gravitar

Just wondering if any of you have had problems with your A-B/RSI software after installing IE 7. A guy here installed it, and after that he could no longer use panelbuilder! He called RSI tech support and they said there were conflicts between IE7 and rockwell software, so it should be uninstalled. Here's the catch though.. Apparently you CANNOT uninstall IE7! I haven't confirmed any of this myself, so I don't want to spread panic. But I just thought I'd mention it so that anyone thinking about instaling the "latest" version of internet explorer would research it and use caution!

makes you wonder what they were thinking at the time. I wonder if they didn't expect to have a PC interface ready by the time the SDN was released, and planned on letting you access the network with a PIC module. It's kind of a pity that never came to fruition.

As someone that's taking CNC classes (Haas CNC, not Fanuc) it does sound like an interesting problem. Why can't you do anything with the CNC program in the Fanuc? That might be the best place to find the problem and correct it. Could you put an output contact of the PLC in parallel with the switch, and only close it during the start-up routine?

You reminded me about the problem I've been having with logix 5. It happened to me again last week, my boss unplugged me from the network so he could hook up a switch, and after he plugged me back into the network I was unable to save the program. Luckily I only lost about 15 minutes of work! I have submitted a tech support request to RSI for this, let's see what they say.

Paraphrasing a now-infamous qoute, "14K should be enough for everybody" :) If your program won't fit in 14K, it isn't a good fit for a micrologix. Move up to SLC 500 or ControlLogix.

And just for the sake of completeness, the Channel 0 on all of these processors can be configured for an alternate mode, "user mode", where ASCII data can be sent and received under control of the program.

You know, I have seen that before and wondered the same thing. Is it really a DH485 port? Can you see anything in who active if you connect a PIC or PCM4 to it? I'll have to look and see if I still have a copy of devicenet manager, it might have support for it

Well when you say "sense two different metals" do you mean that, whether the target is aluminum or steel, you just want to turn on an input to tell you that something is there? Or do you want to discriminate between the two? One way would be like you mentioned, using an analog prox and using a limit test to decide which it is. You'd have to have pretty consistent sensing distance though, because it seems to me that you could have an aluminum partup close that would read in the same range as a steel one farther away. You mention "Waste".. How are you defining that? Are you REALLY short on discrete inputs, but have unused analog inputs? In terms of cost and design simplicity (Which is how I usually define waste :), I would think that a ferrous-selective and nonferrous-selective prox looking at the same target (but spaced far enough apart that they do not crosstalk, of course) would be the simplest and cheapest solution

This is my channel configuration screen. If there's something there that I'm not seeing, you're gonna have to lead me right to it, I guess!

Is the 25% number a typo? they've gotta be more efficient than that. That would mean that a 100W linear power supply would be creating 300W in heat?!

This is all I see in the one I'm connected to right now: (PLC-5/40, series E)

I don't see anywhere in channel config or the status file where you can determine that. But here's a thought.. Since the bank of DIP switches is visible from the battery compartment (or directly below it), maybe with the careful use of a flashlight and/or mirror, you'll be able to see what position they're in while the processor is still in the chassis.

Notice that there isn't an Idec-specific forum on MrPLC. How "set" are you on using the Idec PLC? Someone jump in and correct me if I'm wrong, but my perception of Idec PLCs is that they aren't nearly as popular as A-B, Omron, Siemens, etc. which translates into a much smaller talent pool for you to draw from. Which isn't to say that they're inferior (as I have no idea), just that it won't be as easy for you to get help. Your application looks pretty simple.. I think if you used a sequencer you could complete it in just a handful of rungs. I am certain that if you were to make the decision to use a Micrologix controller, you'd get all the help you would need in the A-B forum, free of charge. I'm sure the same holds true for any of the other MrPLC forums, too. where abouts in the USA are you? If you can't change PLCs, maybe someone local can help you figure it out. If you were not too far from Detroit, I could be persuaded to sit down with your PLC and software and figure it out :)

It's interesting that none of you have have mentioned a "bike cable" and lock, for fastening your notebook to a building column or some other permanent structure. You must work in safer plants than I do! I've been places where, if you walk away from your notebook to use the bathroom, you should expect not to return to it

what does "undo plot" do? Would be pretty neat if it could instruct the printer to put the toner back in the cartridge and the paper back in the paper tray..

I had always wanted to get familiar with visual basic, so I started looking around the web to see if there's any good tutorials. I found a pretty good one, and as an aside, they talk about a particular programming philosophy called SDLC. You can read about it here: http://visualbasic.about.com/od/learnvbnet/a/LVBE_L2.htm It dawned on me that this would be at least somewhat applicable to PLC programming, too. So what I'm wondering is, do any of you use this technique? Everywhere I've been, the guiding principle has been to start writing code as quickly as possible, with little attention paid to planning beforehand. I don't think I've ever been in a situation where the design has taken longer than the programing and debugging stages.

I thought it was filmed for Jackass, The Asian Tour :)

I'll bet the pilot's seat needed a THOROUGH cleaning after that one :)

Descriptions aren't stored in the PLC; They only exist on your computer (or on paper once you print it :) so you'll need to find an .RSS file with descriptions or a hardcopy. I think the engineering decision you made was a good one. It is nearly always preferable to use 1 PLC instead of two, especially when they are of different make/model and would need to communicate.

So the ControlLogix doesn't have a memory module socket that you can use for the upgrade, like on a SLC? That's a pity. I'm always afraid of an OOPS when using a computer running windows to perform a flash memory upgrade. Nothing improves the chances for success like removing the computer from the equation entirely!

Someone must have scared them into believeing that the panelview has to be on a deterministic network.. I can't see any other "advantage" to that. Everything else that has been said is true.. IMHO, RIO is fine for racks of I/O cards, but really kinda sucks for a panelview.

We're not doing it out of choice.. this is a GM job and we're obligated to use the switch they tell us to use :(

What is up with websites requiring you to "register" with them in order for you to recieve even the most basic info from their site? I went to the Hirschmann site trying to get a cut sheet for an e-net switch. Seems like a simple enough request. But nooooooo... I've got to first give them my personal info and wait for an e-mail confirmation. do de do de do.. waiting.. waiting.. Hey, there's my confirmation. Hmm.. but instead of a password, it's a link i've got to click on. ok, whatever.. *click* Hey, what the heck? "Your login is activated approx. 15 minutes after you have clicked the activation link." So now I've got to wait another 15 minutes before I can log in and download the stupid thing?! If it were my choice (which it isn't, they're the only one on the GM approved list) I'd use that 15 minutes to find another vendor.

And just so that this thread can come full-circle, Hirschmann, the company I was originally griping about (entertron stepped into the line of fire by choice :) never did contact me after making me go through their registration song-and-dance. Which is a shame, because I could have used some assistance in selecting cabling to go with their switch. They could have suggested Hirschmann cables, which I would have ordered. Instead, I contcted a local supplier and they're more than happy to sell me Woodhead cables. Maybe I'm being too hard on this particular company. I mean, they're probably struggling to stay alive. After all, they're ONLY charging us $1200 for an 8-port ETHERNET SWITCH! (no folks, I'm not kidding)

BCD numbers are used when something electronic is geting ready to communicate numeric data with a human. They're more cumbersome than hex/binary to use for calculations, so they aren't really useful for anything else. In general terms, a mnemonic device is something that "helps you remember" something. Assembly language consists of menmonics for the actual machine instructions. "ADD" is easier to remember than 3F, for example. I suppose you could consider the PLC ladder logic instructions to be mnemonics, although there isn't any "harder to remember" machine language offered to us to use.