Delta Motion Control
Member
Hi,
Some questions about Siemens PLCs and implementing Ethernet protocols. First some background:
We make motion controllers that communicate with various PLCs, and we provide example programs for various PLCs to help our customers get up and running quickly. Our latest controller does not have good support for communication with S7 PLCs via Ethernet. Our controller supports CSP, EtherNet/IP, Modbus/TCP, FINS/UDP, and the Mitsubishi Procedure Exist (for the Q-series).
I have been tasked with learning the S7 and making FBs for communicating to our controller via Ethernet, so our customers can use these FBs. I know Modbus/TCP FBs are available from Siemens, but they cost as much as the Step7 software and have a 3-4 week lead time, and most of our customers won't like that. Therefore,I will probably implement some protocol myself, probably one our controller already supports, such as Mitsubishi's Procedure Exist, or a subset of the Omron FINS/UDP, or a subset of Modbus/TCP.
My questions:
Which S7 modules should I use? We have an old CPU315-2DP with an old CP343-1 Ethernet module. Would I be better off just buying a new CPU with built-in Ethernet? If you were our customer and wanted an example S7 project, which PLC would you prefer the example was made on? In the long term, we hope to implement PROFINET, so I will probably need a module that supports that also.
How about implementing protocols in Step7? Any tips?
Thank you,
Jacob Paso
Some questions about Siemens PLCs and implementing Ethernet protocols. First some background:
We make motion controllers that communicate with various PLCs, and we provide example programs for various PLCs to help our customers get up and running quickly. Our latest controller does not have good support for communication with S7 PLCs via Ethernet. Our controller supports CSP, EtherNet/IP, Modbus/TCP, FINS/UDP, and the Mitsubishi Procedure Exist (for the Q-series).
I have been tasked with learning the S7 and making FBs for communicating to our controller via Ethernet, so our customers can use these FBs. I know Modbus/TCP FBs are available from Siemens, but they cost as much as the Step7 software and have a 3-4 week lead time, and most of our customers won't like that. Therefore,I will probably implement some protocol myself, probably one our controller already supports, such as Mitsubishi's Procedure Exist, or a subset of the Omron FINS/UDP, or a subset of Modbus/TCP.
My questions:
Which S7 modules should I use? We have an old CPU315-2DP with an old CP343-1 Ethernet module. Would I be better off just buying a new CPU with built-in Ethernet? If you were our customer and wanted an example S7 project, which PLC would you prefer the example was made on? In the long term, we hope to implement PROFINET, so I will probably need a module that supports that also.
How about implementing protocols in Step7? Any tips?
Thank you,
Jacob Paso