enabled devices and allow a user to view that information on a cell phone, web browser or PDA. We provide SCInterface as an open source solution, which gives even greater flexibility than those platforms that claim to have an ‘open architecture’,” explains Goulah. He continues that “Open source allows anyone to change the software application as they seem fit, while open architecture provides many constraints including restrictions on viewing or modifying the source code. As an open source application, we encourage users to modify the code in order to meet their own needs.”

Netarus prides itself in providing SCInterface as an open source software application. “We felt that open source was the way to go due to the complexity involved with managing many different types of devices through a single user interface. Being able to leverage the support of the community is what really makes SCInterface grow by being able to adapt quickly to the needs of the users,” says Goulah.

SCInterface v1.5 is just another step in a series of enhancements with the ultimate goal of unifying the world’s sensors networks in a non-intrusive way. SCInterface encapsulates various sensor standards from the platforms that it supports into its framework, which effectively creates a future proof platform for managing legacy and new sensors.

“SCInterface provides a framework where anyone can add their own SConnectors (also known as SCInterface drivers) with little or no modification to the existing code to create a management solution within their own sensor networks,” says Bill Cuffley, SCInterface’s lead developer. "With SCInterface, a customer or technician can manage and monitor their BACnet enabled devices along with non-BACnet devices within the same interface. SCInterface enables anyone to seamlessly manage their legacy systems along with BACnet enabled networks within their existing infrastructure," explains Cuffley. Netarus’ Professional Services provides comprehensive support, training and integration services for SCInterface.

“The salient fact is we are gathering information from any number of locations via SCInterface. That information can be sent to anyone, anywhere and can be analyzed immediately. In today’s competitive business environment, the ability to react immediately is essential”, says Gary Euske, Netarus’ vice president of business development.

Netarus, LLC is a software design and development company based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and provides a multitude of innovative products and services related to web-based control and management systems. Its flagship product, SCInterface (Sensor Control Interface), has been in development for the past three years as a platform that can obtain data from a piece of machinery and distribute it securely over the World Wide Web.

BACnet is "a data communication protocol for building automation and control networks." A data communication protocol is a set of rules governing the exchange of data over a computer network. The rules take the form of a written specification that spells out what is required to conform to the protocol. More information about BACnet can be found at http://www.bacnet.org.

ICHM® is a registered trademark of Oceana Sensor Technology, Inc. Oceana Sensor Technology, Inc’s ICHM® - http://www.oceanasensor.com
Crossbow Mote – http://www.xbow.com
X10 – http://www.x10.com

For a detailed list of features and enhancements to SCInterface, please visit the SCInterface forums at http://forums.scinterface.com. More information on Netarus and SCInterface can be found at http://www.netarus.com or http://sensors.scinterface.com.

For More Information, Contact Gary Euske, Netarus, LLC
757) 963-7901