Panelview with two serial devices

[BlueAltezza]

So a customer with an old Parker touchscreen wants to replace it with an AB Panelview 1000 unit.
The Parker has two serial ports that are communicating with a PLC and Servo Drive, both using RS232.

Is this possible seeing as the Panelview only has one serial port?

The PLC doesn't talk to the servo drive with any communications protocols, just I/O points. Both devices don't have ethernet capabilities as they stand.

 

[Bering C Sparky]

I know that you are reqesting info on AB Panelview specifically but if your customer is flexable then have a look at the Redlion Graphite Series HMI.

It has multiple serial ports and is a Lot less expensive.

Just ordered my first one to try out and see if I want to start using these in place of Panelview.

BCS

 

[Ken Roach]

Is this a PanelView 1000 Standard (black bezel) or a PanelView Plus 1000 (gray bezel) ? If you have the complete part number, that will help determine what features are available.

It's unlikely that the PLC and the Servo both use the same serial protocol, so you need to figure out the details of what protocol they use.

PanelView Standards didn't have any expandability; the network port and the printer port (on some models) were all you got.

The PanelView Plus has some limited support for expansion cards and modules. I've used a Socket Serial CF-type serial card on a PV+ to provide another COM port for use by the KepServer drivers.

Your homework assignment:

1. Determine the exact model and part number of the PanelView terminal

2. Determine the protocols used by the PLC and the Servo drive.

 

[JaxGTO]

Use the Ethernet to communicate with the PLC (via a NETENI to the serial port) and then the serial port with a Kepware driver to communicate with the drive.

 

[BlueAltezza]

Bering - I use a lot of Red Lions (too bad I'll never get a 10" Kadet!), but this customer specified Allen Bradley. The current CTC's are still functional, but they want to start getting some uniformity throughout the facility.

Ken - It's a Plus 1000 using Modbus RTU for talking to the servo drive. I'm not positive yet on which PLC is in there, but I believe it's a SLC5 given the age of the machine. I need to do more digging to find out, and if so I need to familiarize myself with that product line as it was before my time!

Jax - That seems to be the route I have to go with!

 

[Ken Roach]

If it's an older PanelView Plus 1000 with a CompactFlash slot, then I know that you can use a CF/Serial card to get another serial port and run Kepware's Modbus RTU driver over that port. It's pretty straightforward but support is basically "well, if it works, it works".

If it's a PanelView Plus 6, they switched from CF removable storage to SD cards, so you lose that interface avenue. I don't know of any USB/RS232 converters that are supported by the Windows CE operating system in these terminals.

My choice in such a case would be a Modbus/TCP to Modbus RTU converter. LanTronix, Digi, or Moxa would be my first three choices. I have a Digi One IAP and a LanTronix CoBox DR-1 IAP both available if you want to make a community project out of it.