AB FlexIO as DeviceNet slave

[ALARIC08 0]

Hi all, I'm new on this forum so, first, congratulations for the forum, great place! I'm not sure if it is the right place for this question, it concerns GE and Allen Bradley.... For a new project I'm using a series 90-30 PLC (I'm not familiar with it nor with any GE) and I'd like to use Allen Bradley FlexIO (1794-xxx) for discrete IO over DeviceNet. At firs glance I think I have to import the EDS of the 1794-ADN into some GE's DeviceNet configuration software and it should work. I wonder if someone has experience in this and get some advice like "I've tried and you'll get in trouble..." or "it's straight forward, go ahead..." Thanks all, alaric08

[Steve Bailey 118]

In theory, it ought to work, although I've never tried it. The larger question is why! If you're not already familiar with GE Fanuc PLCs, why would you want to add the additional complication of making their PLC play nice with a competitor's I/O devices?

[ALARIC08 0]

Steve, The GE PLC is given as part of a "key in hand" project. So I better get familiar with it. I will have to connect some extra IO. My cheap option is AB FlexIO, I'd like to know if I'm getting into trouble...

[Steve Bailey 118]

As long as you're treating it as a learning exercise, go for it. You realize,of course that if you get into trouble you've given tech support from both companies an easy brush-off if they can't quickly find a solution to your problem. AB's tech support will blame your problems on GE Fanuc's DeviceNet master module. GE Fanuc will blame the Flex I/O. Do you already have the 90-30 DeviceNet master module? If you have to purchase it, you'd be better off spending the same amount of money on rack-mounted I/O modules.

[Ken Roach 194]

Allen-Bradley FLEX I/O specifically will present a challenge because its configuration is not a pure EDS-based parameters set. Instead, it uses an applet launched from within RSNetworx for DeviceNet to handle the configuration of I/O modules and the consequential configuration of the 1794-ADN's I/O Assembly. This means you will need RSNetworx for DeviceNet software as well as a connection to the network that is supported by RSLinx Classic (1770-KFD serial module, passthrough from an A-B controller, or a 1784-PCD card). There's no reason it can't work, but it will be more complex than a GE distributed I/O system that is made specifically for GE, or a general-purpose distributed I/O system that has an EDS-based configuration tool.

[ALARIC08 0]

Thats right Ken, By importing the 1794-ADN into RSNetworx itself, when configuring aa adapter I only got the "General" tab where I only can set the address, there are no config. options for the modules... that proves that the EDS is not enough. Now I got an idea of the problem, Thanks a lot!