Maximum number of IO Link Masters connected to Compactlogix?

[hardaysknight]

We are in the process of upgrading our PLC5 machines from Devicenet blocks with analog (current) inputs. We are looking at going to IO Link, due to the supposed ease of use. However, we need a lot of input room.


We are looking at 60 different analog inputs. A few years back we added a compactlogix to the machines to add other features without having to upgrade the PLC5. The model of that compactlogix is a 1769-L24ER-QB1B. Looking at the manual for that, it seems to only support up to 8 ethernet/ip connections. Am I right in thinking that will only allow us 8 IO Link masters? Will I actually need that many masters for 60 inputs or can I split off and daisy chain to reduce the amount of masters we need?

[plvlce]

I'm not too familiar with IO Link, but couldn't you (for example) add a point IO rack with multiple 1734-4IOL cards? That's a single ethernet/ip connection but you can just add more IO Link master cards.

[hardaysknight]

Originally Posted by plvlce

I'm not too familiar with IO Link, but couldn't you (for example) add a point IO rack with multiple 1734-4IOL cards? That's a single ethernet/ip connection but you can just add more IO Link master cards.

We've thought about doing something like that, but in our use case, it's easier to just have maintenance swap out an m12 cable on something like an IFM AL1122 IO Link master then it would be to have them rewire something to a point IO card if a cable/sensor goes bad. Not to mention, we'd need either really long cable runs which would introduce noise for the analog inputs, or adding junction boxes close to the sensors to keep the point IO cards in, which wouldn't be in the best spots. I'd like to move them but that's outside the scope of our upgrade plans.

[plvlce]

Originally Posted by hardaysknight

We've thought about doing something like that, but in our use case, it's easier to just have maintenance swap out an m12 cable on something like an IFM AL1122 IO Link master then it would be to have them rewire something to a point IO card if a cable/sensor goes bad.

Then wire the card to bulkhead connectors and plug the m12 cables into those...

But yes, long cable runs or need to add junction boxes are valid concerns.

[Robobob]

If you need more nodes Use a different model for CompactLogix. For example a 5069-L320ER will give you 40 nodes.

[hardaysknight]

Originally Posted by Robobob

If you need more nodes Use a different model for CompactLogix. For example a 5069-L320ER will give you 40 nodes.

Well that's what I'm wondering. Do I need more nodes for what I figured to be around 8 masters, plus a couple of ethernet/IP connections?

[Robobob]

The number of nodes you need will depend on how many EIP devices you will be adding to your I/O tree. What type of I//O Link masters will you be using? A Balluff or IFM Master will count as a node for each master. If you use AB 1734 Point I/O masters the rack of I/O slices will be one node. As long as the Point I/O masters are in the same rack.

[jholm90]

Balluff has 8 port iolink masters BNI008M
Each of those 8 ports can have a 16pt in/out module BNI0090
Each of those can use one pt to add an additional module +15pts
Theoretically 143pts per master/node
Just express caution when using IO-Link masters as the data requirements are much higher than a standard ethernet 16pt block (8 bytes vs 392 bytes) and requires a lot more back-end processing data storage memory.

If memory node counts and processing are a concern, look into MURR Cube67 as it consolidates all field io into one ethernet coupler, there's analog cand discrete modules available.

[chud]

My biggest concern would be as jholm90 mentioned is the amount of memory that would be used. But can you not change the module you are using to one that can accommodate more nodes. I see the qbfc1b can take 16 nodes

[JeffKiper]

I second Balluff. You can do 1 master and have have all the IO modules. This would use 1 Ethernet connection or maybe 2.