OptoBlog

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Next Event: AUTOMATICON 2009, Warsaw

Next chance to see Opto 22 SNAP-PAC Systems live at an Automation Exhibition.
Our new distribution Partner for Poland, ATEL Electronics, will show our products at their booth at AUTOMATICON 2009 in Warsaw.

ATEL Electronics is an expert in industrial networking. SNAP-PAC Systems are the ideal product for them, to offer a complete solution for state of the art solutions for Automation, Data Aquisition and Remote Monitoring.

The show is from March 31. to April 3. at the Warsaw International Expo Centre. For scheduling a visit, or more information please contact ATEL Electronics directly.

ATEL Electronics
Jakub Michalak
45-231 Opole
ul. Oleska 121
tel. +48 (77) 455 60 76
e-mail: jakub.michalak@atel.com.pl

Posted by gkreiling at 8:54 AM | Comments (0)

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Friday, March 13, 2009

SNAP-PAC Systems shown at Exhibition in Budapest

 

From March 24. - 27. Hungarians major Automation Exhibition, Magyar Regula 2009, will take place. The Exhibition will open its gates for the 23th time in the SYMA (ex SAP) Exhibition Centre.

At booth B/402 our Hungarian distribution partner Comforth Kft. will show the latest developments of our successful SNAP-PAC Systems product line. Peter Bona and his team will be happy to welcome you at their booth, and discuss about PAC controllers.

For scheduling a visit, or more information please contact Comforth directly.

Com-Forth Kft.
Budapest Benczur u. 20
Tel: +36-1-413-7198
Email: mail@comforth.hu

Posted by gkreiling at 8:08 AM | Comments (0)

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Friday, February 27, 2009

Tip from Product Support: Sending PAC Files via FTP

Here's a tip about using FTP to send files from a SNAP PAC processor to another device on the network.

All SNAP PAC controllers and EB (Ethernet-based) brains contain at least 2 MB of space in which you can store any types of files. These stored files can be used by a PAC Control strategy or an application you develop. For example, the SNAP PAC device can read the file, add data to it, and send the file—or data from it—to another device on the network.

But one potential problem can cause sending files via FTP to work with some devices, but not others: certain characters in the filename.

Some file systems, like ours on the PAC controllers and brains, allow characters such as colons in filenames. Others, like Windows XP, do not. (You may notice that if you drag and drop a file from a PAC to a Windows PC using Windows Explorer, any colons in the filename are automatically converted to dashes.)

For example, suppose you use the PAC Control command Copy Time to String to name a log file stored on the SNAP PAC device. This command in your PAC Control strategy introduces colons into the filename. If the device you want to send this log file to doesn't accept the colons, you've got a problem.

The solution is simply to replace the colons before sending the file. Here's some sample OptoScript code showing how to easily replace the colons in the filename with more universally accepted underscores. (Remember that the time string is an array that starts at zero.)

TimeToString(stMyString);
// The time string looks like this:
// HH:MM:SS but sometimes the : is not valid for a filename, so
// we'll change those to an underscore _
stMyString[2] = '_';
stMyString[5] = '_';
stMyString = "send:localfile.txt," + stMyString + "log.txt";

Posted by kallison at 9:08 AM | Comments (0)

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Monday, February 16, 2009

Tip from Product Support: Tables and Hard-coded Values in PAC Control

Here's a tip that applies when programming many PAC Control strategies: Make tables expandable; don't hard-code the length. In fact, hard-coding anything is a bad idea for maintainability.

For example, if you have a string table named s120Minutes with 120 elements, what if you decide later you want 240 minutes instead?

With the number in the table name, you’d have to change several items in the strategy. They're hard to find, and if you miss one, it's not a fun bug to troubleshoot.

Here's a way to make this table and the strategy it’s in easier to maintain and expand in the future:

• Create a new Numeric Variable (like an Integer 32) to hold the length of the table. Call it something descriptive like nMinutesInTable.
• Change the name of the table (currently s120Minutes) so it does NOT include that hard-coded 120 value. Maybe name it stOneMinutePerElement and add a comment such as "Number of minutes to log is based on the number of elements in this table, which is stored in the variable nMinutesInTable."

• Initialize nMinutesInTable in block 0 of the Powerup chart using the "Get Length of Table" command. Since it's a value that can't change on the fly, it may as well be initialized immediately.
• Remove all the hard-coded references to 120 and replace them with nMinutesInTable.

In general, it's not a good idea to have a number in the code like 120 or 15 or 10 (whether the logic is in regular blocks or OptoScript blocks), since you can't search for those numbers if you want to change them later. But you can search for variables named, for example, nPointsToLog, nMinutesInTable, and nMSecsToWaitInLogLoop.

Using variables makes the strategy easier to understand for the next person--or for yourself next week or next year. And if you do want to change values later, you only need to do it in one place rather than all over the strategy.

Posted by kallison at 9:07 AM | Comments (0)

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Monday, January 5, 2009

Tip from Product Support: Determining Time Since Powerup

Knowing how long a controller or brain has been running can be useful for troubleshooting or timing. Here are some ways to determine the time since powerup.

Use PAC Manager to inspect a controller or brain. In the Inspect window, scroll down till you see "Milliseconds Since Powerup." Because this 32-bit value rolls over every 49.7 days, it's better to use the next value, "Elapsed Time Since Powerup" (also called "Seconds Since Powerup" in an earlier PAC Manager version). This value doesn't roll over until 136 years have passed!

Use PAC Terminal to inspect a controller. If the device has a control engine, you can inspect it using PAC Terminal. Look for the "Up Time" value. This 64-bit value won't roll over for a very, very long time, so it's also a good one to use.

Monitor time in strategy logic. If you're using PAC Control, you can also monitor time since powerup right in the strategy logic, using the command "Get System Time."

Troubleshooting Module Communication

One indication of lost communication with a high-density digital, analog, or serial module (a "smart" module) is "Times Discovered."

You can find this value in the PAC Manager Inspect window. Choose the I/O unit the module is on and scroll down in the Inspect window to see the module number.

"Module X - Times Discovered" really reflects the number of times a module was re-discovered. Normally this value should be zero. If it is 1 or higher, the module has reset, been hot swapped, or lost communication with the brain for a time, and been rediscovered.

This tip was originally published in the April 30, 2008 OptoNews.

Posted by kallison at 9:03 AM | Comments (0)

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Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Tip from Product Support: What's the Scan Rate?

Opto 22 Product Support—and our salespeople—often are asked what the scan rate is for our programmable automation controllers (PACs). It's a question that makes perfect sense to anyone familiar with PLCs.

We can't answer this question with a number, though, because the way our PACs process logic and I/O is fundamentally different from the way PLCs do, and the architecture of the SNAP PAC System is fundamentally different as well.

An OptoForum post asked for "typical response time" for the SNAP PAC System and how often I/O points or the communication channel would be "serviced."

Product Support lead engineer Bill Steffens' response gives a helpful explanation of how the system's architecture works and how it differs from a PLC (and from a ladder logic-based PAC).

If you've been wondering about SNAP PAC scan rates, check out Bill's response on our forums.

While you're there, see if there are other questions you want to ask—or answer—in the OptoForums.

Posted by kallison at 9:02 AM | Comments (0)

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Thursday, October 30, 2008

IO4AB Seminars - Engineering Ingenuity Will Bring the Economy Back!

"Productivity Growth", wrote economist & Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, "is the single most important factor affecting our economic well being".  He goes on to say that a productivity boom is what ushered in America's postwar era of mass affluence. If we can learn from history, I say this is a call to action for Engineers today. I'm definitely not the first to float the idea that a strong refocus on creative engineering and R&D might be the one of the important things that could help improve the U.S. and global economy.

In these trying times Engineers are being forced to do more with less, and find new ways to get the most out of their factory, process, or machine.  This is going to mean increased demands on automation equipment performance. Enter Opto 22 Intelligent Remote I/O for Allen-Bradley Logix PLCs...

A large part of the U.S. and even world market of automation systems is made up of Rockwell Automation/Allen-Bradley PLCs and PACs.  By using Opto 22 SNAP Intelligent I/O with your A-B Logix platforms, you can take advantage of distributed intelligence, thus de-burdening your PLC CPU, and increasing your Remote I/O network performance - - all with no additional RSLogix programming. 

We've been spreading this message in a series of "IO4AB Technical Seminars" across the country, attended by Allen-Bradley users from a wide mix of Endusers, Systems Integrators, & OEMs.  So far we've completed 5 cities, and have 6 more to go (for now...more to follow in January).  The reaction from A-B users thus far has been great. There seems to be a genuine interest in finding a way to get the most out of their ControlLogix and CompactLogix systems...

 

 

If you'd like to hear more, and maybe get some ideas on how you can do your part to innovate, create, and think outside the box...get signed up for an IO4AB Technical Seminar in a city near you. Or, contact Opto 22 for more information or a personal visit from ourselves or one of our Distributor Partners in your area.

It won't happen overnight, but let us Engineers try and do our part to help bring the economy back!

- Arun Sinha

Posted by asinha at 4:18 PM | Comments (0)

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Monday, October 27, 2008

Spook-Tacular Training Activities In the Month of October

'Tis the season for pumpkins and bonfires!  However, since the training group here at Opto 22 is so dedicated to bringing you the latest information on how-tos and new products, we have not been able to watch the leaves change color yet.  Okay, okay!  This is really because, here in sunny Temecula, the leaves have not yet begun to change as you can see from this months training class photo.

All kidding aside, the training group has been really busy this month with a touring seminar displaying the EtherNet/IP capabilities of SNAP PAC devices.  If you are interested in attending an informative and fun seminar near you or hosting a seminar, email marketing today!

Even with the busy travel schedule of the certified trainers, everybody returned home for one week to host a training class at Opto 22 headquarters.  We had another great group of customers in attendance with some very interesting applications.

This class was composed of Qianian H. from Desert Laboratories, Dan D. and Jeff S. from Emerson, Bonifacio C. and Gustavo H. from Monrovia Growers, Ivan F. from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Edward B. from SKF, Andrew Y. from SPI Pharma, and Zachary C. from the U.S. Army. 

SKF uses Opto 22 to manufacture various motion related products such as bearings.  South Dakota School of Mines and Technology uses Opto 22 hardware in the chemical engineering department to monitor research experiments.

If you would like more information about Opto 22 training, view the Opto 22 website.  If you have other questions, feel free to email us!

Have a great day!

-Kelly D.

Posted by kdowney at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)

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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Tip from Product Support: PAC Terminal Software

PAC Terminal, a utility program in the PAC Project software suite, offers a couple of features that can be very useful, especially for OEMs and system integrators.

Completing tasks automatically

In addition to having the usual graphical interface, PAC Terminal also supports command line usage. That means you can create a DOS batch file to complete tasks automatically for the end users of your strategy.

To see a list of tasks you might want to do within PAC Terminal, open a command prompt window in the folder where PAC Terminal is installed, and then type iotoerm /help. (Note that the executable file is named ioterm.exe and not PAC Terminal.exe.)

For more on using the command line, see the section on Using a DOS Batch File in form #1700, the PAC Control User's Guide.

Minimizing strategy copying

Many customers who provide strategies to end users ask if there is a way to minimize the possibility of their proprietary strategy logic being copied.

You can help prevent copying by using PAC Control to compile a Controller Download File (.cdf). Once you have the cdf file, you can download it to the controller using the PAC Terminal command line, as discussed above.

For instructions to compile a CDF, see the section "Downloading without using PAC Control" in Chapter 7 of the PAC Control User's Guide.

Questions? Concerns? Contact Product Support.

This Tip was originally published in the April 2, 2008 OptoNews.

Posted by kallison at 9:01 AM | Comments (0)

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