Omron Sysmac CPM1- Legacy PLC program editing.

[AutomationTechBrian]

I'm taking some time today to learn how to edit a customer's Omron PLC program. My customer has a machine that is used infrequently during the day, but the machine is powered on all the time. There is a safety air valve on one of the outputs that is powered on all the time that keeps the measuring equipment from being damaged if air pressure gets too high. I can understand why the original programmer had it normally activated, but the downside is that the valves get really hot and end up failing prematurely. I'm going to put a sleep function into the program with a timer tied to the inputs. To wake up the machine, you activate one of the two hand-sensing inputs, which starts the timer. While the timer is timing, the valve output is active, and the inputs revert to normal function. ...pretty simple stuff. I gave that information because I don't need a complete CXOne lesson. There is a timer that should be capable of timing 15-30 minutes, and a couple of timer bits, like Timer-Timing. But, I'm in CXOne for the first time, and some of this is looking a bit primitive (compared to today's programs). There is certainly a learning curve to go through. For instance, I noticed there are different timers for timing different lengths of time. When I find a video on YouTube for CXOne programming, I can't help but wonder if the information is still applicable for this old, legacy PLC.

I was at the customer's location last week and uploaded the program. They had a spare PLC for me to take home and learn on, which is awesome. My coffee is brewing, and when it's done I'll start digging into what is needed to make the program edits. There could easily be some "gotchas" here. After uploading, I remember looking at memory addressing, and the check boxes for looking at the different memory types, and I'm wondering how that is managed. When I upload and download, do I need to do something special to capture those locations?

So this is more of an open-ended post. For those familiar with this legacy Omron programming, are there any tidbits of information that would be helpful in learning how to accomplish the program edits?

 

[Soggy Canuck]

The CPM1 controller is quite old, and very limited. If you are an AB disciple think SLC100.
The timer functions available on this platform are limited to 9.999 seconds.

In order to get a long timer you will have to set up a counter and use the Omron version of AB's free running clock. Given the time frame you are looking at I would use 254.00. This is a 1 minute pulse (30sec on/30sec off).

The simplest way to figure this out is to download a programming manual that covers this controller. The Catalog number I've got is W353-E1-3 (2001). The counter is on page 390 complete with an example of using the counter as an extended range timer.

A full description of the memory areas is in appendix C starting on page 565.
The free running timer bits are in words 254 and 255 and are fairly limited compared to the AB version.

Pay careful attention to setting up the set value for the counter, Omron rules for data types are extremely loose and can create havoc if not followed. Yes, that is the voice of experience.

 

[AutomationTechBrian]

So glad I asked... Thanks!!

This PLC is on several of these workstation testers. I'm thinking they might want to replace the PLCs with current versions. These are very simple programs, but each station is custom-made and slightly different. I'm wondering if Omron has an inexpensive upgrade, comparable to AB's Micro 810. Honestly, I know almost nothing about them.

 

[sbaum]

Not surprised to see the old CPM1 still chugging away. Probably could for another 20 years if you let it.


If you're thinking of updating within the Omron lineup, I'd suggest checking out the CP1L or CP2E series. Upgrading the program to one of those will be fairly straightforward.

 

[AutomationTechBrian]

Your timing was good... I was just looking at a CP1L that a buddy gave to me a couple of years ago, wondering if that would be the ticket. Seems to me, I was having trouble getting the USB driver to work on my VM, running Windows 10. No idea why. I'll be wiring up the power in a little bit and trying again.

 

[gtsuport]

YouTube video on USB Driver installation


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm0csoze7e4&t=78s


gtsuport

 

[AutomationTechBrian]

Yeah, I did all of that and still had troubles. I have a buddy who is in Omron sales, so we did a Zoom meeting and he confirmed everything associated with the driver by comparing it with his laptop. No luck. At that point, I started wondering if I should try installing CX One on a Windows 7 VM. I did some Google searching, and on Mr PLC there was a post about someone else having the same issue on his VMWare Windows 10 VM. He switched to a Windows 7 and all was good. I did the same... it works.

I'll try converting the program today and see what issues come up. Thanks for the help.

 

[gtsuport]

Depends on your version of CX-One.
You need version 4.50 or later for Windows 10.


gtsuport.

 

[AutomationTechBrian]

This was the current download from the website... the 30-day trial. I've had this happen with other software, so it wasn't a surprise. It's a shame they discontinued support for Windows 7. That has always been a stable go-to.