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kcor

omron data

13 posts in this topic

looked into doing this a couple of years ago, but the company i work for got into moving most of our equipment off shore so got put on a back burner. Well now that the equipment is there, this has come up again. I hope someone can lead me in a direction. I have a test omron cqm1h plc that i keep in the lab. Is there a way that i could connect to it and use some type of utility to pull info out of the plc and place in a excel type database, just for testing. We have looked at quite a few scada packages, but been asked to take a look and see if this is something that could be done with a kepware type driver and some type of free utility. I hope this makes sense, thanks.

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You could use VBA (Visual Basic for Applications, it is built into Excel) to send Host Link commands to the PLC to read data from the PLC and then populate it into the cells of the spreadsheet. Or you could purchase CX-Server Lite, which has the commuications drivers built into it, it would allow you to drop a tool in the VBA environment that would allow you to do the same thing without you writing the Host Link command. Lastly, there is a tool that is installed with CX-Server when you install CX-One called DDE manager. I just tested it out to refresh my memory. It works, you probably already have it (so it is free). You might have to do some VBA Programming to get it to do exactly what you want. The last option is probably the easiest way to get this done easily, quickly and free.

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Hello, PeakHMI supports Omron via FINS serial/TCP and SYSMAC-WAY/Hostlink via serial and Excel via ODBC. All very easy to setup and at a low cost. You can download the demo from here. Good luck, Mark http://www.peakhmi.com/

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thanks for suggestions, what i am up against is a manager who knows nothing about controls. Have looked at indusoft and some others similar to that and was looking at going that route a couple of years ago before we started moving all the equipment. He has asked to see if there is some type of software that could be used to access a plc, regardless if it is omron or ab or whatever and pull data out of that into some type of file that could then be used to create a web page, now here is the kicker, he thinks you should be able to do this without spending any money. Its a challenge, but open to any suggestions. I had suggested the cx server lite and have it possible to have it running on a server and pull data out of a plc into a excel file, then possibly use the excel tags to create web page info. But to be honest, that is out of my level of ability at the moment, which is why i was excited about indusoft, but sorta hard to explain it to someone who has no idea and has made up his mind that we should be able to do it as a test with freeware type software. Believe me, any advice would be great, i have no experience at VB, but going to purchase a VB for dummy type book and try to learn as time allows. thanks

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Hi, >...used to create a web page PeakHMI has a built in web server. Using the demo of PeakHMI you can do the testing of all the features. Omron, Excel and web server. Good luck, Mark http://www.peakhmi.com/

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Thanks, i downloaded the demo for the ab micrologix 1000, seems pretty good. A little confused on what you would have to do in order to start internet explorer and view the demo application running from within internet explorer. I have seen there are some videos out there on youtube, but we are blocked from that at work. Could someone possibly just guide me in the right direction. thanks

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Hi, The videos are also on our site. Go to http://www.peakhmi.com/ and select the 'Download/PeakHMI demo' menu item to see the video list. >A little confused on what you would have to do in order to start internet explorer In the project settings you need to enable the HTTP web server. Then in IE, enter the IP address of the computer running PeakHMI in runtime mode. If you are on the same computer you can try 127.0.0.1. If that does not work then the IP address is needed. (Or install the loopback adapter in the network settings.) You can contact support via email: support at hmisys.com if you need assistance. Edited by Mark-

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Hi Mark, "At a low cost" is not free !! And it is more that the CX-Server Lite option he is trying. rgds BB

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Hi lcor, If you want to prevent vendor lock-in then you should look at OPC e.g. getting an OPC Server and Client. However it seems the boss is really keen on a 'free utility'. If he's silly enough to consider your time free, then you can look at writing the comms drivers yourself. There's even some examples in the downloads area e.g. http://forums.mrplc.com/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=181 Regards, BB

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Hi BB, You are correct. Low cost <> free. The original poster said "kepware type driver" which, AFAIK, is not free. Edited by Mark-

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Again, I point to the DDE Manager which is included with CX-One. It will do exactly what you want, bring data from the PLC into an Excel type DB. And it is free as you already have it if you have CX-One. It is easy. Start the DDE manager, create points, right click on the point you want, choose DDE Link and then paste into an Excel cell. The cell will contain the value of the point at the update rate specified.

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Thanks for replys, i have downloaded peakhmi and experimented with it. I do have the cx and used the dde before, but what our mangers are looking for is some way to just start internet explorer and select a web page shortcut on the desktop and be able to view some type of graphical data. I have no experience with VB or with opc, kepware or any of that type of software, but trying to learn as much as possible. Hopefully will be able to possibly learn enough about vb and create something, but just like a lot of you guys, betwen allen bradley, omron, idec,siemens,mitsubishi,Setex,modicon, and all of the hmi that go with them, have a hard enough time just trying to stay up to speed with all of these software packages. I idea, if someone was to ever create a VB for dummy's that want to pull data out of different brand plc's and create a web page, man i bet that would sell like hot cakes. The info on this site has saved my butt many times, so thanks for any suggestion, we have never done any type of data collection in our plants and even thought about remote connection, because you could at one time get in a car and drive about 4 hours in any direction and get to the plants, now you have to on a plane and fly for half a day.

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Kcor, We have a video on our YouTube channel highlighting how easy it is to configure a web based application. http://www.youtube.com/user/indusoftvideo It demonstrates creating an application and publishing it to a web browser. Since you already mentioned InduSoft SCADA software in a previous post, I thought it technically relevant and not beyond "commercial" guidelines of this forum. If you do have questions, please feel free to contact us directly. Scott Kortier Marketing Communications Manager InduSoft, Inc.

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