colemaj1
Lifetime Supporting Member
Using RsLogix v30, and FTV v9 SE.
I want to group alarms - could be any reason, but let's say by on which HMI page they are occurring. Then, if an alarm is InAlarm in that group, I'll make the HMI display something like 'Tank page alarm'. If no alarms are InAlarm on that page, I won't display anything about that page's alarms.
I realize, I could do this with OR logic - if Tank1.InAlarm OR Tank2.Alarm OR Tank3.InAlarm then set a bit high like TankPageInAlarm and let the HMI use that to control the display. But, this gets a little cumbersome as the number of pages and alarms increases. You have to remember to add this logic for every alarm, and then if you move a machine to another page you (or the next person who comes along) has to know to go change the logic.
I'm looking for a more automated way of accomplishing this - specify a group name for the alarm, then if I want to change what page it is on, all I have to do is change the group name.
I've started working on an AOI that I can pass my alarms to along with a group name, and a 2 dimensional array which holds a list of active alarms for each group. You might see where this is going - the AOI would check to see if the alarm is InAlarm, if so would add it's name to appropriate alarm group. If it's not InAlarm, then the AOI would search to see if the name is in the list, and remove it if found. Then I could run thru and check each alarm list to see which ones are have active alarms, and use that to control the HMI. I've been working with the FIFO instructions (FSC, FFL, FLL) to try to accomplish this. It's a lot of work up front, but I'm hoping after it's done, it should quite modular and re-usable.
What I'm wondering is, am I re-inventing the wheel here? Is there an easier way to do this that's more built in or off the shelf? I know there are 'groups' in FactoryTalk based alarms, but I would much rather handle this in the logic.
I want to group alarms - could be any reason, but let's say by on which HMI page they are occurring. Then, if an alarm is InAlarm in that group, I'll make the HMI display something like 'Tank page alarm'. If no alarms are InAlarm on that page, I won't display anything about that page's alarms.
I realize, I could do this with OR logic - if Tank1.InAlarm OR Tank2.Alarm OR Tank3.InAlarm then set a bit high like TankPageInAlarm and let the HMI use that to control the display. But, this gets a little cumbersome as the number of pages and alarms increases. You have to remember to add this logic for every alarm, and then if you move a machine to another page you (or the next person who comes along) has to know to go change the logic.
I'm looking for a more automated way of accomplishing this - specify a group name for the alarm, then if I want to change what page it is on, all I have to do is change the group name.
I've started working on an AOI that I can pass my alarms to along with a group name, and a 2 dimensional array which holds a list of active alarms for each group. You might see where this is going - the AOI would check to see if the alarm is InAlarm, if so would add it's name to appropriate alarm group. If it's not InAlarm, then the AOI would search to see if the name is in the list, and remove it if found. Then I could run thru and check each alarm list to see which ones are have active alarms, and use that to control the HMI. I've been working with the FIFO instructions (FSC, FFL, FLL) to try to accomplish this. It's a lot of work up front, but I'm hoping after it's done, it should quite modular and re-usable.
What I'm wondering is, am I re-inventing the wheel here? Is there an easier way to do this that's more built in or off the shelf? I know there are 'groups' in FactoryTalk based alarms, but I would much rather handle this in the logic.
