Advanced HMI Now Works with TwinCAT

Archie · Nov 17, 2008

The free open source project now has a basic driver for working with TwinCAT. You can see the video on how to get it to work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHoPLYDVpa4

Anyone not familiar with the software can see more here:

http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?t=42656&highlight=advanced+HMI

cjd1965 · Nov 18, 2008

Good job Archie, you looking at OPC driver yet?

ndzied1 · Nov 18, 2008

Archie,

Will this work with any CoDeSys based PLC or just TwinCAT?

Thanks,

Archie · Nov 18, 2008

ndzied1 said:
Will this work with any CoDeSys based PLC or just TwinCAT?

I've only worked with the Beckhoff TwinCAT extensions to CodeSys, so I'm not sure if the protocols are the same. This driver is based on the ADS driver that is downloaded from the Beckhoff website.
Maybe there are some experts that know if the Beckhoff ADS/AMS communication model is really the CodeSys software or whether Beckhoff developed it especially for TwinCAT.

As for the OPC drivers, I'm sure that is going to be a ways out. I haven't dug deep into it, but my guess is that the specifications are not free.

dpinezic · Dec 12, 2008

From Beckhoff documentation:
ADS "Automation Device Specification"
Overview Connectivity and describes a device- and Fieldbus-independent interface. This interface got designed by Beckhoff, and is - including the protocol - in detail documented.
For integration into own applications resp. compilers and tools based on Microsoft Windows Operating systems (NT / Windows 2000 / XP / Vista .. and CE) there are ADS components (ADS-OCX / DLL / NET / ...) available from Beckhoff, free of charge.
The ADS components get installed together with TwinCAT and can be found in the following directory "..\TwinCAT\Ads Api". Additionally, all named components are also available in the free of charge TwinCAT Supplement product "TwinCAT ADS Communication Library" (only exception is the ADS-OCX which belongs to the core components of TwinCAT).

dpinezic · Dec 12, 2008

Basic Light Problem with Advanced HMI

Hi Archie,

I recently downloadad your Adv. HMI for testing purposes.

I now have problem with Basic Light Control, you can see in attachement.

Tnx

Archie · Dec 12, 2008

dpinezic said:
I now have problem with Basic Light Control, you can see in attachement.

Not yet sure what is causing it, maybe the program is using a font that is not on your PC.

For a quick fix try this:

1) Right click BasicLight.vb in the Solution Explorer (upper right under the controls folder)
2) Select View Code
3) Find the OnPaint event (will be in the Events section)
4) Add the second line show here:

Code:

[SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff]Protected[/COLOR][/SIZE][/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff]Overrides[/COLOR][/SIZE][/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff]Sub[/COLOR][/SIZE][/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE=2] OnPaint([/SIZE][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff]ByVal[/COLOR][/SIZE][/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE=2] e [/SIZE][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff]As[/COLOR][/SIZE][/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE=2] System.Windows.Forms.PaintEventArgs)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff]  If[/COLOR][/SIZE][/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE=2] LegendFont [/SIZE][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff]Is [/COLOR][/SIZE][/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff]Nothing [/COLOR][/SIZE][/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff]Then [/COLOR][/SIZE][/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff]Exit [/COLOR][/SIZE][/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff]Sub[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE=2][COLOR=#008000][SIZE=2][COLOR=#008000]  'If _backBuffer Is Nothing Then Exit Sub[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[/COLOR][/SIZE]

dpinezic · Dec 12, 2008

Tnx it works!

WallPack · Dec 15, 2008

Does/can/will AdvancedHMI work with CE6.

It would really be nice if the AdvancedHMI program would work with CE6.( I.E. CompactNet 3.5.) It would be heavily utilized in Beckhoff CE environments.

Thanks a bunch..

Archie · Dec 15, 2008

WallPack said:
It would really be nice if the AdvancedHMI program would work with CE6.( I.E. CompactNet 3.5.)

Early on I attempted to keep it compatible with the compact framework, but the graphic capabilities were too limited to acheive the quality I wanted.

It could probably be made to work fairly easily with the "basic" components and using the TwinCAT CF driver.

WallPack · Dec 17, 2008

The quality of graphics is awesome. Thanks for the consideration. It was quite easy to combine 2 controls from your AdvancedHMI into one. I just don't know what the compact net 3.5 2008 had over compact net 2.0 and how easy it would be to convert. Perhaps if you could get one control to work with CE others could expand upon it.

Archie · Dec 18, 2008

WallPack said:
I just don't know what the compact net 3.5 2008 had over compact net 2.0 and how easy it would be to convert. Perhaps if you could get one control to work with CE others could expand upon it.

The easy part is to figure out what it takes to convert. You can simply add the controls to a new Smart Device (Windows CE) project and see what it doesn't like.

The hard part is implementing or finding alternatives. For example, the System.Drawing.Drawing2D.Matrix object and the transform are used to do scaling and rotation. There is no equivalent in the compact framework, so they would have to be implemented in code. It may sound easy at first, but to get the equivalent quality of graphic manipulation done by the .NET framework is not so easy.

The .NET framework is now open source, so if someone was really ambitious, they could duplicate it exactly. The nice part would be that if the Matrix was implemented in the compact framework, then the rest of the project conversion would be easy.

Mat08 · Dec 18, 2008

Hi Archie,
First excuse my poor english!
I downloaded AdvancedHMI, it looks very good.
now i have some trouble with the sample i saw in youtube video, need help .

I have this message on the DigitalPanelMeter1 control : "UNABLE TO GET ADDRESS INF" and nothing happen, i don't now what is th problem.

WallPack · Feb 6, 2009

Hi Archie,

I was wondering where the graphics came from?

Archie · Feb 6, 2009

WallPack said:
I was wondering were the graphics came from?

I drew them using CorelDraw and Illustrator

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