Ignition SCADA for Central Queensland
Ignition by Inductive Automation has grown rapidly in the Australian industrial market over the past decade. Its unlimited licensing model - one server licence covers unlimited tags, clients, and connections - makes it financially competitive for applications that would carry significant per-tag or per-client costs on traditional SCADA platforms.
For regional councils and water utilities, the web-based client model is particularly attractive. Operators and supervisors can access the SCADA from any device with a browser, without needing client software installed and maintained across multiple workstations. Perspective, Ignition’s current client module, works on desktop browsers and mobile devices with the same project.
Architecture and connectivity
Ignition is a server-based platform. The Ignition Gateway hosts the project, historian, alarm journal, and OPC server. Clients connect to the Gateway via browser or the Ignition Perspective app. The OPC-UA module provides connectivity to PLCs and field devices from a wide range of manufacturers without needing separate OPC servers.
Tag configuration in Ignition uses a folder-based tag browser with OPC-UA path references to PLC registers and variables. User Defined Types (UDTs) allow tag structures to be templated - a pump UDT defines all the tags for a pump, and instances of the UDT are created for each physical pump. This makes large tag databases manageable and consistent.
Migration from legacy SCADA
Ignition is a common migration target for sites running legacy SCADA platforms that are approaching end of support or end of vendor life. The migration requires rebuilding the SCADA application in Ignition - screens, tags, historian, alarms, and reports - rather than a direct import from the legacy system.