AB remote i/o

Is there any down to earth books on moving information on a remote i/o network? They dont teach it and the books that ab puts out are baffling to me. Since we are doing some more advanced networking at the plant more and more of our equipment is on this or ethernet.

What PLCs are you using? if it is Logix family look at Ethernet I/O.

We are using a pretty good mix of everything nowadays.
The main process is now upgraded to a control logix processor with an existing PLC5 and SLC 5 now converted over to RIO. The HMI is wonderware that resides on a server. This is one of the most complex process in the plant. the reset of the other lines are runing a compactlogix processor and ab drives on ethernet.

I wouldn't build a RIO system. I would build a Ethernet network. RIO is starting to fade away. Look at the cost for the RIO adapters vs the Ethernet adapters. Look at the installation cost as well. Cabling, terminations, etc.

It was not really my project we hired an engineering firm to do all of the new process controls. That's why it was not in my hands

Allen-Bradley Remote I/O is and was designed for just THAT. Remote I/O (Inputs / Outputs).

It was designed for a finite number of real-wolrd Input/Output connections. Remote I/O supports a limited amount of Nodes (that look like remote I/O chassis). It was designed to to be deterministic and robust, with real-time monitoring via status registers, and the PLC program could shutdown if the Remote I/O link was not responding. The original intent was to use for CONTROL.

At the same time Remote I/O was in use for CONTROL, there was also DH+. Data Highway plus. This was the desired network to "move information" with. DH+ can support up to 64 nodes per network.

Both of the above networks, were in use with PLC-5 and SLC-500 based systems. If you are working on those systems, yo will want to focus your efforts on the DH+ to move information.

If you are using new product. then Ethernet is the way to go.

You are exactly right. The old system used a plc 5 on one part of the process and the other used a slc500 and they could move info between them on DH. We are addind a lot of new equipment to get a better product and to integrate the existing controls into a one does everything. The engineering firm recommended that they install a control logix processor two Ethernet moduals and change the existing plc and slc to RIO racks. I guess we are getting of topic but now we have a lot of io racks with data being moved across them and I am overwhelmed on exactly how to troubleshoot it after the engineers are gone. Basicly I have not used rio enough to understand how it works and I do not want to be caught with my pants down

Get two reference manuals:

PLC-5 Enhanced and Ethernet Programmable Controllers User Manual, Publication 1785-UM012D
http://literature.rockwellautomation.com/idc/groups/literature/documents/um/1785-um012_-en-p.pdf


1756-DHRIO User Manual, Publication 1756-UM514
http://literature.rockwellautomation.com/idc/groups/literature/documents/um/1756-um514_-en-p.pdf

Print the chapters on addressing and spend some time with a highlighter (or order hardcopies from your distributor).

Those are good references for the basic way that Remote I/O is addressed and processed in those two controller families.

The PLC-5 manual is especially handy because it sticks to the Base 8 "Octal" addressing used by the PLC-2 and PLC-3 controllers for their I/O memory. This method was carried forward to the PLC-5 controllers for I/O memory only, while the SLC-500 and ControlLogix moved to decimal addressing in the late 1980's and late 1990's respectively.

When I'm using old 1771 I/O with ControlLogix I try to discipline myself in how I pronounce and think of the addressing; "One Five" instead of "Fifteen", because "15" octal is not Fifteen.

Thanks I will look into those I am also thinking about putting some stuff together to have more of a hands on trainer for that purpose