AlfredoQuintero
Lifetime Supporting Member
Hello. I have a customer who integrates car-body assembly lines using robots and other GPIO which conform to EtherNet/IP adapter devices. When developing a new line, there is a very narrow window of time to test the logic with the full set of devices, during the time the line is in test. After this the line is disconnected and sent to the actual shop-floor, and shortly prior to commissioning again there is a bit of time to test with all the IO. Of course the car maker wants to have this investment churning out cars as soon as possible.
If there was a way to simulate all this IO virtually, it would be possible to do extensive testing of the logic, and if the simulator could support server explicit messaging, also simulation of the operator interface. Similar to what PICS (from SST/Woodhead) was able to do for AB remoteIO and Profibus.
So I thought about using Codesys for this purpose. I have used the Codesys EtherNet/IP adapter to communicate Codesys to Logix, and this was very easy. So I thought that by configuring several IP addresses on the host computer, it would be possible to instantiate the EtherNet/IP adapter from Codesys to simulate the different EtherNet/IP devices on the PLC application.
The Codesys tool allows customization of vendor ID, product name, product code major revision and minor revision, but not device type. And crucially, it does not allow modification of the connection path supported by the Codesys EtherNet/IP adapter. So it is not possible to develop a simulator as I wanted. I am currently asking the Codesys forum if there is a way to modify the connections paths, maybe if one buys the professional development environment, who knows. Let's see how lucky I am with the Codesys forum.
The question for the PLCTALK forum is, what is your opinion on the value of a tool such as the one I am describing above? Would system integrators have interest in this? Or, are there already much better ways of simulating the process data, the actual inputs to the PLC application with some other tool, such as the idea I explain above would would motivate nobody? As usual, I will be grateful for some words of wisdom.
If there was a way to simulate all this IO virtually, it would be possible to do extensive testing of the logic, and if the simulator could support server explicit messaging, also simulation of the operator interface. Similar to what PICS (from SST/Woodhead) was able to do for AB remoteIO and Profibus.
So I thought about using Codesys for this purpose. I have used the Codesys EtherNet/IP adapter to communicate Codesys to Logix, and this was very easy. So I thought that by configuring several IP addresses on the host computer, it would be possible to instantiate the EtherNet/IP adapter from Codesys to simulate the different EtherNet/IP devices on the PLC application.
The Codesys tool allows customization of vendor ID, product name, product code major revision and minor revision, but not device type. And crucially, it does not allow modification of the connection path supported by the Codesys EtherNet/IP adapter. So it is not possible to develop a simulator as I wanted. I am currently asking the Codesys forum if there is a way to modify the connections paths, maybe if one buys the professional development environment, who knows. Let's see how lucky I am with the Codesys forum.
The question for the PLCTALK forum is, what is your opinion on the value of a tool such as the one I am describing above? Would system integrators have interest in this? Or, are there already much better ways of simulating the process data, the actual inputs to the PLC application with some other tool, such as the idea I explain above would would motivate nobody? As usual, I will be grateful for some words of wisdom.