Smarteyes Problem

ManofBedford · Dec 14, 2016

Hello PLCNeters,
In the past I have read quite a few topics in regards to different things to help me on this website. But it has come time to post my first post on this website. Just a small background on me , in the 3rd year of my 4 year apprenticeship in control "softwaring" and still learning everyday about what/how to do things.
Which brings me to my problem, I am been given the task of sorting out the Smarteye sensors that read the smarteye identification labels on the carriers in a factory. We are using a Schneider M340 for the PLC to control the surrounding systems and so the smarteye data needs to be "fed" back to it from a T-netx(dual sensor controller) to then be used by other things late on. But my question is (having never done any like this before) , what would be the best option to use for the T-netx control unit? Either the Ethernet/IP option or the TCP/IP version? After looking around I am still unsure which would be best to use in partner with the M340 PLC .

Thanks already,
ManofBedford

tragically1969 · Dec 14, 2016

ManofBedford said:
Hello PLCNeters,
In the past I have read quite a few topics in regards to different things to help me on this website. But it has come time to post my first post on this website. Just a small background on me , in the 3rd year of my 4 year apprenticeship in control "softwaring" and still learning everyday about what/how to do things.
Which brings me to my problem, I am been given the task of sorting out the Smarteye sensors that read the smarteye identification labels on the carriers in a factory. We are using a Schneider M340 for the PLC to control the surrounding systems and so the smarteye data needs to be "fed" back to it from a T-netx(dual sensor controller) to then be used by other things late on. But my question is (having never done any like this before) , what would be the best option to use for the T-netx control unit? Either the Ethernet/IP option or the TCP/IP version? After looking around I am still unsure which would be best to use in partner with the M340 PLC .

Thanks already,
ManofBedford

Does the sensor speak Modbus TCP ? If it does Schneider are stronger on the Modbus front.

gclshortt · Dec 14, 2016

http://www.smarteyecorporation.com/tnet.asp
http://www.smarteyecorporation.com/pdf/netx_Platform_User_Manual_R4.pdf

It looks like the smarteye has serial and Ethernet. The Ethernet looks to be ASCII over ethernet. It does not look like it supports Ethernet IP or Modbus TCP protocols.

The M340 does not appear to support the Ethernet protocol of the smarteye.

In order to communicate. It appears that serial is the only method available to you.

Hope this helps you out.
Regards,

ManofBedford · Dec 15, 2016

gclshortt said:
http://www.smarteyecorporation.com/tnet.asp
http://www.smarteyecorporation.com/pdf/netx_Platform_User_Manual_R4.pdf

It looks like the smarteye has serial and Ethernet. The Ethernet looks to be ASCII over ethernet. It does not look like it supports Ethernet IP or Modbus TCP protocols.

The M340 does not appear to support the Ethernet protocol of the smarteye.

In order to communicate. It appears that serial is the only method available to you.

Hope this helps you out.
Regards,

Thank you for the quick replies, both of you!

I was steered in the direction of possibly using a "Modicon M340
BMX NOC 0401" - Ethernet Commutation Module. I was just wondering what your thoughts would be in using this card to assist ?
http://www.guilleviniag.com/downloads/Products/Schneider/M340/Manuals/M340%20NOC%200401%20Manual.pdf

Regards,
MOB

ManofBedford · Dec 15, 2016

tragically1969 said:
Does the sensor speak Modbus TCP ? If it does Schneider are stronger on the Modbus front.

The Controller Units for the sensors (which the PLC talks to ) , comes in either a Ethernet/IP or a TCP/IP (with serial ports as well) version.

tragically1969 · Dec 15, 2016

ManofBedford said:
The Controller Units for the sensors (which the PLC talks to ) , comes in either a Ethernet/IP or a TCP/IP (with serial ports as well) version.

The M340 NOC Module supports EthernetIP, so if your controller can talk EthernetIP then you should be able to sort something.

Might be worth your while speaking to your Schneider tech contact and checking it can do what you want.

I havent used EthernetIP so i may be mistaken but EthernetIP is the protocol that is transported inside an Ethernet TCP/IP packet, so i am not quite sure why the module would be EthernetIP OR Ethernet TCP/IP as it needs the latter for the former to work......if in fact its Modbus TCP over the Ethernet TCP/IP then that would be the easiest option for the M340.

Archie · Dec 15, 2016

Is this the Smarteye system that uses 3 photo eyes that look through slots of a plate that resembles a barcode? If so, I may be able to give you a PLC program that takes the photo eye inputs directly to read the codes.

ManofBedford · Dec 15, 2016

tragically1969 said:
The M340 NOC Module supports EthernetIP, so if your controller can talk EthernetIP then you should be able to sort something.

Might be worth your while speaking to your Schneider tech contact and checking it can do what you want.

I havent used EthernetIP so i may be mistaken but EthernetIP is the protocol that is transported inside an Ethernet TCP/IP packet, so i am not quite sure why the module would be EthernetIP OR Ethernet TCP/IP as it needs the latter for the former to work......if in fact its Modbus TCP over the Ethernet TCP/IP then that would be the easiest option for the M340.

To quote the sale rep of Smarteye Corp " The T-netx is available in two firmware offerings. One is TCP/IP simple messaging (Sockets) and the other is Ethernet IP. The TCP/IP version also supports the standard serial interface protocol ".

Archie said:
Is this the Smarteye system that uses 2 photo eyes that look through slots of a plate that resembles a barcode? If so, I may be able to give you a PLC program that takes the photo eye inputs directly to read the codes.

Yes, it is! If you could, that would grand.

Archie · Dec 15, 2016

ManofBedford said:
Yes, it is! If you could, that would grand.

I looked at the program I have that reads Smarteye plates and it is a function block written in structured text for a CodeSys based controller. Does your controller support structured text? If so, then you should be able to convert the program. It could possibly be converted to ladder, but would be a rather complex ladder program because of its calculations.

If I remember correctly, the Smarteye system uses NPN photo eyes, so you would need 3 inputs on the PLC that accepts NPN (sinking) inputs.

ManofBedford · Dec 15, 2016

Archie said:
I looked at the program I have that reads Smarteye plates and it is a function block written in structured text for a CodeSys based controller. Does your controller support structured text? If so, then you should be able to convert the program. It could possibly be converted to ladder, but would be a rather complex ladder program because of its calculations.

If I remember correctly, the Smarteye system uses NPN photo eyes, so you would need 3 inputs on the PLC that accepts NPN (sinking) inputs.

Yes the controller does support structured text. We do have some spare inputs available.
So if you can accept the sensors directly to the PLC , why would you use one of their sesnor controller units?

Archie · Dec 15, 2016

ManofBedford said:
Yes the controller does support structured text. We do have some spare inputs available.

You will have to make sure they match the outputs of the photo eyes for the voltage and PNP/NPN type.

ManofBedford said:
So if you can accept the sensors directly to the PLC , why would you use one of their sesnor controller units?

Their controllers offer different communication options for more than just PLC interfaces. Also they can read a fast moving plate. A PLC may not be able to read the plate if it moves too fast causing the photo eyes to switch faster than the PLC can pick up because of a PLC's relatively slow scan rates.

Here is the program:

http://www.advancedhmi.com/SmartEyeDemoR1.pro

You can open the program using CodeSys or TwinCAT 2. You can download TwinCAT 2 for free from the Beckhoff web site. If you are unable to open it, let me know and I will convert it to something else.

ManofBedford · Dec 15, 2016

Archie said:
You will have to make sure they match the outputs of the photo eyes for the voltage and PNP/NPN type.
Their controllers offer different communication options for more than just PLC interfaces. Also they can read a fast moving plate. A PLC may not be able to read the plate if it moves too fast causing the photo eyes to switch faster than the PLC can pick up because of a PLC's relatively slow scan rates.

Here is the program:

http://www.advancedhmi.com/SmartEyeDemoR1.pro

You can open the program using CodeSys or TwinCAT 2. You can download TwinCAT 2 for free from the Beckhoff web site. If you are unable to open it, let me know and I will convert it to something else.

Sorry for the delay and thank you for the copy of the software. But unfortunately having checked with the powers at be , the "universal standard" for the plant is to have smarteyes wired back to a Smarteye controller unit. Then to go to the PLC associated with the Smarteyes. Thus I need to need to follow this method.

Do you have any experience using the smarteyes in conjunction with a controller, then a PLC(Schneider)?

*I known this is a long short

Smarteyes Problem

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tragically1969

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Archie

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ManofBedford

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