Allen Bradley with finger print reader

[chas183 0]

I am looking for input on intergrating a fingerprint reader with an allen bradley PLC 5/02. The plant manager wants to install a reader for every machine on the floor. If the machine reaches a fault condition it will stop. The only way to reset the machine will to swip your finger across the finger print reader. If you are one of the stored users it will reset the machine and continue operation. Any input at all on how to do this is appreciated. Kindest Regards, chas183

[ssommers 20]

I haven't heard of anyone using a fingerprint reader, but with today's PCs having them built in, it might be possible to do it on an HMI & then transmit a Reset OK signal to the PLC. The thing I have against a fingerprint reader is that there's usually a lot of grease around my plant & it would probably get cruddy very fast. The best standard solution I can think of right now is a barcode reader. Each operator/supervisor gets issued a barcode card (to be worn on a lanyard) and has to swipe it to reset the machine. The PLC can store a set of barcodes for the eligible operators. It doesn't stop people from borrowing reset cards, but it's probably easier than integrating a fingerprint reader. HTH! Susan

[pandersen 0]

The problem with fingerprint readers is that is exactly what they do - read a fingerprint. Actually matching them to an authorized print is done by software on a PC usually, so you would have to do what ssomers suggested. I've used RFID cards in the past - a lot of places have them to open doors. What they don't tell you is that they can be read with most any RFID reader. Get a reader that outputs a serial string and you can compare a person's RFID code to some stored ones to figure out who can do what. Edited 12 Sep 2008 by pandersen

[chas183 0]

Thanks for the replys, The cost of a PC at each machine is not feasable. What about using the panelview for a password and logging the login? This way you could go to histery and see who performed the reset. Is this possible and does someone have an example of code to do it? Thanks, chas183 Edited 15 Sep 2008 by chas183

[tpedley 0]

if your HMI supports sending the PLC the logged in users name or id, then you can easily store the name of the operator who hit fault reset. create an array, or several arrays depending on what information you want to store. for the sake of argument, you want to store the user name, time/date of the reset, and the fault that was reset. and you want to track the last 64. lets say you have N10:0 - 63 (month), N11:0 - 63 (day), N12:0 - 63 (hour), N13:0 - 63 (minute), N14:0 - 63 (second), N15:0 - 63 (fault that was reset), ST16:0 - 63 (user who did the reseting). N7:0 is the index. then each time fault reset is pressed, store the user name, the current time/date, and the fault to the next available array index. when you get to 64, wrap around, set your index to 0. piece of cake. if you want more detail, let me know. Edited 23 Sep 2008 by tpedley