Cognex Insight Camera Connection Issue

Now, I apologize if this is a little off topic, but it is connected to a plc that should send a trigger to the Cognex 5400C camera. Since they're used with PLCs a lot, maybe someone else has ran into my issue.

The issue I'm getting is I can't connect to the camera via a PC. I think the previous guy changed the Cognex camera from DHCP to static IP....

So, I know the IP address (192.168.0.224) via a ARP broadcast in Wireshark when connected directly to ethernet. I changed my ethernet IPv4 to be close to the Cognex (192.168.0.228), but I don't know the subnet mask of the cognex. I'm thinking that this is the reason why Insight Explorer still isn't picking up the device.

Is there a way to do a factory reset on the Cognex to set it back to DHCP? Is there a way I can find out the subnet mask I should be using?

Thanks,
Christian

So, I would try 2 common subnet masks.

255.255.255.0 or 255.255.0.0

Are you able to ping the device? How do you know the IP is correct? Does the ARP match the mac address on the camera?

If you do an "Add sensor/device to network" while plugged directly between the PC and the camera, with all other nics disabled, what do you get?

Hi Dravik,

Thanks for getting back quickly.

I've tried both of those subnet masks but neither got it to connect. When I try to ping it in cmd or ps, it says "host unreachable". Yes, the ARP mac address does match the one on the camera. but, when I try to Add sensor/device to network, it says no cameras are found. I'm trying now to download older insight versions becauase maybe the firmware on the camera is much older than what the most recent insight explorer allows?

Cycle power on the camera. Then the software should pick it up or open Insight Explorer Under System > Explorer Host Table and add your camera IP address. After that the camera should show up in your Insight network pane.

The subnet mask doesn't have to match if you're in the exact same subnet. Example.... if you have discovered the camera's IP is 192.168.0.224 and your laptop is 192.168.0.XXX then by definition you're in the same exact subnet. The Mask is simply a filter to allow your device to communicate with other devices in a different subnet.

How are you connecting to the camera? Direct? Through a switch [Managed or unmanaged]? If the camera was communicating with your PLC via EtherNet/IP you can always use RsLinx and try to discover the IP with the EtherNet/IP driver. I use that all the time.

The newer cameras will allow for discovery of their IP address by broadcasting their ARP packets. If your computer isn't seeing the device, it's more likely a firewall issue or you're going through a managed switch/router/gateway which isn't allowing the ARP packets through. Try directly plugging it into your laptop and make sure you don't have any firewall applications running.

Hi everyone, thanks for all of the reponses and help. I was trying to direct correctly and went through multiple computers and attempts.

I ended up opening the camera and disconnected the dedicated PCB for the camera. After that, it would get and read the IP address but fail on booting. My guess is that the PCB for the camera dies and was causing initialization failures. Put in a different camera and everything's working.

Thanks again for all the help!!