Product News: Inductive Automation releases Ignition 8.1

Inductive Automation released Ignition 8.1, which will help users develop Ignition projects more rapidly and use them more effectively, according to its maker. Ignition by Inductive Automation is an industrial-application platform with tools for building solutions in human-machine interface (HMI), supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), manufacturing execution systems (MES), and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). 

Ignition 8.1 can help users future-proof their systems for years to come, per Inductive. It’s a Long-Term Support release, so it will be supported by Inductive Automation for five years. While 8.1 is focused on performance and stability, it also includes several new features.

“Ignition 8.1 is all the innovation and power of the Ignition platform, refined into a high-performing, secure, and reliable package ready for the future,” said Carl Gould, director of software engineering for Inductive Automation.

Ignition 8.1 builds upon Ignition’s unlimited-licensing model, cross-platform compatibility, modular approach, and use of open technology standards. Last year’s release of Ignition Perspective brought powerful new capabilities to mobile devices. It saved development time by allowing users to design a single Perspective application that displays properly on screens of any size. And it put full control of the plant floor on smartphones and tablets.

With Ignition 8.1’s new Perspective Workstation, users can deploy native applications to any HMI, desktop, workstation, and multi-monitor configuration without a third-party web browser. Screens can be displayed in full-screen kiosk mode with no distractions from the underlying operating system.

Perspective Symbols make it easier and faster than ever to create attractive HMIs, Inductive notes. Symbols have dynamic data models, so binding them to process values is drag-and-drop. Each Symbol comes in three different styles, so users can customize to their preferences. Users can add animation and supporting text.

Perspective Power Chart allows users to create runtime-configurable time-series charts from Tag Historian data. Users can generate ad hoc charts within a Perspective session. Power Chart also adapts automatically for mobile screens. 

Ignition 8.1 includes several shortcuts to save time in development, a more powerful tag browser, and the ability to work with Docker Hub. For new users, Ignition Quick Start has several tools to help people quickly get going on creating projects. All of these new features are intended to save time for developers.

For more information on Ignition 8.1, visit Inductive Automation’s What’s New webpage.