RS232 to EtherNet IP

I am working on the screens, alarms, and recipe on a PanelView Plus 1000. It will end up connected to a PLC and communicate via EtherNet IP, but I will not have a PLC to work with for a month or two.

I would like to test my PanelView development as I go along to see if it is working the way I want it to but I don't have a PLC to read and write Tags back-and-forth with.

So I was thinking if I could use a PC to stand-in for a PLC. I am not thinking of it acting totally like a PLC, just enough to raise an alarm and see if it registers on the PanelView.

I can use a terminal program or write my own program in the PC to generate and send serial data out the RS232 port and I found a device that will convert RS232 to EtherNet IP but I don't know what is the equivalent serial data (string) that would be the same as a PLC Tag going True. What would I "say" in ASCII that would get converter to EtherNet IP that the PanelView will see and trigger an alarm?

Your help is appreciated, as it always is.

Couldn't you just use good old RSLogix 5000 emulate.

http://literature.rockwellautomation.com/idc/groups/literature/documents/gr/lgem5k-gr016_-en-e.pdf

Cheers

Mark

Mark,

Thanks you for the reply.

The quickest answer is: I don't know.

I have never used it before, but the one place I worked at had it but it was never installed and because of the time frame I felt the learning-curve would be too great at the time.

The place where I am at now doesn't have it and I am only here on a three month contract.

I know PC programming and have experience with serial communications, plus if I develop this on my own it would be something I can take with me where ever I go.

I am no expert but I believe that the HMI polls the PLC for information, the PLC does not push data to the HMI and doesn't even know it's connected.
You would have to approach this from the other way - PLC responses to the HMI polling activity. Maybe listen to the conversation to see how it goes, but you'd need an operation system to listen...

Or, you could point the HMI program at an OPC server(instead of RsLinx Enterprise) in simulation mode. You could then manipulate the bits in the OPC server to trigger your alarms.

Dravik,


Thanks for the info.

Although I do not know how to set up an OPC database I did take your suggestion and applied it to HMI Tags. I can point both the alarm and a button to the Tag and when I press the button the alarm triggers.

It does exactly what I needed.

Thanks.