Dataman to Contrologix

[MHennel]

I have some Cognex Dataman barcode readers that are connected to a Contrologix processor. We are using the Cognex supplied AOP. I am trying to trigger the Dataman via a trigger signal from the PLC. In the PLC we have set the AcqTriggerEnable and AcqTrigger, but the Dataman does not trigger, If we trigger the Dataman from the configuration software, we get the barcode data in the PLC. Is there another setting somewhere we are missing? We called Cognex tech support but they were less than helpful, kept trying to have use change exposure settings.

[Mispeld]

Based on experience with the InSight series cameras and their respective AOP, a couple things to check:
. If you right-click on the Dataman in the I/O tree, and look at its properties, does it indicate a "running" status? Is data in the Module Info tab correct?
. Is the AcqTrigger energized for a long enough duration (at least the RPI)?
. Does the Dataman have an input status word, with bits indicating Online, TriggerAck, etc? If so, does the status match the configuration tool?

Again, these are all related to InSight cameras, and may not apply directly to Dataman.

[Dravik]

Hmm, I'm also using the AOP, must be a different version, but when I put .TriggerEnable high and toggle .Trigger I get the scanner to trigger just fine.

I'm working with a Dataman 362.

[MHennel]

What version of the AOP are you using? When looking at status I don't ever see the Trigger Ack status back from the Dataman go high. We are coded to leave the trigger signal high until the Trigger Ack is seen. Is it possible that I do not have something set up correctly in the Dataman?

[Dravik]

1.28 , I see .triggerack come high after I set both .TriggerEnable and .Trigger and stay high until I unset .Trigger.

[MHennel]

I am using that same version of AOP.

[Dravik]

What version of the FW are you running on the readers?

[MHennel]

Dravik, I will confirm. I am not too familiar with the Cognex, To get the trigger from PLC, how does the Dataman need to be configured. Should it be set to External Trigger?

[Dravik]

I use Single (External) as my Trigger Type for PLC driven application.

[MHennel]

Dravik, I am using a single external trigger. The firmware in the Dataman is 5.6.3. SR3

[Steve Bailey]

I don't have any experience connecting a Cognex Dataman scanner to a Control Logix, but I have done it via Modbus TCP. I see that I kept bit zero (trigger enable) of the control word to the Dataman high all the time and only turned bit one (trigger) on and off. Perhaps trigger enable needs to be on for some minimum time before the Dataman will respond to a trigger command. I couldn't tell for sure from your description, but if you are setting both bits at the same time, try setting the enable bit before setting the trigger bit.

[BlueAltezza]

Like Steve said - setting both bits at the same time could be a problem. The enable should be active all of the time, then only toggle the trigger.

[MHennel]

I am setting the trigger enable high all the time, If I force I set the trigger bit to as a Latch and manually toggle it, I see the trigger enable ack and results available is set. If I use logic to set the latch the trigger output shows it as energized, but nothing happens. If I manually toggle the trigger latch it will work again.

[MHennel]

OK, this is strange, If I force the trigger Output with a force command the trigger works. If I remove the force and use logic to turn on the trigger output, it will not give a send a trigger signal. If I can the Trigger output to a Latch and Latch On, the trigger signal works. I have searched through the code and this output it not used anywhere else in the program. When I force the trigger signal, I get the results available status and can see the barcode data in the PLC. Any ideas what might be happening?

[Steve Bailey]

That sounds like your logic controlling the trigger command is in a subroutine that isn't being called. Either that or there is logic controlling the trigger command in more than one place in the program.