Posted 21 Oct 2016 (edited) Hi all, I have a challenge and I'm hoping for some feedback from all the smart folks on this forum First some background about this post: I work for a company that builds switch panels for the food industry. All these panels use the same PLC unit CJ2M-CPU33. As of today we manually test these switch panels by checking if the wiring is correct with a DM (digital multimeter), but we do not check component functionality, such as powering relays or testing E-stop circuits. The reason is that we do not have a PLC program to control all these elements. The ultimate goal is to automate these switch panel checks as much as possible, the only time user input is necessary would be to flick a switch on the front panel. The flow of information would be as follow: PC sends command to PLC (output Q0.00 - High) PLC sets output Q0.00 High (via terminals and some circuitry) PC gets signal back PC checks information PC sends command to PLC (output Q0.00 - Low) Everything has to be controlled via a windows application (Visual Basic) because that is what I understand. About PLC programming I don't know much about ladder diagram programming, I know how to build simple programs but that's all. But I will learn a lot more by doing this challenge To get started I have search the forum on topics that relate to FINS command and Visual Studio. I've found some interesting topics one of which had a ActiveX component for visual basic named INDAFINS so I will investigate what the possibility's are. Also I have downloaded some FINS command reference documents I need to study does because as it stands I'm a total noob when it comes to FINS commands. I hope that some of you want to think with me on this and share your thoughts about the subject. My current test setup looks like this COMPOTENT PSU 24V= 5A Weidmuller Switch Omron PA202 PSU CJ2M-CPU33 Omron OC211 (outputs) 6x 24V weidmuller relais Edited 21 Oct 2016 by jordykleian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 21 Oct 2016 Hello, Why not use an HMI ( PeakHMI for example ) that has all the FINS drivers, create the test code in scripting and generate a report when the test is complete. I am not sure a PLC program is need if you only want to verify inputs and outputs. My2c. 1 person likes this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 22 Oct 2016 Unfortunately I have no acces to a HMI display. so I'm stuck with using a PC based system. Is it possible to control IO without a program in the PLC? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 22 Oct 2016 Hello, PeakHMI runs on a PC. >Is it possible to control IO without a program in the PLC? It depends. If the I/O is automatically mapped then normally yes. The PLC can be put in run mode without a program. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 22 Oct 2016 What do you mean by "If the I/O is automatically mapped" because I have made a I/O table for my test PLC. I've read the FINS commands documents but I don't understand the workings of it jet. How would such a command look like if I want to make output 0 of the CJ1W-OC211 High without having to program the PLC. Would you mind giving me an example. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 22 Oct 2016 >What do you mean by "If the I/O is automatically mapped" Some PLCs, the I/O is fixed so it is "automatically mapped" to specific addresses. Other PLC you map the I/O to an address which you configure. So configuration is generally <> a PLC program (ladders for example). If you have mapped the I/O to addresses, the PLC should go into run mode without any program, only the correct configuration. As to the message format it depends on serial or TCP. Either way it is a write command. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 22 Oct 2016 Mark, I think I'm on to something. I figured out that, when I open the PLC memory table I can view and monitor the following memory areas. CIO A T C IR DR D TK H W E0 From what I understand is that memory area CIO (common Input / Output) I can toggle bits and that reflects back on the output card on location 00. So what I need to figure out is how to use FINS to manipulate the CIO memoy Area to control inputs and outputs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites