Starting from scratch

[jamesb]

I need some advice and guidence.
We have 6 Aisa laminate tube machines 4 using S5 the other 2 S7 that my boss would like to monitor output and downtime on a PC in his office.
We used to have another machine which came with a standalone HMI system, the machine has now gone and the PC dismantled for spares inclueding the hard drive but it does have a CP 5611 card in it.
So where do I start.
Do I need extra modules for the plc's in the machines if so can anyone suggest what types?
I guess the manufacturer will need to modify the plc program?
Is the CP5611 card OK for this job if so do I need software for this?
I am thinking of using a visual basic program to collect and display the data, are there any demo programs availible that I can modify?

Any help please

Regards

 

[fribeiro]

Hi Jamesb,

That´s the kind of work i like to do. You have several ways to do it:

1. If you want to use Siemens produts you can use some communication cards like CP524 (for S5) and CP340 (for S7) for Point-to-point link and then you must change the program to configure that modules. Also if you want to use Profibus or Ethernet.

2. If you dont want to change the program you can communicate with the programming port of the PLCs using third-party modules (ex: http://www.lancelan.com) that converts all data to ethernet protocol and then is ease to manipulate in a VB program as you wish.

3. You can also use a HMI like WinCC (from Siemens), or Intellution iFix, or... that has drivers built in to communicate with this kind of PLCs.

Its your decision, from my opinion if the system are complex you shouldn´t touch the program and the option will be the 2 position. If its simple and if you have money enough the option should be position 1 and 3 both together.


All the best and good luck.

 

[jamesb]

Thanks for your help fribeiroRegards

 

[jamesb]

english sites

I have visited this site (http://www.lancelan.com) but all the info is in spanish, does anyone know of a simular thing but in english?


Regards