ABB at Offshore Europe 2019.

A working virtual plant on the ABB stand

For SPE Offshore Europe 2019 in Aberdeen, we worked with ABB to turn TSC’s three-phase separator (TPS) Interactive Virtual Plant into an immersive exhibition experience. The aim was to give visitors something they could operate together: a simulated process connected to ABB’s System 800xA distributed control system (DCS), presented through a triple-screen virtual wall and an HTC Vive headset.

We adapted the existing Interactive Virtual Plant with ABB branding and equipment. The surround display brought the plant into the stand, while a second participant could join the same multiplayer 3D session in VR. Both users shared the plant state and could work together to investigate a fault.

Connecting System 800xA to the simulator

Cogent DataHub bridged ABB’s System 800xA OPC DA server and the simulator’s OPC server so the two systems could share process data. This connected the ABB operator interface to the dynamic simulation and its interactive 3D environment.

The division of responsibility mattered. In this demonstration, 800xA served as the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) interface, while the simulator retained the process-control logic. Emergency shutdown (ESD) logic was built in 800xA. The integration therefore had to support the operator displays and shutdown behaviour alongside the controls already running within the simulator.

I worked directly with the ABB team on this integration and the overall system design, and managed the changes needed in the 3D plant to bring the exhibition setup together.

ABB’s draft architecture diagram, dated 3 May 2019 and included in the gallery, places TSC’s Unity virtual plant content alongside the 800xA environment, Cogent DataHub and web middleware. It shows how our 3D application fitted into ABB’s wider demonstration design. The drawing is a planning record: its proposed OPC UA bus and Oculus software labels differ from the OPC DA bridge and HTC Vive exhibition setup described here.

Fault finding as a live competition

We built the visitor experience around a fault-identification and root-cause-analysis competition. Attendees investigated the plant, interpreted what they saw through the process and control interfaces, and tried to identify the underlying fault.

The virtual plant’s built-in assessment functionality recorded their actions and produced a score. Results passed through Node-RED and MQTT to a web-based scoreboard, connecting the training assessment to a visible exhibition competition.

The shared 3D session allowed the virtual-wall and VR participants to collaborate on the investigation, linking field interaction with the supervisory view of the process.

Recognising a virtual flow meter with an AR application

ABB also asked us to create 3D models of its Coriolis flow meters for use in the virtual plant. The modelling and texturing reproduced the equipment closely enough that ABB’s augmented reality maintenance application could identify the flow-meter model from its on-screen representation.

That was a memorable demonstration of the asset detail: a maintenance application recognising equipment rendered within the virtual environment. It connected the plant visualisation with ABB’s wider digital maintenance tools.

Project leadership and delivery on the stand

My role covered project leadership, integration and system design with ABB, and management of the 3D IVP modifications. I then attended Offshore Europe 2019 and exhibited alongside ABB on its stand for three days.

On site, I combined sales conversations and technical explanations with support for the integrated system and the running of competition sessions. This carried responsibility from the design and delivery of the experience through to its use by visitors at the exhibition.

The project brought together industrial simulation, a live DCS connection, multiplayer VR and assessment reporting in one working demonstration. TSC’s ABB partnership page gives more background on the three-phase separator IVP and System 800xA integration. I’ve set the stand film to open at the virtual plant segment, 54 seconds in.