displaying MI from one plc to another

[TozoM8]

I have a V130 with a scale. I need to display the weight of the scale (MI) on another plc (V1210).  Is there an easy way to do this? The other PLC is 100-150 feet away and they need to see the weight of the V130 scale.

Thanks in advance!

[Flex727]

There are any number of ways to do this, but they all involve some sort of communications. If the PLCs have Ethernet cards, or you are willing to purchase and install them, then the easiest way would probably be MODBUS IP. I think both of these PLCs have CANbus ports, so you could run CANbus wiring between them and communicate that way. You could also use serial communications.

[TozoM8]

Thank you. Looks like I have to sit down and figure this out. Luckily I have a couple v1210s to play with. 

[Flex727]

There are good examples that came with your VisiLogic installation that will show you how to communicate. It's pretty simple.

[Ausman]

I'm with Flex but I'd use UniCan, which might have been what he was meaning anyway.  Dead easy to set up on something so simple.  Use proper cable as specc'd.

cheers, Aus

[TozoM8]

Thank you for the replies! After looking at a couple vebinars about UniCan I've realized that I have two V130 that need to send scale data (MI) to one V1210.  Looking  at the installation guides I can't find the wire gauge required. It only says shielded twisted pairs. 

[Ausman]

Hi Tozo, the magic word is DeviceNet.  "Thick" is also specified.  This link is not promoting the company, just gives you the basics of the spec.  Bear in mind that there are many makers out there...you just need to find a local supplier who has a good brand name equivalent. 

cheers, Aus

http://www.treotham.com.au/assets/Lapp-Cables/Data-Sheets/UNITRONIC-DeviceNet-FD-thick-thin.pdf

[TozoM8]

Thank you.  I will look into it tomorrow. 

[Joe Tauser]

Don't forget you're going to need CANbus cards for the V130s - part number V100-17-CAN.

Here's the cable we use-

https://www.belden.com/products/industrial/cable/bus-cable/devicenet

You're technically supposed to use "thick" cable for main runs but it's expensive ($4.13 / ft in the US).  Depending on the distance I usually use "thin" ($2.08 / ft) and it works great.  How far are you going?

Joe T.

[TozoM8]

200' feet from the V1210 to the first V130 then another 100' to the second V130. 

[Joe Tauser]

Those are short runs.  The thin cable should be fine.

Joe T.

[TozoM8]

Thank you. Another question. Do you ever sleep?

[Joe Tauser]

Not enough.

😩

Joe T.

[Ausman]

😴     Joe never sleeps......he just dozes in his man-cave whilst inhaling cigar smoke.  Mostly the clever, helpful bunny comes out of the cave, but very occasionally the bear emerges.  😊    We all have those days.  🙄

In case you've missed it, here is a lift out of a larger manual.  Have a full read and it will help a lot.  Note the bottom of (internal) page 98......you're going to be very close to able to run it at 500, but 250 is likely going to be better.

cheers, Aus

UniCan lift.pdf

[John_R]

And on the subject of UniCan....

You can also easily monitor the status of MB's from one PLC to another;
use the "Bit to Num" to encode a block of 16 MB's (MB 100-MB 115)to an MI (MI 100)
compare the number in the Bit to Num MI to the previously stored number
if it has changed, then trigger a UniCAN SEND
then update the Last Bit to Num with a Store

The order of these three nets is important....

On the other PLC (after setting up the UniCAN INIT and PLC Net ID),
All you need is the complementing "Num to Bit" to decode this number back to discreet bits.

You can map whatever you want to the MB's at each end.

Reverse the process with a different block of MB's to send bits back the other way.

 

[Joe Tauser]

The STRUCT block was specifically designed for packing various data types into a chunk of MIs for UniCAN.  Look at the Help on it.

Joe T.

[TozoM8]

Thank you guys for all the help. My 1210s are up and running with UniCan.