Andy_P

For the NA HMI: 1. The ability to view or modify NA variables 'live' in simulation without the need to hit a VB breakpoint. Way too restrictive. 2. The VB engine is not properly integrated yet. Some properties you cannot access, some don't show up on Intellisense, etc... 3. Basic stuff like not being able to change the background colour of certain controls, or vertical align text cannot be done. 4. A test involving some VB code and media player runs OK in simulation but does not work on the hardware. I'm sure it will get there, but it isn't ready yet IMHO. Apparently (I'm told) a big update for the NA is coming in October, but no idea if this is just for the Sysmac Studio editor or if it is for the NA firmware too.

Law #33. - The program NEVER fails. Law #33.1 [2014 EDITION] - The program in the PLC does NOT have a virus. No, it can't get one either. Law #33.1.1 [2014 EDITION] - Look, it really hasn't got a virus, ok? You need to trust me on this. Paraphrased from a real conversation I had with a line manager once.

First impressions are that it still very much a work in progress and not complete enough yet to develop anything more than a very basic HMI project. The VB code module is way too restrictive when it comes to accessing properties of controls on a page. For just one example - the built-in MediaPlayer for playing movie clips has a "VideoFile" property. Unless I am missing something, you cannot access this to modify it from code to supply a different name. It appears that it is hard-coded into the page. The built-in controls (Labels, Buttons, etc) have very limited functionality when you compare it with NS series and CX-Designer. I don't want to be too critical at this stage as it is still very early days. The editor looks slick enough though and seems to perform well, so looking forward to updates as it is developed.

Does anyone have any specs on the forthcoming NA series HMI? I can only find some very sketchy stuff but nothing in any great detail.

@Crossbow: Nice tip reagrding the export of slave settings, I had missed that. @Wulfgar: Glad it helped, it certainly caught me out for a while. Hopefully the behaviour and compilation of enumerators can be improved in future versions.

Another one I have found useful is CTRL + SHIFT + V to show/hide the variable tables.

I remember an old system I worked on that was a fore-runner to PLC's. It had a mechanical stepper and diode plug boards to control steps and transitions. Gives me shivers to remember the hell we went through to keep that thing running. No spare parts to be found, all long gone and obsolete. We lobbied continuously to gut the panel and replace it all with a PLC and were continually knocked back because "We can't stop production." That is until it finally went belly up and we couldn't fix it any more. No choice then but to upgrade it. When the project was finished, and got it all back up and running, downtime went to practically zero, cycle times were substantially reduced and production went through the roof. About a week after this, management said "Do the others." There were three more to do. Previously, all four had to keep running flat out to barely keep up with requirements. After the upgrades, one machine could be held back for preventative maintenance while the others were in production.

Hi Wulfgar, I've had something similar, and it tripped me up for ages. Carefully check the "Output" tab page for any POU's that say "Build failed" instead of "Build finished". Even though I had a POU fail to build, it did not show up anywhere other than this Output tab page. In my case, I was incorrectly using an enumeration data type. I was using the syntax of "EnumType.Member", where the correct syntax is "EnumType#Member". Hope this helps.

I have had some more detailed discussions with Beckhoff, and they are looking into it a bit deeper in conjunction with Omron, so I can't ask for more than that at this stage. Since this module is two bytes in physical size, but it can concurrently operate input AND output on the same byte, it appreas that Sysmac Studio has a problem dealing with this. Interestingly, it can handle a similar device that is only 8 physical channels in size, with concurrent input and output. Fingers crossed the EtherCAT gurus out there can investigate!

I am running into trouble when trying to use a Beckhoff remote IO EtherCAT block, specifically EP2339 Having downloaded (and copied to the UserEsiFiles directory) the latest ESI package from Beckhoff, Sysmac Studio complains that the associated ESI file is not valid in some way. (Something about FMMU's and Sm's.) My feeling is that It likely stems from the fact that the block in question is a freely configurable IO block, where each point can be either an input or an output. My Beckhoff contact assures me the associated ESI file is fine, and it can be used OK with Beckhoff's TwinCAT software. However, Omron are telling me they cannot use it. So, since Beckhoff invented EtherCAT, I'm a ssuming this is a failing on the part of Sysmac Studio not properly supporting all types if ESI file, which is a pain. Any tips/solutions or upgrades in the pipeline to better handle 3rd party EtherCAT devices?

The EP2339-0021 device in question is described in the attached file. The whole Beckhoff ESI slave information XML package can be downloaded from here: http://www.beckhoff.com/english.asp?download/elconfg.htm Beckhoff EP2xxx.zip

Yeah, having open standards is nice, but it is a double-edged sword that gives rise to situations like this, where different people have different interpretations. In this case, Beckhoff say the device and ESI file is fine, and Omron say there is a problem with the ESI file - which leaves me between a rock and a hard place.

I have a brand new install ov V1.10, but it does not contain the NA designer. Performing an auto-update does not show it either. My local Omron rep apparently has a patch for me which I will get soon, so we shall see!

The ability to add dummy IO modules into the rack like you can with a CJ1M for example.

Definitely agree with this. Having been used to CX-Programmer for many years, this is unexpected and annoying behaviour in my opinion.

Your PLC is in Program mode, so the actual code is not running. Change it to Monitor or Run mode from the "PLC / Operating Mode" menu, or from the toolbar at the top.

Where have all my posts gone?

Down Under, under the carpet and down the back of the sofa.

Have you added the POU to run in a task under "Task Settings"?

I've used the Case method in ST for simple state machines and sequences, but once it starts to become large or complex it becomes hard to follow in my opinion. For larger sequences I have used ladder and used a simple step counter variable, comparing the value to determine which output to drive, transitions to check for etc.

Seems to work OK for me. I have V1.09 running on Windows 7 Professional 64 bit. On "Help / About"', the module version is reported as 1.09.46.

This is the best link I can come up with right now.

Sysmac Studio V1.08 CX-Designer V3.520 It turns out you can do it, but it requires a bit of fiddling around. NT link is an address based protocol, unlike Ethernet/IP, which is tag based. Therefore copying and pasting tags from Sysmac Studio into CX-Designer will never work. Instead, you can define a variable in Sysmac Studio and use the AT attribute. i.e. create a BOOL called Test (for example) and mark it as AT %W0.0. In CX-Designer create a symbol that points to WR00000.00. It doesn't have to have the same variable name as the comms is only interested with the address. How all this works under the covers is a bit of mystery to me, but it does work and that is all that matters! I found an app note on the MyOmron site that explains it all nicely: http://www.myomron.c...kb&article=1408 The app note mentions creating Sysmac Studio internal variables, but it works with globals just as well. And yes - it would be nice if the NSH5 was upgraded to be able to use Ethernet!

Is it possible to have an NSH5 HMI communicate to an NJ controller? The NSH5 only has serial comms capability, so we are intending to use a CJ1W-SCU42 comms module and RS422. How can the HMI use the tags in the NJ? Exporting he global variables and pasting them into the CX-Designer symbol table does not appear to work. I have tried setting the network publish attributes to Input, Output and Publish only but to no avail. Can anyone point out what am I missing, or the relevant section in a manual? Thanks. Using: NJ301-1100 NSH5-SQR10B-V2 CJ1W-SCU42

@Pp Nice tip regarding the clear sorting option, thanks. @Crossbow Interesting that you are seeing faster results. I agree that opening / closing projects is quicker, but going online there is a dramatic slow-down. I wonder if there is something else at play on my machine, possibly comms related. Hmmm....