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tmoulder last won the day on December 4 2013
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Has anyone had any success using a Chromebook to program Unitronics hardware? I know, I know, no native support, but I am curious if anybody found a good work-around, and if so, how did you pull it off? Thanks! Tim Moulder
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Hi Ricardo, I just happened to pop in here and saw this. I've corrected the posts so the files are reachable by link now. Good luck!
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Hi Ausman, It is being used as it was meant - operator interface, and I did consider that. There is something there however that also references your second question. There are two weld stations on this machine, let's call them WS1 and WS2. The V570 is positioned in an operator box that is mounted slightly to the right of the entire machine. WS1's welder is only 3-4 feet from the V570, but it never produces this problem. WS2 is about 10 feet from the V570, and it's the one that causes the issue. Granted, that not a lot of range difference, but if the design of the V570 were the suspect, I would think it would error out with either or both welders. But no, it's only the furthest one. That's the reason I've been focusing on mitigating the RF noise. It's frustrating because I feel like the answer is staring me in the face, (the difference between the welders), and somehow I'm missing it.
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Hi Kratmel, Thank you for the information. Do you have an example or source for a "standard TIG filtering system"? I've searched google and can't seem to find anything. Is this something that can be added to an existing welding system? It can't be as simple as throwing some ferrite chokes on the wires... can it? Thanks, TM
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Hello All, I have a robotic welding application, using a Unitronics V570 with ethernet communications to a motion controller, 2 robots and a camera system, all Modbus TCP. About a year ago, we switched the plasma welder on the line to TIG welders. This was an enormous cost savings over the old ones, which were obsolete anyhow. Buuuuttt... (You knew there was a "but" coming somewhere, didn't you?) Since the conversion we have had an intermittent-but-persistent problem where when one of the welders strikes, it knocks out the ethernet communications. The TIG torch uses a burst of RF to establish the arc, and this is the moment the drop takes place, if it happens at all, which it can go weeks without happening, and then it comes raging back. I've taken a plethora of steps to try and correct this issue: The machine is more heavily grounded than my smart-alec teenage daughters. I've checked the paths to ground for everything on the system, and I cannot find anything I've missed in terms of grounding. Shielded Cat5e cables throughout, then took the additional step of replacing those with fiber optics. The longest single conventional cable is now 2 meters in length, and isolated from the rest of the system. Replaced the V570 and the ethernet card. In terms of troubleshooting, I added some counters to the PLC program, and it appears the the link is being lost. It reconnects automatically, but by then, it's burned a hole in the part. For mitigation, I switched some of the responsiblity for the welding movement from the PLC to the motion controller, so even if communication is lost for 1 second, the welding process continues unabated, and comms are restored before the weld move finishes. The nature of the drop (link lost) makes me think the issue is somewhere with the PLC itself. The fiber optic convertor for it is located in the same operator panel, connected by a 1 meter shielded cable, all contained within a fully grounded enclosure. I'm thinking a different ethernet card may be in order. I've pack-ratted several of these over the years, but can someone explain to me the difference between the V200-19-ET1, the V200-19-ET2, and the V200-ET-E? And is there some version that offers more robust performance for electrically noisy environments? Thanks! TM
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Serial to WiFi Adapter
tmoulder replied to tmoulder's topic in Vision & Samba PLC + HMI Controllers & VisiLogic Software
So I tried out an adapter. It seems to work okay with Win7 on bare metal, but was almost completely incompatible with a virtual machine. I guess I'm going to have to learn to live with a serial port... argh... -
Serial to WiFi Adapter
tmoulder replied to tmoulder's topic in Vision & Samba PLC + HMI Controllers & VisiLogic Software
It's redrawing 40+ screens that makes me hesitant... -
Serial to WiFi Adapter
tmoulder replied to tmoulder's topic in Vision & Samba PLC + HMI Controllers & VisiLogic Software
Thanks guys, My sockets are tied up doing real-time communications to a couple of robots, a camera system, and now a motion controller, all on Modbus TCP. The latency of a juggling scheme would be fatal. And I would give my last remaining tooth for the V700 to be available in a V570 form factor. So I guess I'll pick out an adapter and see how far I get. I'll keep you posted on the results. Thanks again! TM -
Visilogic Container?
tmoulder replied to tmoulder's topic in Vision & Samba PLC + HMI Controllers & VisiLogic Software
Just read the Wine (Windows Layer for Linux) is introducing WinePak, a flatpak for running windows applications on linux. I wonder if this could be a possiblity? I hate Windows anyhow... -
Greeting all! I am about to start a Visilogic project on an existing machine that will force me to surrender my last available ethernet socket, and it is causing me great emotional anguish. I was considering a serial to wifi adapter to allow me to at least keep my precious wireless connectivity, even if it means sacrificing overall communication speed. Has anybody else done this successfully, and if so, what did you use? Thanks! TM
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Hello All, So I've now tried to install Visilogic on 3 laptops in total, one running Windows 7 and 2 running Windows 10. I have three versions I am working with, 9.8.65 (latest) and 9.8.0 and 9.7.0 under Swapper. The Windows 7 laptop, after installing according to directions, including ripping Visilogic out completely and a fresh install, I cannot get 9.8.65 or 9.7.0 to work. Both throw the Runtime Error 9 subscript. Strangely, 9.8.0 loads fine. On the first Windows 10 (an Asus tablet, woefully underpowered), I can get 9.8.65 and 9.8.0 to work, but 9.7.0 throws an error. On the second Windows 10 laptop (an also-underpowered HP) I can get 9.8.0 to work, but neither of the others. So at this point, running any Visilogic reliably means loading up an XP virtual machine and running from in there, with all the performance hit that entails. I normally use Ubuntu linux at home, and I've been running apps in both Flatpak and Snap container formats. Windows doesn't support either of these (naturally) but it does support Docker. I am wondering how feasible it would be to provide Visilogic in a container, and if that would clear away some of the problems we keep having with version changes and OS updates breaking our system? Just an idea. Thanks!
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Hi Ausman, The original problem surfaced running on bare-metal Windows 7. I installed Visilogic into a Virtual Machine to mitigate the problem and be able to work on my equipment again. I haven't tried any compatibility mode changes yet, had a terrible experience with that many years ago. Things have probably (?) improved since then, so I may take another shot at it. Thanks for all the help! TM