arj3090

You can use AdvancedHMI to read data from the PLC. It has a native DF1 serial driver. The software is free.

There are a number of free software packages. For example:   http://rapidscada.org/ http://pvbrowser.de/pvbrowser/index.php http://openscada.org/ http://www.scadabr.com.br/ http://www.advancedhmi.com/   The only one I can speak for is AdvancedHMI because I am the chief architect behind it. It is unique in that it is based on Microsoft Visual Studio. It is essentially an extended tool set that allows you to create HMI applications without the need to write any code. Since it  is built on .NET and Visual Studio, it has the advantage of being infinitely extensible by creating additional components, beyond what already exists in the toolset. These can be created with any .NET language of choice. When it comes to the question of whether something could be done with AdvancedHMI, since it not limited by a canned development environment, the true question should be how easy it is to do a particular task with AdvancedHMI. Although its primary purpose has been intended for an HMI, many users have used it as a SCADA application. The .NET environment also has the advantage of being able to leverage the millions of .NET developers that exist. If a prebuilt component does not already exist and you do not know how to create one, it is easy to find a developer that can create it for you. So to compare the various packages, here are a few questions to consider: - What kind of learning curve is required to get started? - How difficult is it to achieve a particular task? - How is the support? Is there community support such as with a forum? - What hardware and OS will it run on? - What PLCs/devices does it support with its communication drivers?  

AdvancedHMI has everything you need to read data from AB PLCs and the base package is no cost at all. The drivers are by far much easier to use than OPC.

AdvancedhMI runs directly on a Windows 8 or Windows 10 tablet. You can pick up an 8" Window tablet for less than $100, such as a ProntoTec MobiTab for $80 from Amazon. You simply create an AdvancedHMI application, then copy it to a MicroSD card and run it on the tablet.

Have you looked at AdvancedHMI? It has Omron drivers which makes it very each to read/write with .NET

AdvancedHMI includes communication drivers for the Omron PLCs. It's free and very easy to get started. It's all based on VB.NET

Have you looked at AdvancedHMI? It is based on VB.net and includes easy to use driver for Omron FINS

The AdvancedHMI software is based on .NET and includes native drivers for the AB line of PLCs, so it does not require RSLinx. The drivers are designed to be very easy for reading data from a PLC, much easier than OPC. If you wanted to use RSlinx or any other OPC driver, there is also an OpcDaCom driver that tremendously simplfies reading data via OPC. There is a quick start guide on the main web site that will get you up and running in just a few minutes. The base package is free without limitations.

The Microsoft Surface Pro runs full Windows 8, so it is fairly easy to get an HMI running on that tablet. See this: http://advancedhmi.com/forum/index.php?topic=115.0

I noticed you had VB listed in your interests. If you are wanting to learn an AB compatible HMI, take a look at AdvancedHMI. It's built on top of VB.NET, plus it's completely free, so you don't have to worry about trials, licenses, or demos.

I have been working on a SoftLogix5 to a ControlLogix upgrade and have a remaining issue with the PanelView standard. This is the hardware and software: Panelview 2711-T10C8 Series D, Revision C, Firmware 4.41 ControlLogix 1756-L63 1756-DHRIO Series E, Firmware 7.2 Panelbuilde32 Version 3.82.00 Build 413 The problem I have is when I set the controller type in PanelBuilder to Controllogix, it will read and display values, but as soon as I press a button to write a value, it faults the processor and clears the program in the PLC which requires me to download the program again. I found that if I change the type SLC 5/04 it works with no problems. Using the SLC 5/04 setting would be a solution except I need to use addresses as high as N999. Also strings do not work and I suspect the ControlLogix setting will resolve that.

I sent this problem to AB along with a dump file that was extracted from the processor. They responded that firmware 19 fixed a problem where a "bit write" will write to the wrong address and can cause a major fault. This was noted in the release notes for v19. I upgraded to firmware 19 and it seems to have solved the problem.

Ken... Yes, this is the same issue brought up on the other forum. There are 3 Panelviews in the system. Initially I did all of the testing on the 1000, but the other night I forgot and left the setting to ControlLogix on one of the smaller PanelViews and crashed the whole system with it. I originally thought the ControlLogix option would allow me to use native tag access, but that wasn't the case. It worked just the same as being set to PLC5. I tried various PLC5 options to see if I could use the higher addresses to work, but they all faulted the processor. Only the SLC5/04 setting has worked. These are the files I used for testing: RS5000 and Panelbuilder Files Here is the fault that is generated: (Type 01) Power-up Fault (Code 60) Non-recoverable Fault I'm starting to think my PanelBuilder version is too new for the Panelview.

When I narrowed down the problem to the PanelView, I made a test Panelview program with just a single button, so I have not tested it on any other writes except for boolean.To eliminate the PLC program I also put the processor in program mode and found it still faults the processor.

Dumps program as in PLC is faulted with no more program. The fault has to be cleared and the program downloaded back into PLC. I don't remember exact fault, but something about bad startup. I can't throw it back into fault right now to get the exact message because half of the machine is in production.

Do you have the program for both the BX5100 and the Servo drive? Depending on how it is programmed, I believe the points can be stored in either device.

You may also want to look at Beckhoff for a comparison. The hardware is very similar, some of it even interchangeable. They both use the same base programming software. I think Beckhoff offers more flexibility.

I can give you this for a start:

The .NET platform is a very powerful platform with a huge base of classes that make developing software very fast and easy once you learn it.I have developed a group of components in VB.NET for building HMIs including some drivers. The project is named AdvancedHMI. Once an HMI is built with it, it is a completely stand alone application that does not rely on the outdated OPC-DA drivers. The application is open source and you can get the code here: https://sourceforge....ts/advancedhmi/ Also if you search youtube, you will find several tutorial videos on how to use it. Currently there is not an Omron protocol, but their protocol is not very complicated.

Rockwell has actually released an Ethernet/IP stack to the open source community: http://sourceforge.net/projects/opener/ Several years ago, ODVA used to allow you to download an outdated spec of Ethernet/IP. Trust me, not light reading by any means. If you know VB, AdvancedHMI includes an Ethernet/IP driver that encapsulates PCCC so it works with the SLC and Micro series: http://sourceforge.net/projects/advancedhmi/

Sounds like an interesting project.

If I get to choose when doing a project, I use a Panel PC with either Windows CE or XP Embedded. The Panel PCs are generally lower cost than a dedicated HMI and you are not bound by the limitations of the off the shelf HMI. Not sure I agree about the HMI being faster to develop out of the box. I can have a Panel PC running an HMI in under 5 minutes: CE doesn't have the flexibility of XP, but is virtually invulnerable to viruses. And that is generally only a concern if its on a network outside of the machine.

Another option would be this: http://www.hardyinst.com/process_weighing/...gh+scale+module

You can find a driver written in VB.NET that works nicely with AB PLCs over serial communication. You can find it here:http://sourceforge.net/projects/abdf1/ http://sourceforge.net/projects/advancedhmi/ The second project has the DF1 driver included into a larger package and it is a newer version of the driver. You can also find other open source PLC drivers on sourceforge. As for C++ being more powerful... on a windows based system, that is probably only true when you get down to low level hardware development. I've done a lot of VB.NET programming and have yet to run into anything that was not possible to do.

Would this be of any help: http://infosys.beckhoff.com/english.php?co...ReturnCodes.htm