IFM- ASI DP controller (AC1005)

In one of our machines we have Siemens PLC S7-300 and lots of ProfibusDP devises and 29 ASI slaves( sensors and Solenoid valves) supplied by our german machine supplier.
We have a ASI to Profibus DP gateway from IFM electronics order no.AC1005 (. Yesterday night our gateway failed , we cycled power and it was working. Again today morning when we swithced on the machine we face the same problem but after many power cycle our IFM gateway did not work.

It has green power led lit, red alarm config led lit(which means actual configuratin not same as preset configuratoin) and orange run led.

I then downloaded demoversion of IFM software "ecolog-e" from their website.

fabricated a rs232 cable with pin 2-3 , 3-2 and 5-5, 1-7,8 , 4-6.

i donot know how to upload the configuration from the controller.
All that i could find in thier software is login , logout and download.
I tried login but it was asking me for PLC program file(*.PRO).
Later i chosed a example file named Alarm and i tried to go online with that file. but now i got a error message"communication error-logout"

I have set the baud rate at 19,200 (PC and controller) and connected the serial cable to my COM1 serial port.

Can anyone helpme on this.

I searched all their website for a manual on the software but no luck. i got a manual for the controller but that doesnot help.


many thanks

I went to their web site also and followed your steps. You downloaded the "Demo Version" of software. It only supports only 2 ASI slaves, not 29. You will need to BUY the real software. The ".PRO" is the file extension that the configuration file uses and you must get that from the Original Equipment Manufacturer or whoever wrote the program for the ASI interface. The ASI interface they used has a program that can acually solve logic, not like the normal "Dumb" bridge that most people use. Without the configuration file and the full software version, you are "up the creek, without a paddle."
Have you checked the obvious, power to the modules, broken wires, etc? Don't swap the modules around on the ASI cable. They all have unique addresses and will totally screw you up if you swap them. Do you have an ASI hand-held programmer? One by one, you can check the modules, read their address, and verify they respond to the programmer. If you have a bad module, can't communicate, etc, it can fault the ASI interface.
Software and .PRO file is the best bet, since you can do on-line monitoring.

Thanks Rrobins for your post.
I donot have the handheld configurator. I saw them once the german engineer came to our plant at the time of commissioning.

I have placed an order for another AC1005 which should reach us in two days time. I tought of running the machine with some trails on my own without waiting for the new module to arrive.

O.K i will buy that full version software and will also try to get the application program .pro from our machine supplier.

Now once i get my new AC1005 from IFM will i have to program it or will it acquire all data from the ASI sensors. Please clarify this. As some local guys have informed me that i donot have to do anything.

Are you saying that some of the asi sensors are faulty and because of that only the master is begaving in this way?

Also i noted that the demo version supports only 2 slaves where as the full version supports 31 slaves. So i donot have any way to connect to the module even with the ASI bus being disconnected(so that there are no asi slaves)? will this work. Or as you said the software will see the only configuration as 29 slaves.

what do you suspect about the communication error that i get.

Many thanks again for your input.

Some ASI interfaces will automatically re-address a new module that has address 0 to whatever the module address that you removed. Since in the ASI world address 0 means NEW and not a valid address. You can use the handheld and set an old address to 0. The handheld will help for diagnostics.
The AC1005 needes the program with the .PRO file downloaded into it. The demo software you have won't do it. Most important though, you need the progam with .PRO to get the new unit running. The slave configuration is in that file also.
The demo software can only communicate to slave #1 and #2. You would have to create a NEW project and download it, (which over writes what's there currently) just to test 2 modules. If you buy the software and the .PRO file is there, you should be able to monitor the existing AC1005 and check ALL of your ASI slaves.

Thanks RRobbins for your post and i understand that i will not be able to do anything with my IFM without the full fledged software and .PRO file. Will the same apply to siemens and Pepperl + fuchs controller.

Can i use Pepperl+fuchs or Siemens ASI Dp controller instead of our IFM for the time being.

Our other branch factory has a spare Siemens ASI DP controller in the same machine at their facility.

Can we just use Siemens instead of IFM as we have not got the IFM yet. Will the GSD files from the siemens PLC do all the things without even configuring the siemens or the same answer for IFM do apply here.

thanks again.

I can never understand why people like doing things the hard way.

Fine if you have Profibus peripherals, use Profibus.

But if you want to talk to ASI, why do it through profibus with a gateway?

Why not use a CP342 to talk directly to ASI?

Or if you want ASI-2 support, the newer CP343-2 will do that. As you have 29 ASI slaves, I would reccommend upgrading to ASI-2 so you have more flexibility for adding more slaves (original ASI only supports 31 slaves)

You won't have these sort of programming problems them S7 supports all you will ever want directly.

naveen said:

It has green power led lit, red alarm config led lit(which means actual configuratin not same as preset configuratoin) and orange run led.

Click to expand...

Do yourself a favor and walk around to all the modules and check if they are connected correctly. The ones I have worked with have indicator lights on the modules and if it is faulted there is a big red light staring you in the face. If you see a module like this make sure it hasn't come loose. This has happened to me before. ASI is a little tempermental with these things it is all or nothing.

I would like to say that using a profibus to as-i gateway on the siemens CPU315-2 DP upwards is actually far easier than using a card like the cp342.
For one you can directly address slaves rather than using memory or data blocks.

The link 20E supports Asi 2.1 slaves (up to 62)

I would however stear clear of 3rd party gateways, although IFM,s equipment is good, there slaves and sensors are as good as any, the PLC side of things is always best kept one make... this way you can always guarantee support from the manufacture.

I would Give IFM electronic a call if I was you and ask for someone to come see you. If you need a contact name or anything send me a mail and I will let you have some.

Kind Regards

Barry

when we connected the new asi dp controller ac 10025 in gottwald cranes in egypet and i follow the document i adjusted the addres for the asi all indication lamp is ok but after you finished the addrising it give you error message(60) it meanes no program inside haw you can program it a gain is this programm is spechial for gottwald or any asi-controller comming from the factory have the same program please haw can you help me

the program in the crane is codesys (siemens s 5)
thanks

I have to agree with othere posters about 'why do it the hard way' but I guess you might not have had any input to the original choice of kit. Even though you might not have the full IFM s/w it might be possible to have some diagnostic control through the S7300. All ASi gateways usually map the slave data into an i/o area of the plc so you might get lucky using a VAT to test each slave number.It depends whether the gateway will allow you to do that while it's in fault.
As for the fault itself I don't have experience of IFM but as ASi is an open standard they should all behave in the same way. Usually if there's a config error on the gateway/master it means you have a discrepancy between the life list(number and type of slaves connected at initial config) and the actual current config. Usually because one or more slaves has failed.
Glaverty also had the right idea also to carry out a visual inspection of all slaves just to rule out the obvious truck through the wire!!
Good luck
Hope this helps.

hello guys , the post is very old and very nice , still any one using this ASi AC1006 from ifm , because i have problem with one slave addressing >?

What do you mean by slave addressing ? is it that you have a sensor or something that has faulted ?, is it configuration ? need more information.
For example if a node i.e. proximity or other ASI unit is faulty & you do not have a programmer then replacing it with a unit that has an address of 0 will detect it & configure it to that address, however, if you have more than one then this does not work as replacing one when two addresses are faulty may configure them to the wrong address, this is one failing of the ASI system, others are where one unit faults & can cause coms errors on others, so a bit difficult to diagnose, then the quickest option is to dis-connect them one at a time.
Never used that module but done a number of other types from IFM.