SLC 5/05 and printer data (Basic Module to Ethernet)

Skidood

Member
Join Date
Oct 2016
Location
Ontario
Posts
213
Hi all,

Great forum you have here !!
I am not a programmer, but have some basic ability to work with PLC's.
(Rudimentary use of RSLinx, RSLogix 500, RSLogix 5000)

My question is really just, "Is this even possible"

My customer has a steam sterilizer with a SLC 5/05 PLC. (It has an ethernet port on the CPU module, which is not in use.
The PLC has a Basic module which sends sterilization cycle print data to a nearby serial printer via RS232. The printed data consists of the sterilization cycle recipe parameters for the cycle that has just been started (time, temp, drying time, etc, etc) and a minute by minute one-line status print of all temperatures including time of day, and cycle phase transition points occurring during the cycle, such as "Heating Up", "Sterilization Hold" and "Drying" ...also any alarms that occur on the sterilizer as well as things like "Operator Alarm Acknowledge" .
The customer wants to get rid of the serial printer and modify the PLC so it sends print data out the ethernet port, to a paperless Yokogawa chart recorder (Data Aquisition unit, or DAQ for short) which will supposedly send it out to their network where it can be stored on their server and accessed by/printed out by a local PC w/printer.
Forget the Yokogawa recorder for now, just wondering what it would take to get the PLC sending print data out the ethernet port . Are we looking at a large amount of changes to the application program?
Would or could the print data still be in ASCII format? (I assume its in ASCII since it currently goes straight to a serial printer.
Note: I will not be doing the programming, this would be farmed out.

Any advice or wisdom would be appreciated. I will closely follow this thread and try my best to answer questions if you have any for me.
 
Welcome to the Forum !

Unfortunately, ASCII over raw Ethernet sockets is not something that Allen-Bradley controllers have historically done well (or at all).

The SLC-5/05 definitely cannot do this over its Ethernet port.

Modern ControlLogix and CompactLogix can, but it's neither easy nor simple.

The BASIC module is a trip down memory lane... it's a little 8051 controller running the old BASIC52 interpreter, but connected to a clumsy SLC-5/00 backplane interface library. Moving this functionality out of the SLC and BASIC module means understanding and converting both the SLC interface code and the BASIC parsing and transmitting code.

Does the Yokogawa require a specific Ethernet command code format, or does it log raw messages over TCP ?

There are a handful of approaches to making this work, including modules like the Prosoft MVI46-GSC, or a translator like the Real Time Automation bridges, or a Red Lion Data Station Plus to convert and parse the data.
 
Just to clarify, the sterilizer is having this Yokogawa paperless recorder put on to mainly monitor/record the temps and pressures.

As far as what Ethernet protocol the Yokogawa needs, here is some text from the brochure: (This is long, the rest of my reply is after this)

(I think I heard the customer say he wanted to use the FTP functionality)


New! Data acquired by the GX can be accessed through Ethernet communication from a host system (OPC-UA client).

Standard Ethernet Functions:

• Electrical specifications: Conforms to IEEE 802.3
• Connection: Ethernet (10BASE-T/100BASE-TX)
• Max. connecting configuration: Cascade Max. 4
level (10BASE-T), Max. 2 level (100BASE-TX)
• Protocols: TCP, UDP, IP, ICMP, ARP, DHCP,
HTTP, FTP, SMTP, SNTP, Modbus, and
dedicated protocols
• E-mail client: Automatically send e-mail at
specified times.
E-mail is sent by events as below.
- Alarm occurring/alarm canceling
- Recover from power failure
- Report data generating
- Storage medium error, FTP client function
error
- Specified time period
POP before SMTP and SMTP authentication
(PLAIN and CRAM-MD5) is available.
• FTP client: Automatically transfer data files to the
FTP server.
Applicable files: Display data, event data, screen
image data, report data, etc.
• FTP Server: Transfer files, delete files,
manipulate directories, and output file lists of the
GX.
• Web server: GX real-time monitoring and setting
changes/operations can be performed with the
Web browser.
The screen layout can be determined
independently of the screen of the GX main unit.
• SNTP client: Inquires the time to the SNTP
server and sets the GX.
• SNTP server: Outputs the GX time.
Time resolution: 5 ms
• DHCP client: Automatically obtain the network
address settings from the DHCP server.
Modbus client: Reads data from another device
and writes to the registers.
• Modbus server: Loads measurement and math
channel data
Loads and writes communication channel data
Some control commands such as memory start
Modbus client* register access limitations
*: Required /MC option
• Setting/Measurement server: Operate, set, and
output data of the GX using a dedicated protocol.

***********************

I dont get why the customer wants the print data to go thru the Yokogawa on its way to their servers. I will know more in a few days.
Your reply was very helpful. I'm not surprised the SLC won't be able to do what is desired by the customer.
I think we should just take the ASCII print data from the output of the Basic module, send it to a newly installed serial to ethernet converter and send the output to their LAN. The issue becomes, how do you take blurbs of print data which occur every minute, as well as (sometimes) enough continuous print data to print a paragraph or two at a time, then assimilate it into a package that can be stored on their network and accessed/printed when needed by someone on the network using a PC and printer?
 
Boy, i'd grab a opc data logger software and just pull the data directly from the PLC over ITS ethernet port. (Kepware will do this, Ignition will do this, Matrikon will do this, heck I'm pretty sure you could setup Advanced HMI to do this!)
 
You could replace the Basic module and put in a Prosoft Modbus Ethernet module. That module can send data to the Yokogaw, that I know for sure, I did that a couple years ago to send setpoint data to the chart recorder. But that was a Control Logic with the Prosoft Modbus Ethernet module.it would require some programming, but a local SI should be able to do that in less then a week.
 

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