Shiner

MrPLC Member
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Everything posted by Shiner

  1. Programing for traffic light system

    The timer appears to be appropriate, counting to 600 by 100ms should give you 60 seconds elapsed, but the doc I downloaded has only two rungs of program. I see nothing for the red light control.
  2. Programing for traffic light system

    We had this in my first year of programming. Think of the logic statements that will create each light individually and use the corresponding functions in the ladder. Remember that OR statements imply branched logic, AND statements imply series logic and the two can be used together in a rung to achieve your goals. The following can be simplified, but it is a basic approach. Rung 0 if the light is green start green light timer duration x. Rung 1 if green light timer is done start yellow light timer duration y Rung 2 if green light timer is done and yellow light timer is done start red light timer Rung 3 if red light timer is done reset all timers Rung 4 if yellow light timer is done turn on red light Rung 5 if green light timer is done and yellow light timer is not done on turn on yellow light Rung 6 if green light timer is not done then light green light I do not have omron software yet, but have several of the other brands out there. Try to learn the concept behind programming logic, and transitioning between software will become easy. If you only learn how one manufacturer does things, you will have a harder time with this. When I program whether it is AB, Siemens, Eaton, Mitsubishi, or Automation Direct for starters, I think to myself, this is what I want this rung to say, now how does this software say that. It has been very helpful, since the approach of saying for example 'this is how AB does it, now how does Siemens do what AB does' can sometimes be your biggest obstacle. Software X may not have the exact function that Software Y has, but each system has the tools you need to do most anything.
  3. SLC150

    Would a handheld programmer help?
  4. IO image not updated

    Under the tab PLC what about PLC States? Does your system show normal there? Do you have the full version or the demo? I know the demo will not show updating for some processors.
  5. IO image not updated

    The switch for the PLC may be in run, but that does not neccessarily mean it is running. Eaton, Mitsu and a few others including AD allow you to shut the processor down without flipping the switch. Usually during a download, the CPU is put into stop mode, and you are usually prompted whether you want to put it back into run mode. If you miss this or forget, you will have no run light, a switch that says run, but no I/O updates.
  6. The Breach by Patrick Lee was pretty good if you like action sci fi, and there are minimal over-the-top liberties taken with technological objects, but for me it worked because explain how some of our items work if you could go back and sit down with someone quite a while ago. I have also always like Asimov. While most of his stories were full of science fiction, the story did not depend on it for anything other than location in most instances. I always thought the Foundation series was a good reflection of the forces of social momentum and why people respond the way they do. Was good to see one of his became a movie not too long ago (I Robot) although it was changed for the screen like so many......
  7. SLC-150 in need of resuscitation

    If you see an END statement with a number after it, that number represents the memory left (in steps I believe) in the processor. Needless to say, if the memory left equals the max memory of the processor..... That is the same problem a customer had and it turned out the EEprom was gone....program was gone. For the cost to rewrite, and the chance that a week later the flash could wipe itself again, we just replaced it with something new and wrote from scratch.
  8. First you need to make sure that the addressing scheme you are using is correct and that the panelview and PLC are on the same network. The masks need to be the same. In the left hand column rslinx enterprise tab you need to configure the comms of the panelview. You need to set up the path to the processor, and do not forget to copy that config to the runtime. Make sure your PC does not have the same ip as your hardware. Boot the screen and during startup push the lit square in the bottom left corner. Go into the settings and manually configure the IP address and mask.
  9. Just remember in that thinking, what would someone who drove a model T do if they got into a vette today.... "what are all these buttons and gadgets for.....and where is the hand crank"
  10. If you have the 500 software, click on the help tab, and instruction help. This menu will give you all the info on each of the instructions and how to use them. JSR (Jump Sub Routine)- used to jump to another routine BTR (Block Transfer Read)- used to read a block of information from a location and store it to be written somewhere, usually with a BTW (block transfer write) instruction. I do not have a DTR listed in my software.....
  11. Object Property

    What this is referring to is the communications protocol and the method on which it forwards packets. Some protocols will only look at the IP address and based on the first octal, assign a class to that network. If you manually enter a different mask than the Class that is set by this method, you will get errors. You need to figure out if the protocol needs to be changed so you can manually enter a mask of any class, or leave the protocol you have and enter the correct mask for the class. By a protocol assuming a class, it does not need to send the mask with the packet and therefor reduces the size of the header in the packet. You can search online for a good class reference table that will show you the address ranges of each class.
  12. PID Tuning Dilema

    I am not a PID guy yet, my experience in programming loops is limited so please bear with me if my questions are off base. That said, I look at your chart, and it appears to me like the process goes out of range before making any corrective action. The rate of change seems linear until the threshold is crossed and then the loop makes adjustments. Isn't there a way to develop a rate of change based on direction of change and rate that the change is approaching the limit? I recently did a job where I had to control a process using two variables, one being the output of a device X, and the other being temperature. Max X was at a temp 30 degrees F lower than max Temp, so I had to chase temp based on output using cooling fans on a VFD. I set it up to increment the VFD speed based on differential to 100% of X, and the direction (add or subtract speed) based on temp. It actually worked quite well, only one oscillation from cold start and then fairly linear response after that, but seemed a rather long handed approach.
  13. I know you are probably working on this first and foremost, but why does the link go down? Are the blocking routes static or dynamic? Does the protocol at some point determine that the cost of the linked route is so high it needs to switch to the blocked route? I would think with a Gb line you would not come across that but I have seen some protocols measure the cost like this and if the default is too low it will momentarily seem like the backup route is more effective and this toggling will occur. If you configure the blocked link statically though I would guess that should not happen. When I saw it occur, it was in a regular cisco network and they let the routers elect the root and block a route dynamically. Then the bandwidth of the end link went above whatever threshold triggered the math to think that the other link was better and it should switch. Then it would bounce back and forth....
  14. Noone has really mentioned it, probably because in this instance it is too late, but why did you have to go with AB? I tend to recommend systems based o n their application, and serviceability. In this case, a one off system where the user has lower means of supportability, and the project is not that large requiring integration of multiple pieces of equipment on the control side, why not go with an Eaton ELC controller or Automation Direct? I know the Eaton ELCSoft is about $100 and tech support including programming help is free, the HMISoft is about the same cost. The controllers and I/O cards on these units are very inexpensive compared to AB and with the free support and cheap software if it were my place that is probably the path I would have taken. Not to say that AB makes bad stuff, it is easy to learn and very versatile, but the price tag that goes with it is just not feasable for some end users.
  15. Panel pictures

    We also use the high rise rail quite a bit, especially on jobs where the terminals are double tiered it makes it easier to read the labeling on the bottom tier. Has anyone had opportunity to use the rail mounted tray that panduit is pushing? It looks nice in their displays at the shows, but real world isn't always the same. Anything to be wary of? installation headaches ect?
  16. Look in the Help menu, Contents, Instructions. Each should be listed with a description of how they can be used.
  17. PanelView 600-Daylight Savings Time Change

    I noticed that as well, don't understand how you could miss that.........
  18. PanelView 600-Daylight Savings Time Change

    if you power cycle the unit, in the lower left corner during power up you will see a lit block. Touch it to enter parameters mode and under system settings date and time you can enable daylight savings time.
  19. Transformer

    Yes, the third ground is questionable. I would like to see what note is referenced by the drawing. By having a grounded leg on X2, you have a grounded conductor, meaning that it carries current, but the voltage is referenced to ground. Some would say the voltage is pulled down to ground. All the current that is in the field is supposed to return on this path. If you have a second point of ground reference on the same conductor, you have the possibility of having the earth, or whatever you have derived your ground from (building steel, framework, piping) carry current. This is a hazardous condition!!
  20. PLC's for Beginners

    There is already a good post in this forum on it, cant remember the title off the top of my head, but it deals with programming standards and methods. Search posts by Ken Roach, Ron Beaufert, and paulenginr. In the post you will find instructors, books ect that can help. If you are interested in a trip to the US for a week to sunny North Carolina, Ron Beaufert (spelling) who posts here regularly has a PLC Boot Camp that has been highly recommended. There is also in the downloads section here, a multi step solution builder to structuring your program based on what you need it to do. For me personally, the things that have helped me the most are not the AB classes or any other OEM classes, but a class in Digital Logic, dealing with truth tables and reductions and the circuitry using AND OR gates to create a solution, which can lead to simple programming, and also help understand what the PLC is doing from an internal standpoint. Basically, your program is controlling circuitry, if you grasp the concept of how that circuitry is built, you will be able to manipulate its functions to their fullest.
  21. Christmas Lights to music

    Sounds like you are only going to get basic on off control of the lighting. With that in mind, I think you would have to build sequencing for each song. If you use the analog input to monitor signal strength, watching for the breaks between songs, you can use that to increment which song/sequence you are using. Start the song timer/drum timer at the beginning of each signal input. That can be tricky because of the way some songs start so low in amplitude, you need a clean signal for sure. Then you need to build each song and you would be at a disadvantage that you would have to keep the songs in order. Changing the order would be a matter of manually assigning each song a new place number so your incrementing would assign it properly.
  22. Electrical Outlets

    We can get our hands on some...
  23. Automation Fair

    What part of Ireland. My family is originally from County Cork.
  24. Just curious if anyone is attending. It would be interesting running into some of the posters here.
  25. Simatec

    Just and FYI about what I have found... Spoke to tech support and they do not have rotating animations like AB or Eaton for their HMI graphics. You can, however, manipulate an object in paint, and use the various images to simulate rotating motion.