AB-PV600 to AB-servo drive serial communication

[ralejos]

Hi,
I a have a project in which I need to communicate an Allen Bradley PV600 with a servo controller AB-Ultra 100 Series Drive to allow the operator programing positions and speed of 2 axis in the machine according to a catalog number.
Tha attached file will help you see the current configuration and the dashed lines the 2 options I have: HMI-drive,via PLC or direct.
PLC is a SCL5/04 and is connected also to a PC via the RS232 port (configured Ascii) to control a labeling machine. PLC is also connected to the PV600 via 1 of the DH+ ports, the other one is free.
The serial interface of the servo drive uses the standard NRZ asynchronous serial format, and supports both the RS-232 and the four wire RS-485 communications standards.
Does anyone know if there is a way to interface this standard RS-232 port to any of the communication ports available in the SCL5/04???
Does it sounds as a feasible approach or do you recommend other way?...maybe with additional HW.

Many thanks!

Ricardo Alejos
Mexico

 

[OkiePC]

The Panelview 600 cannot do this on its own. The SLC 5/04 could do this, but the code is messy.

I recommend you look into one of these:

It can be added to your DH+ network and programmed to monitor SLC 5/04 addresses and send them to the Ultra 100:
http://www.quartechcorp.com/products.htm

Or one of these for a separate HMI just for the Ultra drive:
http://www.quartechcorp.com/pdf_file/qsl-901a01-r2.pdf

 

[bkottaras]

Just spend a bit of money and get a G306A Red Lion.
You can pick up everything through there.
Just confirm with the Red Lion tech support that your serial will work and should be done.
I would avoid writting lines of code just to get the servo to communicate with your system.
Much cleaner if you let the Red Lion handle all the comms and ports.

 

[bkottaras]

The Panelview 600 cannot do this on its own. The SLC 5/04 could do this, but the code is messy.

I recommend you look into one of these:

It can be added to your DH+ network and programmed to monitor SLC 5/04 addresses and send them to the Ultra 100:
http://www.quartechcorp.com/products.htm

Or one of these for a separate HMI just for the Ultra drive:
http://www.quartechcorp.com/pdf_file/qsl-901a01-r2.pdf

Paul,
quartech used to sell "Black Boxes" to do the conversion for PLC to Ultras comms.
I've used a few back in the day.
You set up everything on the PLC and they drop it to the drive for index length and such.
Quite nasty little things as you have to know the set up otherwise you can mess up big time.

 

[OkiePC]

Just spend a bit of money and get a G306A Red Lion.
You can pick up everything through there.
Just confirm with the Red Lion tech support that your serial will work and should be done.
I would avoid writting lines of code just to get the servo to communicate with your system.
Much cleaner if you let the Red Lion handle all the comms and ports.

I didn't realize Red Lion had a driver for the Ultra 100/200. That would definitely be cleaner than the Quartech module.

 

[JeffKiper]

The G3 does a nice job at bridging the gap. I have it on a ultra 3K in the shop now. Smooth transition between the PLC and Drive. The only thing I had to do that was not in the communication white sheet from RedLion was jump pin 7&8 on the drive side. I could have one of these drives setup and talking to a PLC in 30 minutes or so. I don't know of anything other HMI that will do this that easily.

 

[ralejos]

Red Lion

I didn't realize Red Lion had a driver for the Ultra 100/200. That would definitely be cleaner than the Quartech module.

Hi,
It sounds good option to communicate with the drive but then I would need to move all current PV600 screens to this one as the customer wants only 1 HMI and I think they are standarized to PV600´s. Let me check. Thanks for your advice!

 

[OkiePC]

Once you have one of their HMIs converted, and you learn about the power of the G3, they will likely change their standard and give you more business doing conversions. The G3 can do a whole lot more for less money.

There is a bit of a learning curve at first, but there are lots of G3 users on this forum and elsewhere who can help.

 

[ralejos]

questions

The Panelview 600 cannot do this on its own. The SLC 5/04 could do this, but the code is messy.

I recommend you look into one of these:

It can be added to your DH+ network and programmed to monitor SLC 5/04 addresses and send them to the Ultra 100:
http://www.quartechcorp.com/products.htm

Or one of these for a separate HMI just for the Ultra drive:
http://www.quartechcorp.com/pdf_file/qsl-901a01-r2.pdf

okiePC,
I like this option but I have a couple of questions. Do you think it would work also with serial port of a Ultra 100?....the manual describes the procedure for Ultra 3000.
Do I also need to add an ethernet card to my SCL 5/04?...I only have available one DH+, or how do I connect them?

Thanks!

 

[OkiePC]

okiePC,
I like this option but I have a couple of questions. Do you think it would work also with serial port of a Ultra 100?....the manual describes the procedure for Ultra 3000.
Do I also need to add an ethernet card to my SCL 5/04?...I only have available one DH+, or how do I connect them?

Thanks!

In addition to USB and etherent, a Red Lion G306A has three serial ports, each of them fully configurable, so one would connect to the 5/04 serial port, and the other would connect to the serial port of the Ultra drive. I cannot answer your first question, since I have not used a G3 with any Ultra drive.

I would hope that someone here can answer your question definitively, so you will know for sure what to expect, but in the mean time, you can download the Crimson 3.0 software from redlion.net and start looking at how it works. It is quite a bit different than PanelBuilder32.

http://www.redlion.net/Support/Downloads/SoftwareLibrary/Crimson3.html

 

[Ken Roach]

Let's get some specifics cleared up.

The motion controllers are Ultra 100 and 200, not Ultra 3000. While they all have roots in the Electrocraft business and much of the protocol is similar, don't assume the motion controllers are identical.

Because these are PanelView 600 Standard terminals, there is definitely no way for the terminal itself to communicate with the Ultra 100/200 drives. The PanelView Plus can do so, but it's a very tricky implementation.

I think that the code to communicate from an SLC serial port to the Ultra 100/200 controllers is not too complex for a good programmer to accomplish, but the fact that the serial port of the SLC is already in use means we'd have to put in a serial switch, either code-operated or run by discrete outputs.

Adding a Quartech or Red Lion device means another configuration platform and another runtime program in addition to the SLC program, the Ultraware program, and the PanelView program. Hey, the more the merrier.

If this was my system and I had a good budget, I'd use a Prosoft MVI46 module to interface with the Ultra motion controllers. Two serial ports, and a relatively easy configuration tool.

If this was my system and I has a small budget and some time, I would use a serial switch and write ASCII code in the SLC.