ronsecrist

Omron Ethernet/IP to Allen-Bradley Ethernet/IP

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Has anyone ever set-up communication to share data between the Omron Ethernet/IP with the Allen-Bradley Ethernet/IP? I'm looking for examples with either the SLC-500 series or the CompactLogix/ControlLogix series PLC's.

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Ron See the doc in the download section. This is CJ2 to ControlLogix. CJ1 would be the same, with addresses instead of Tag Names. CompactLogix should be just about the same. MicroLogix and SLC would not work. They require messaging. http://forums.mrplc.com/index.php?autocom=...mp;showfile=881 Edited by PMCR

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Hello everyone; This is an excellent thread, a great resource in the link! Answered a bunch of questions for me. I have one outstanding problem and hope someone has some experience with it. We have a CJ2 processor set up to produce tags for an L62 ControLogix, but the Omron was set up with the wrong IP address for the AB. Not the fault of the programmer, he was given bad information, and things have now gone farther and we have no way to edit the Omron, as its code is proprietary and password protected. Obviously it is not feasible to completely reconfigure the AB networks and factory talk suite to match this one device. We don't need to consume any tags with the Omron, just read the ones it produces with our L62. Can we use a managed switch to establish contact from the L62 and at least read the tags already being produced, regardless of the configuration, or are we stuck with having to change the ethernet I/P config in the CJ2? The original vendor has good reasons not to want to help, and although that is frustrating, I may feel the same way if in his situation. Although it would be awesome, we cannot count on help from that front. I personally don't have a lot of networking expertise, but have had success setting up Ethernet I/P to some Yaskawa drives, the details of which are listed in another post. Based on that, I'm hoping we can set up the AB L62 to find this data floating around on the Ether...net. Happy programming, speakerman.

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Are the AB & Omron PLCs on the same subnet? What are the IP address's of each? To consume in the AB, all you need to do is create the generic profile with the correct IP & tag structure and it should work..

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To configure the IP Addresses for the datalink function, you use Network Configurator for EtherNet/IP. I did not think that you could password protect access from this software. The ladder program of course can be protected, but you should still be able to access the setup for the EtherNet/IP datalink and change the IP address. After I typed the line above, I paused and tested this quickly with a CJ2H PLC. I protected the memory of the PLC so that I could not upload the program, but was still able to upload and modify the EtherNet/IP datalink configuration using Network Configurator for EtherNet/IP. You should be able to do the same. It is worth a try.

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Thanks lostcontrol and Michael, some great answers. I'll find a copy of network configurator and give it a try. If I can't find a download link for that, I'll post again. The IP addresses for the new devices are as follows: 2 CJ2H PLCs, 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.0.10, two touch screens as 192.168.0.2 and 192.168.0.3 The only PLC I need to change for our comm is the main one, but of course I'll have to reconfigure the other devices or they won't work as a system either. The plant has the address structure of 172.20.10.xxx, and if I remember correctly the subnets are 255.255.255.0 for both. Do either of you know if the tag structure is 16 or 32-bit for Omron Ethernet I/P? I assume its 16, so I'll be masking and unpacking the received double words into their individual 32-bit tags. At least that's familiar territory. I've walked into an existing situation here, and the OEM and customer are not agreeing, so being caught in the middle is always fun. Thanks so much for helping. Happy programming, speakerman.
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Hey lost control; Just tried to connect straight, the AB gives an 'Invalid Path' error with the 192... IP. Although we haven't gotten that far, I also don't know what assemblies to use for the data packages yet, so some more digging is required. Once the IP addresses are right, the path will be corrected and I can work on the data assemblies. It doesn't look like I can configure the AB to only consume tags, it still wants an output assembly too, and that requires a valid path. Perhaps there's a non-obvious way to turn off the output assembly. I'll ask that in the AB forum. Thanks again, speakerman.
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I am getting a bit confused now. Are you trying to actually change the IP address on a device, or are you trying to change the address to which a datalink is pointing? To change the IP address on an Omron device, you can do that from the I/O table in CX-Programmer. To change the address to which a datalink is pointing, you do that in Network configurator.
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He is trying to configure the AB to consume the data from the CJ2. He cannot change the Omron addressing as it seems that this machine has its own mini network, that all require the 192.168.0.xxx addressing. Best option is to get another ENBT for the L62. That way, the OEM configuration is still the same & the plant structure does not need to be modified either.

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Holy crap lostcontrol! That's breaking it down... You are exactly right, all I want to do is consume the tags the Omron was already set up to produce. It doesn't make sense for me to send any, there were no inputs from the AB to the Omron configured by the OEM. I'll look for the Omron tech note you mention. I suspected there was no practical way to get them to talk, so if we can't actually reconfigure the Omron devices to new IP addresses we'll have to go with your last suggestion - adding a dedicated ENBT card. This occurred to me earlier, but I was hoping we wouldn't have to waste another card and slot just for this system. It's sending a grand total of eight words. The ethernet network switch for the EIP network is already connected to the device, and the cables are in place. We have ten other devices on that network, all with small word counts, so there's plenty of headroom. I was using the generic ethernet device for my quick test. I've asked for the Omron setup specifics from the OEM three times. Unfortunately he has declined to assist. I am not an Omron programmer, have never interfaced with them, and have no software for them. It's one of the few PLC families I've not had a chance to work with yet. Looking through the data sheets on configuring EIP for a CJ2M things seemed well laid out and pretty straightforward. The touch screens look great too. If we weren't dealing with password protection I would recommend the customer buy a copy of CX-1. As for the situation, there was no-one with the technical expertise onsite to assist the OEM in setting this up, so his questions went largely unanswered, and some were answered incorrectly. No-one's fault really, but I think the OEM is ultimately responsible for this quandary for proceeding past the step of configuring the IP addresses without confirmation from the customer's network administrator. Proper IP addresses was just about the only thing the customer could have provided him. I find it weird that now there's someone trying to actually get things working, and with some technical knowledge, if not expertise, he'd appreciate that and try to help his customer. Hatfields and McCoys, I guess. Thanks for taking so much time on this. A new ENBT card it is then. speakerman.

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You don'nt need the password to change the OMRON ip address. Using CX-programmer you should be able to upload the IO table and change it from there. Or you could bite the bullet and pay the programmer to change the IP.

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Hey Everyone; Thanks for the help so far, I was waiting for the final working solution to repost, but that may take some time so here's an update: @james_applied, We will never be able to pay the programmer to help. Unfortunately price isn't the issue here. We had some great help from the Omron reps and were able to get a trial copy of CX-One. I changed all the IP addresses in the Omron PLCs and touch screens to the plant standard, and reconfigured the network between the Omron components so the system is internally happy. Now we have to move the Allen Bradley ENBT card for this interface to the CPU rack - it was put in a remote rack by mistake, and Ethernet I/P doesn't work properly over a Controlnet bridge. Once that is done, I think this will be a straightforward Ethernet I/P connection. First time using the Omron stuff, I found it pretty easy to understand. Everything pretty much worked as explained in the manuals. Weird to have to manually set a hex number on the rotary switches for the node. Bit old-school for a modern PLC, but no big deal. We will buy a copy of CX-One for maintaining this system. So that's where we're at for now. I'll repost when we actually get things talking with any quirks or details discovered. Happy programming, speakerman.

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speakerman Great feedback. The reason that Omron Ethernet modules require the setting of the Node Number (in HEX) to match the last Octet of the IP Address is that the FINS protocol (around since 1990) defaults to the last octet for Ethernet. You can make custom setting in the Ethernet modules for other situations. The beauty of this is that FINS is transparent across network types. This week I was working with a colleague (another Omron Expert) on Omron to Brand X communications. What we found was that Brand X had numerous variations of Ethernet protocol, depending on what specific processor was in use. FINS is consistent across processor and network types.

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Hey PMCR; Thinking more about it, the Hex dials are a cool idea, as with only two dials you get 255 selections. It does make sense to match the ethernet protocol. Haven't learned about the FINS standard yet, I'll check it out. When we started having issues with the OEM, the management team here considered replacing this Omron system with a remote rack from the Allen Bradley Contrologix PLC that controls the plant. They never wanted Omron originally, but the OEM insisted. I've talked them out of changing it, as it works fine and requires just a bit of software. Would be a shame to waste the whole system - all those perfectly functioning parts. Once I've had some time with CX-One it will be small potatoes to program, and we can reconfigure the EIP network so it basically will be a remote rack for the AB plant PLC - with the added bonus of reducing its processor load. We've almost got the Ethernet cabling sorted out. The conduit pipes between MCCs were full of water and frozen solid so we couldn't pull a new CAT5, but we found some spare fibre to the CPU cabinet. Thought we may be stuck until spring thaw for a bit there. The next post will hopefully be the positive result of getting the system up and running. Happy programming, speakerman.

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Speakerman, Did you ever get the comms working between the AB & Omron PLC?

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Hey lostcontrol; It's been a long time, sorry to leave it hanging. We haven't had an opportunity to finish this, the plant has had other priorities. We are so close to trying it, the network infrastructure is almost complete back to the CPU rack. I'll let you know how it turns out. Happy programming, speakerman.

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Hello All, The question I have is in relation to this thread. The issue I am trying to solve however is is communication from RJ3 robots and various HMIs on ControlNet that previously used Omron's (ONC) Open Network Controller ITNC-EIX01 to a CS-1. The ONC is obsolete and the idea is to use AB's 1756-A4 with AB 1756-PA72 120V Power Supply, AB 1756-EN2T EtherNet IP, and AB-1756 CN2 ControlNet as a gateway to an Omron CS1 via the CS1W-EIP21. The challenge is communication between the two EIP modules without using an AB processor. What are some suggestions as to how it should communicate and has anyone attempted this before? Thank you in advance to any help or discussion you can provide!

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That's not a challenge. My understanding is you cannot do it. You can't just put 2 network cards on a power supply. They are supposed to be connected to a CPU. But I don't know a ton about AB network cards.
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I didn't think so but was requested to research some options. I did however find the instructional on how to accomplish pretty much the same thing with the CJ series and passed the information along. Thank you again for the help. If any other solutions are found I will post results.

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Sorry for the delay in results. CNET communication between the Omron CS1 PLC with the EIP21 card and the AB 1756 using the L73 processor, CN2 Cnet card, and EN2T card as an ONC replacement worked out great and all machines are in current running order. There really is not any difference in commuication time and no real extra programming was need with the exception of linking the PLCs. Thank you for your support and for the earlier mention "how to" manual.

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I also am looking for some help connecting a CJ1H to CompactLogix over Ethernet IP..(just need to read some data from the Omron). I couldn't find the document in the download section mentioned above. Could someone provide a link? Edited by Beck15

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Set up a generic Ethernet device on the AB side, set it to talk to the CJ IP address, set the instance numbers for the connection data, and then just create the variables and tag sets in Network Configurator. You won't need to make any connections in Network Configurator, just make tag sets and match the instance numbers. Then download the tag information to the CJ from NC you're all set.
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I'm trying communicate an AB L18ERM with OMRON CJ2M-EIP using OMRON ethernetIP V2 file. I've followed the instructions on the pdf file, but it doesn't work. I attach images with the configuration and error message. Can anyone help me?

omron.png

rockwell_1.png

rockwell_2.png

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Linutux, as I said before, you don't need to make the connections in Network Configurator.  Your first screen you are trying to do what I said not to.

Edit your tag sets on the CJ in Network Configurator.  You need to use the Advanced button at the bottom of your tag set window on the CJ and set the proper instance numbers to match the AB.  Keep in mind also that the input tag set on the CJ is the output tag set on the AB, so pick the right instance numbers.

Also keep in mind that AB puts 32 bits of crap on the front end of their output packets, so you will need to make the input tag set on the CJ 4 bytes larger and make a tag to hold that 32 bits of garbage.

Omron has a tech note on how to set this all up.  It's in the Downloads section here under Omron, Quick Start Guides.

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