Long time member, first time poster.
Last night our plants wireless network died, shutting the whole plant down. As a result, I have been tasked with creating a secondary system that will allow machines to run on a hardwired connection. Our current setup has 17 machines on a line, with each machine having a right and left cavity, with each cavity producing 1 item per cycle, and each machine producing 2 items per cycle. Each machine on a row has an slc 500 1747-L543, all connected to eachother via a trunk line, that goes to a DHRIO card in a control logix rack with an ethernet card and a concentrator card. Before a machine can run a cycle, the machine must be identified via a set of barcodes, one on each cavity of the machine, and the products in the loading and pre loading areas identified, via a barcode on the product. This is done with a wifi enabled barcode scanner that sends the data through the network so that the slc can evaluate the data to ensure the correct product is being loaded onto the machine. The machines are not allowed to run without the barcode information, and the barcode information can only be imported to the processor if the scanner can comunicate through the wireless network. The solution I have come up with to work around this, is to setup a laptop in the middle of the row, connected to one of the processors using a u2dhp cable, and have a Bluetooth barcode scanner connected to the computer that would import the barcode data into individual excel files asociated with each machine, and have the slc import its associated file. The problem I'm having is figuring out how to import the data through the programing terminal of one processor, to another processor over the data highway. The data must be able to be cleared out the excel file based on the logic running the machine, and be moved withing the excel file as the products advances through the 2 loading areas and into the cavities. Is there maybe a simpler option that I'm not considering? If not, what would be the best method to accomplish this? Adding cards and individual scanners to each machine isn't an option due to the amount of machines we are running, as it would be cost prohibitive, and very difficult to source that many cards and scanners. Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this, as well as any and all help or suggestions.
Last night our plants wireless network died, shutting the whole plant down. As a result, I have been tasked with creating a secondary system that will allow machines to run on a hardwired connection. Our current setup has 17 machines on a line, with each machine having a right and left cavity, with each cavity producing 1 item per cycle, and each machine producing 2 items per cycle. Each machine on a row has an slc 500 1747-L543, all connected to eachother via a trunk line, that goes to a DHRIO card in a control logix rack with an ethernet card and a concentrator card. Before a machine can run a cycle, the machine must be identified via a set of barcodes, one on each cavity of the machine, and the products in the loading and pre loading areas identified, via a barcode on the product. This is done with a wifi enabled barcode scanner that sends the data through the network so that the slc can evaluate the data to ensure the correct product is being loaded onto the machine. The machines are not allowed to run without the barcode information, and the barcode information can only be imported to the processor if the scanner can comunicate through the wireless network. The solution I have come up with to work around this, is to setup a laptop in the middle of the row, connected to one of the processors using a u2dhp cable, and have a Bluetooth barcode scanner connected to the computer that would import the barcode data into individual excel files asociated with each machine, and have the slc import its associated file. The problem I'm having is figuring out how to import the data through the programing terminal of one processor, to another processor over the data highway. The data must be able to be cleared out the excel file based on the logic running the machine, and be moved withing the excel file as the products advances through the 2 loading areas and into the cavities. Is there maybe a simpler option that I'm not considering? If not, what would be the best method to accomplish this? Adding cards and individual scanners to each machine isn't an option due to the amount of machines we are running, as it would be cost prohibitive, and very difficult to source that many cards and scanners. Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this, as well as any and all help or suggestions.