MartB

One of our guys has programmed the login button so that if you are 30 seconds from auto logout then the button flashes onscreen to warn you, simply hitting it again restarts the timer. I'll try and get a copy of the code from him tomorrow (he's left site now). Mart B

If anyone has some example code that they can afford to post to give me a kickstart I'd appreciate it. I've got a pretty good idea of what to do, I just need a good boot up the booty to get going Thanks Mart B

This landed in my inbox this morning and I'm told it's a primer for an upcoming project that I will be providing programming for, so I thought I'd share this information with you and see if anyone has done anything like this before (I hate to re-invent the wheel). "Empty pallet (single) transfer cart mounted on 50 foot long rail. Cart position to be controlled by ILR Distance sensor utilising 4-20 mA output. This is to ensure cart knows it's position at all times even in the event of power loss or e-stop. 3HP SEW Eurodrive gear brakemotor (Inverter Motor). At 60Hz the motor will travel 350fpm. The cart is designed for dynamic braking only. The brake will only be used to hold position during pallet transfer. Cart movement to be designed with ramp up/ramp down curve. There is no doubt that e-stop will loose the load, this is not an issue. Short movement is not expected to reach full speed. Inverter can be controlled like a closed loop vector. Laser will be mounted off cart with reflector mounted on cart." My first reaction is that I need better feedback, but never having worked with a laser distance sensor before I may be wrong. I am also a little concerned that the customer says that the inverter can be controlled "like" a closed loop vector?? Looking at a preliminary layout it looks like the cart will stop at 13 positions (all fixed) and minimum distance between them being 2 feet, although obviously some are from one end of the rail to the other. I would appreciate any ideas, thoughts or suggestions you guys may have. Mart B

I agree, all of our controls engineers use this method. Mart B

Excellent information, thanks for the help - it's all becoming much clearer now. Except.................my local AB guy informs me that I can use an SSI compaitble laser sensor and a 1756-M02AS card in my ControlLogix rack and then treat it like any other motion axis - so consequently I'm totally confused again ! But oh well - just another day at the office. Seriously though, thanks for the explaination Wildswing, it has helped. Mart B

Sounds like a very similar application. How do you set up your limit instructions? I'm not sure where you're going with that idea, or I'm just not understanding it correctly (more likely this option). How do you decide where to slow down the cart to slow speed? Some of my distances are closer together than others and the cart would never make full speed between them, so I'm thinking I might have to have a bunch of conditions for moving from 1 to 7 or from 2 to 3, etc. Mart B

Hoping to find someone out there who is proficient in the programming/setup of Stanley Assembly QPM Alpha Controllers. My first experience with one of these and I'm starting to become frustrated with the tech support coming from Stanley Assembly (apparently the guy i need to talk to is on vacation this week???). Basically my problem is, I give a start input from a micrologix plc, but nothing happens. like I said this is my first Alpha controller and it could be that I've missed something obvious, but beleive me I spent 6 hours reading and re reading the manual last night so I know I'm not completely nuts. I would love to hear from anyone with any experience of these drives, I'm assured there are plenty of them out there. Thanks in Advance Mart