Fanuc/Panelmate register problem

[BillOHD]

I have a Fanuc 90-30 running a shear.
The panelmate Board went bad and was replaced.
I got the panelmate running but the Fanuc sends bad data to the panelmate.
I can operate the shear manually and even with the panel but it never knows when to stop and shear because the encoder values are wrong or pegged at 11111111 (binary).

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[BillOHD]

I guess it is simpler than that. The PLC performs some simple math (scaling) to the input length of material. Those numbers come back out of range or FF.

 

[RussB]

Need more info...

Highly unlikely that there is a PLC problem unless someone was in there attempting to "tweak" it. Sounds more like the new HMI is not using the same protocol or parameters of the protocol as was the old one. BTW, what protocol is used?

 

[BillOHD]

I am using Panelmate Configuration Editor for a Panelmate 1700

 

[RussB]

I am using Panelmate Configuration Editor for a Panelmate 1700

Very good, and which protocol is set on the PM 1700 to communicate to the PLC? Do you have the parameters of that protocol, both hardware and software set to be equal at both the HMI and the PLC?

If it is only one place that the "FF" shows, or that only one piece of information on the screen is not making sense it is likely that the new HMI has a Data Type issue. I would think that most encoder values will be either 'Integer' or Double 'Integer' data type but seeing 8 - ones indicates that it may be looking at a single byte instead of either 16 or 32 bytes. Or maybe it is set to show 'binary' instead of decimal information?

 

[Steve Bailey]

The system was working properly before the PanelMate failed. You replaced the PanelMate and now it doesn't work properly. What brought you to the conclusion that something in the PLC has changed?

How is the PanelMate communicating with the PLC? Is it using the serial port or does the PanelMate have a Genius daughter board?

When you transferred the PanelMate file to the new unit, you probably had to transfer both the application file and a protocol file. What protocol did you transfer?

I have the PanelMate configuration software as well as GE Fanuc 90-30 software. If you can post backup copies of both applications I can take a look and see if I can spot anything.

 

[BillOHD]

The Baud, Data Bits, Stop Bits and Parity are the same on both. I can start and stop the motors through the Panelmate. So there is some communication.

I have no reason to believe the PLC changed.

Serial communication between the two. No daughter board.

I replaced the Panelmate board (with a newer version) to get the screen back up.

None of the software has changed.

 

[BillOHD]

Ok....First, Arrrgggg.

The numbers for the length of material are stored in (two) 16 bit bytes. The Panelmate uses the two bytes MSB first and LSB second. The PLC uses them the other way and converts them.

So....P-LEN is the input it is composed of:
%R151 (MSB) and %R152(LSB)

the PLC switches them to:
%R251 (LSB) and %R252(MSB)

when I input "22" I get:

%R151 (MSB) and %R152(LSB)
00000 00022
This is right.
%R251 (LSB) and %R252(MSB)
00000 00022
Not switched.

The PLC hasn't been touched.

 

[Steve Bailey]

That's probably because of the firmware version in the PanelMate. Older PanelMate firmware required logic in the PLC to invert the word order for 32-bit integers. Somewhere along the line Eaton modified the firmware so you no longer had to do the inversion.

Your mentioning what you discovered today turned the light bulb on in my aged brain. Fifteen years ago I would have been able to suggest it as soon as I saw your symptoms. Instead, you had to find the answer yourself so I could say, "Oh, yeah, I knew that".

 

[BillOHD]

Well....that was a handy bit of info...
Two weeks to learn panelmate and PLC logic and diagnose...
Ten minutes to change the code.
Thank you very much.
It's up and running....the factory workers will stop looking at me sideways.