Build a digital twin of your plant, expose it over OPC UA, and develop your control logic and visualization at your desk — before you go on site. Model it in any tool, connect any PLC.
A process model behaves like the real equipment — valves, motors, sensors, levels, pressures — and your PLC controls it exactly as if it were wired to the real machine. That way you write and verify your control software and visualization before the equipment reaches the field. Most commissioning is still first tested for real only on site, on finished equipment — when mistakes are most expensive. Homa Virtual Plant moves that work from the field to your desk.
Create your plant model in any modeling and simulation tool and export it as an FMU — a standard package that carries the whole simulation.
The tool loads the FMU and exposes the model's inputs and outputs over OPC UA. It runs as an OPC UA server or client, to fit your setup.
Your PLC controls the virtual plant just like the real one. You develop and test control logic and visualization at your desk, before the field.
Find them at your desk, weeks before the field, while they're still cheap to fix.
Develop and test your control software with no physical equipment and without tying up the real line.
Verify your HMI and visualization on the same virtual plant — operators see and rehearse the system before the equipment arrives.
Test interlocks, safety logic and fault scenarios with zero risk to equipment or people.
The field phase — the most expensive and least predictable part of the job — becomes shorter and simpler.
What goes in and out of the model are the same signals you would wire to the real plant. To the PLC there is no difference between the virtual and the real plant — logic you validate in simulation is logic that's ready for the field.
The model comes in through FMI from the tool you already use; control goes out through OPC UA to the PLC you already have. No lock-in — neither on the model side nor on the equipment side.
Vendor-neutral model input through the open FMI standard. The model can come from any modeling and simulation tool, with no lock-in to a single product.
Homa Virtual Plant works with any OPC UA-capable PLC, as server or client. We know Siemens in depth — direct work with PLCSIM Advanced and the TIA environment.
Build the model in any tool that supports FMU export:
Connects to PLCs and devices that support OPC UA:
Shorter, more predictable commissioning protects your margin and delivery dates. Fewer site trips, less uncertainty.
Test your logic and visualization properly — at your desk, safely, down to the last edge case.
A focused, lightweight tool — without the heavy licensing and long training that big systems require. Virtual commissioning made accessible, without a big investment.
Load the model, expose the signals, connect the PLC. No special infrastructure — it runs on an ordinary desktop, in-house.
Homa Engineering brings SIL and co-simulation from the automotive industry into process automation.
Homa Virtual Plant comes with ready-made examples — each includes a plant model and a prepared configuration. Load the FMU, connect a PLC or a PLC simulator over OPC UA, and the simulation runs. See how the tool works before you build your own model.
The tool is in active development, and your feedback shapes it. Tell us how you use it and what you'd improve — and reach out any time for help with setup and use. Get in touch →
Download the tool with examples, or contact us for a 20-minute demo presentation — live or online.