kvlada
-
Posts
59 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
5
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Events
Blogs
Downloads
Articles
Media Demo
Posts posted by kvlada
-
-
Check your Unitronics front panel for a small opening on the lower side. That's the speaker grill.
It has a sponge dust isolation, but maybe the caustic materials are somehow seeping in through that hole. Might be worth sealing that hole (if you don't need sound) and trying if the problem persists.
-
Main question you have to think about is: how fast do you need these discrete I/O to be?
If you can tolerate 50-100 milisecond latency, then taking a Modbus TCP or Modbus RTU I/O gateways might be a less expensive alternative to Ethernet/IP.
UniStream can be easily configured to send outputs and read inputs from a Modbus field I/O station. Setting up fieldbus in Unistream is almost trivial, no coding is necessary. Just define tags, set polling time or trigger bits, and it works auto-magically.
Now, if your I/Os must be fast (response time in 5-10 milisecond range) or real-time, then you should look for CANopen fieldbus I/O.
-
1
-
-
Always use latest version of VisiLogic.
-
Hi!
One TCP client can connect to only one host at the same time. In program function "TCP_IP" you're calling TCP Client Connect function twice for two different IP addresses on a single client. This cannot work.
You can try one of the following:
1. Create two TCP Clients, give them some random but different address in configuration. Later when connecting, call function as usual but on two different clients. I'm not sure if this will work, but it's worth trying.
2. Use only one TCP client, but switch IP addresses. For example: connect to first printer, when connected do data transfer, then disconnect, and connect to second printer, do data communication, disconnect, and so on.
3. Switch to UDP instead of TCP. Communication over UDP socket is similar to serial port, there is no connecting and disconnecting.
Also: I've noticed you have put TCP Client Rx function but not Parse Message function, which would parse the received bytes in the buffer into a message defined in Message Composer. Parse Message function should be triggered on "Data Arrived" bit.
Hope this helps!
-
Unitronics published a software update for Vision PLCs, which requires you to set an alphanumeric password to access PLC via PCOM protocol for online and programming mode.
When upgraded, only those with the password will be able to access the PLC and download new program. Password can be set via ladder, or via HMI, so operators in field can change passwords on their own per company policy.
-
A good thing about Vision and Jazz PLCs is that software doesn't verify if the ladder in your program is the same as the ladder in the PLC.
So you can open a blank application, connect to the PLC in Online Mode, and view inputs, outputs, bits, timers, etc.
-
Aside from SQL client and Web server, are B10 PLCs having a faster CPU than B5? I'm primarily wondering about HMI screens which have lots of elements and take a long time to render. Would a B10 render a screen faster than B5?
And another question: if B5 and B10 have same CPU/Memory/hardware, is it possible to "upgrade" B5 OS to B10 OS later, and have B10 features?
-
Not just PLCs.
So if you have a Unistream display laying around, you can use it as an external monitor.
-
1
-
-
A month ago I bought UID-W1616TDI, there were no delays.
Maybe try asking another distributor?
-
1
-
-
Here's an Inkscape SVG file with various icons and graphics for general use.
There are belts, feeders, elevators, and other stuff. All in beautiful shades of gray or light blue for the High Performance HMI fans. I love to combine a PNG background with on-screen elements, because it's not so easy to make a complex screen with overlapping elements in Vision.
-
I've found out that this also works:
- Download your program to RAM (fastest)
- When done, go to Info mode, submenu Flash, and choose option "Burn to flash" or "Save to flash".
The PLC will save the program from RAM to flash, and do it in background, so the program is still running and PLC is responsive.
-
I've wanted to ask this for a long time.
When downloading full project to Vision PLC, which contains several full-screen graphics (System Images = 1.7 MB, + Downloading 94 image(s) = 252 KB), the full download with burn-to-flash feature takes about 40 minutes over LAN!
That is waaaaaay too long. Is there any way to speed it up? It's just 1.7 MB of data. Even copying a floppy disk would take a few minutes.
-
Interesting, thank you for this implementation.
I usually just take last few digits from system cycle counter.
-
Hi there,
I miss the function I had on "Classic" Vision line (V280, etc.) - Draw Trend FB, which would draw a trend line on screen from a MI vector.
The problem I'm facing is how to draw a Trend on Enhanced Vision, which DOES NOT have TIME as X-axis.
I'd like to draw a trend which has 1 MI vector for Y axis, and another for X axis, but I don't see an easy way how that would be possible. It could be done using Draw Line / Draw Axis FB, and a lots of linearization, but I'm looking for an easier way.
-
Bump.
How about adding a new UniStream PLC, let's call it "Secondary" which talks to "Primary" PLC via Modbus TCP, and displays the screens according to your liking?
That way, the "Secondary" has the role of a simple HMI screen, reading values from "Primary", and sending updates when a variable is changed or a button is pressed. While the "Primary" controls the process.
-
I've noticed that when a MM:SS timer is shown, Remote Operator displays the timer in 00.00 format (with a decimal point, instead of a colon), like it's SS.hh.
Are there any plans to fix this?
Right now there's no way of knowing if a displayed timer preset button refers to minutes:seconds or seconds:tens-of-miliseconds.
-
On 8/28/2020 at 1:05 AM, Ausman said:
HI kvlada, no-ones actually posted it yet, just done some 'likes'.
Well....I'm posting to say that I think all the stuff you've recently done as topics is great.
Well done.
cheers, Aus
Thanks!
-
1
-
-
This is where I found out there's literally no end to how much I/Os you can cram into a V570.
The year is 2011, my first medium-scale PLC project. It was an animal food production plant. There was about 200 I/O points at first, and later the system grew to about 250. Also numerous weighing scales and temperature measurements. When I found out that there would be no way to put any more than about 100 I/O points via Unitronics modules, I had to resort to Turck's CANopen I/O modules. These pack a respectable number of terminal blocks per square inch of panel space. It all worked flawlessly, and in later years 2 additional I/O stations were added. Still it couldn't saturate the V570. Scan time under 10 miliseconds.
Of course there would be no easy way of managing everything from the V570 screen, so a Z-View scada had to suffice. Over Ethernet the update time for 1700 tags (not monolithic, but scattered all over memory space) is about 0.4 seconds. One remark: the screens are really ugly -- back then I was sloppy and didn't know what "Snap to Grid" meant. We've all been kids once I guess.
-
2
-
1
-
-
Drawing good looking screens in Vision series is hard, yo!
I've found that Inkscape is more than sufficient (and free!) for creating pixel art from vector images, and that it's better to have nearly all the elements drawn in the background, and then just overlay a few simple vars.
This is a small-scale weighing and mixing plant, automated in 2018.
V1040 is added later, when the customer decided to put some brains in the system.
-
Back in 2011 I've come to the conclusion that V570's hardware is a beast, and that no amount of ladder code would be able to fill it completely. So in 2014 I did a project with 3 V130, which are supposed to have the same CPU and memory power as V570, only in a smaller, cheaper package.
This is a small automation project involving few mixers and some material flow management. We have 3 PLCs, talking to each other via Ethernet, and a supervisory computer. Everyone loves to have a shiny 24" monitor, but paying more than $500 for a Scada package couldn't fit the budget, so Z-View SCADA was the logical choice.
I'm still dreaming of a day when Unitronics releases it's own SCADA package. So that you can draw screens and create reports in UniLogic, and have UniStream runtime on a Windows or Linux PC. Some UniDeSys or CodeTronNic.
-
1
-
-
Back in 2010 (or was it 2011?) I was really wanting to have a simulation mode on Vision PLCs. Because it would help to test an application without having the PLC. Since that wasn't possible, I proposed an idea that Unitronics rents time slots to actual PLCs connected via Internet. That way programmers would be able to test their code on actual hardware.
I know, I know, PLCs are supposed to be serious business, and it's often mentioned that you can buy: 1 x V120, 1 x V430, 1 x V700, and 1 x V1080 for the price of a Siemens software license and a set of genuine programming cables.
Here's my rebuttal: a local company, due to Covid-19, has implemented a testing-as-a-service with their hardware dev kits. They call it Planet Debug. Every dev board is connected to Internet (through a firewall) and has a camera pointing to it. You choose your hardware, how big a time slot you need, and you get to test your code on real hardware.
Now imagine a wall covered with Unitronics PLCs, each with a dedicated VPN tunnel to an end user, billed by hour. Let's begin at $10/hour. Unitronics staff could charge a "configuration fee" for connecting I/O modules to the PLC, or some specific elements such as stepper motors, weighing scales, heaters, temperature probes, etc. User would be able to download HMI and ladder code, and check out how it actually looks and operates. A web camera would be recording the PLC screen and I/O module LEDs, so design could be fully verified.
-
Bump.
I'd recommend installing a tiny Windows program called NegativeScreen which easily lets you assign display color modification to shortcut keys.
That way you can make all your apps and UI work in white mode, and switch to dark mode globally. Color images would be affected of course -- they'd become negatives -- but you could do some real neat things. Like, make your screen red and black, the night vision mode usually associated with astronomers. I've attached the screenshot of this forum page to get an impression. ;)
-
14 hours ago, Flex727 said:
Set up a log in for the Control Room operator. When not logged in, the buttons are disabled on the screen. You can have the log in time out which would return the buttons to the disabled state.
This sounds like a good idea. All screen buttons have a Disable bit if there's no user logged in.
In every screen I could place a tiny button at the top, which is hard to be pressed by a local operator (because it's only 3x3 pixels wide for example). But it can be pressed using Remote Operator (because screen is bigger, and there's mouse). Remote operator presses the hidden button, enters the password, local user doesn't see the password because it shows as ******, and it enables, say, 5 minutes of PLC use. After that the Remote operator presses the tiny button again and locks the panel.
Even easier, there could be no password, just the hidden touch element which turns on and off Disable buttons bit. Thanks!
-
I'm having a very interesting issue that requires creative thinking
Imagine having 3 - 4 Vision PLCs with a touchscreen, working in the field, which are all connected to Control Room via Unitronics Remote Operator software. I want for the Remote Operator to be able to use the PLCs, but for a local operator to have no access - only view screen contents. PLC should not accept any touches.
So, the Control Room operator has all the HMIs on his computer screen, and can do whatever he wants on the PLCs: click on buttons, enter variables, change screens, etc.
But a local operator can only watch the PLC screen. He can make touches but PLC will ignore them.
Now, the twist: the Control Room operator should be able to remotely "activate" touchscreen on the PLCs, allowing local operator to use it for a limited time. Then, after a timer runs out, or the CR operator clicks on a button, the PLCs switch back their HMI to "Read-only" mode.
Would this be possible with Vision?
I mean, technically, I could cannibalize the touchscreen cable, install a relay or some analog multiplexer which turns it off when a certain output is on. Unfortunately that would void the warranty of the PLCs, and would be rather brutal.
Any ideas?
Putting UniStream USC Ethernet ports on the top side - who's idea was that?
in We're Listening...
Posted
Because even in the cleanest of panels, dust still somehow settles on components. And if the Ethernet port is exposed on the top side, it's bound to catch it. Add a few unattended years of service, and that RJ-45 port is seriously filled with things you don't want to be in.
Siemens solved this problem by putting Ethernet ports on the lower side of PLCs. Even Vision PLCs have a side mounted jack. But not USCs.
Guess I'll be shopping for some rubber plugs...