Data Communications Simulator?

[Phil07]

Hello there,

         I am having a bear of a time finding if any emulator/simulator exists for Unitronics PLCs (specifically the V350), which would simulate protocol communications.  I am developing an application that will be reading/writing to  a V350, and was wondering if any software existed that would be able to simulate that communication?  

[Joe Tauser]

Assuming your application utilizes the Modbus protocol, here is a thread where I posted links to some online simulators-

http://forum.unitronics.com/topic/3582-modbus-rtu-and-danfoss/

Otherwise, can you post more details of what you're trying to do?

Joe T.

[Phil07]

Thank you for the reply Joe, much obliged. 

My initial plan was to utilize to the .NET Driver supplied by Unitronics to communicate with the V350.  Since I don't have a physical V350 to test my code with, I was hoping an emulator/simulator existed somewhere that I could test my code against to make sure my reads/writes/connects performed as expected.  

I know there are .NET Modbus libraries out there that I could also use..in fact I have some existing code that uses the Modbus protocol I could perhaps leverage.  So are you saying that so long as my code is able to perform reads and writes to the online modbus simulators you suggested, that I should be golden?

Thanks again for your advice. 

[Joe Tauser]

The Unitronics .NET library will talk to the V350 no matter what and it has more power.  There's also a learning curve to deal with.

If you use Modbus you will have to add a couple of networks to the V350's ladder program to make it a Modbus slave.  This is a more generic protocol and you will be limited to reading/writing mostly MIs and MBs.  But you will be able to use a simulator to test your end.

Do you have control of the V350 program?  I would hesitate to use the term "golden" until your program and the PLC are physically connected and you verify that the connections and data locations are correct.  Unitronics starts counting at zero, while Modbus starts at one.  This can be confusing.

I would seriously consider getting a Samba of any flavor to practice on.  They communicate the same way and cost less than a V350.  Consider it part of your development cost.

Joe T. 

[Phil07]

Do you happen to know if the Samba SM35 (which looks like the cousin of the V350) would require any additional software to perform the tests that I was referring to in my previous posts?

Would I have to install UniLogic and use it to throw a program on the SM35..or can that all be handled via the preloaded HMI on the SM35? 

Also..are their any costs associated with UniLogic..I dont see anything regarding costs or licensing on the Unitronics site? 

Thanks again!

[Flex727]

I'm sure Joe will come along and address your concerns about additional software for the SM35, but I want to make you aware that UniLogic is for the UniStream PLCs and VisiLogic is for the Vision PLCs. The Samba is programmed using VisiLogic. There is no cost or licensing for either VisiLogic or UniLogic.

[Joe Tauser]

The SM35 has a buit-in RS232 port that will behave mostly like a V350.  You didn't say whether you were doing serial or Ethernet communication.  If Ethernet, you will have to add a card to the PLC.

The front HMI has no programming ability whatsoever by design.  You will need Visilogic and it is free (a great selling feature of Unitronics, BTW).

I say mostly because the Samba SM35 is a hobbled version of the V350 with a lot fewer registers.  I recommend you study up and compare the memory sizes of the V350 and the SM35:

https://myzone-kza3sadj.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/SMXX-J-R20_TECH-SPEC_02-153.pdf

https://myzone-kza3sadj.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Vxxx_J_TR20_RH2_TECH-SPEC_01-15.pdf

This may or may not come into play depending on which registers in the PLC your application needs to read.

Joe T.