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Omron PLC Plugin

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Purpose

Purpose of this plugin is to read from Omron PLCs, using the FINS protocol. It MUST run with Python 3.9 or above.

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Usage

You run a log to send data to the cloud, or a discover to only display information. There must be a config file when running log or a discover. The config file defines which variables need to be collected, what names they appear on the the Ardexa cloud, units and scaling, what table(s) they variables will be sent to, and the source name(s). An example configuration is shown below.

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Example Configuration

The memory location defines which memory relates to which variable. It can begin with the following letter combinations, to designate different types of memory and configuration, as follows:

    D16_    =   Read a 16 bit word, from DATA MEMORY
    DL16_   =   Read a 16 bit word, little endian, from DATA MEMORY
    D32_    =   Read a 32 bit word, from DATA MEMORY
    DL32_   =   Read a 32 bit word, little endian, from DATA MEMORY
    W16_    =   Read a 16 bit word, from WORK MEMORY
    WL16_   =   Read a 16 bit word, little endian, from WORK MEMORY
    W32_    =   Read a 32 bit word, from WORK MEMORY
    WL32_   =   Read a 32 bit word, little endian, from WORK MEMORY
    EM0_   =    Read a 16 bit word, from EM0 MEMORY

If the memory location DOES NOT start with one of the combinations above, it will read a 16 bit word from CIO_MEMORY. For example, the memory location 9000 will read a 16 bit WORD memory from CIO MEMORY, whereas D16_9000 will read a WORD (16 bit) from DATA MEMORY. Reading from CIO MEMORY is always as 16 bit words. In the case of an integers, they will always try to read the value as a signed integers. Example config file as follows. Always verify data accuracy by running a discover first, before committing the plugin to collect data.

    # Table,    Source Name,    Variable Name,      Memory Location,    Type,       Units,  Scale,      Invalidate,    Lookup Table
    hydro,      hec,            AC Voltage 1,       20015,              dec,        V,      1+10,       , 
    hydro,      hec,            Grid Freq,          D16_20016,          dec,        Hz,     0.01,       , 
    hydro,      hec,            Cos Phi,            DL16_20017,         dec,        ,       100,        , 
    hydro,      hec,            PT100 Temperature,  20018,              dec,        C,      1,          , 
    hydro,      hec,            Total Hours,        D32_20019,          dec,        h,      0.1,        , 
    hydro,      hec,            DC Current 1,       20030,              dec,        A,      1,          , 
    hydro,      hec,            HDG Setpoint Mode,  20031,              bitb,       ,       1,          ,             1
    hydro,      hec,            Run Manual,         W16_20033,          bitb_int,   ,       1,          ,             3
    hydro,      hec,            Key Switch,         20040,              str,        ,       1,          ,             mode.dict
    hydro,      hec,            Key Switch2,        20045,              str_rep,    ,       1,          ,             mode.dict
    hydro,      pid_box,        PV- Voltage,        W32_20050,          int,        V,      1,          , 
    hydro,      pid_box,        PV- Current,        20051,              int,        mA,     1,          ,
    hydro,      alarm,          Alarm 0 Keyword,    20061,              bit,        ,       1,          ,             container_alarm0.dict
    hydro,      alarm,          Alarm 1,            20063,              bool,       ,       1,          ,
    hydro,      alarm,          Alarm 4,            20064,              int_bool,   ,       1,          ,
    hydro,      hec,            Total Current,      EM0_20065,          dec,        h,      0.1,        >100000,

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Network Configuration

The Omron FINS protocol uses 6 network node numbers to communication with a PLC.

  1. The source network specifies the address number of the source network (the computer running the driver). The Source Network Address is sometimes referred to as SNA in Omron FINS documentation. The valid range is 0 to 127. The default setting is 0.

  2. The destination network specifies the address number of the destination device and is sometimes referred to as DNA in Omron FINS documentation. The valid range is 0 to 127. The default setting is 0.

  3. The source node specifies the number of the source node (the computer running the driver). The valid range is 0 to 254. The default setting is 0. However, we have noticed that using a number of 104 makes the plugin work ok.

  4. The destination node specifies the node number of the destination device. The Destination Node is sometimes referred to as DA1 in Omron FINS documentation. The default setting is 0, but it should sometimes be set to the last octet of the PLC's IP address.

  5. The destination unit specifies the number of the destination device unit number, sometimes referred to as DA2. The valid range is 0 to 255. The default setting is 0.

  6. The source unit specifies the number of the destination device unit number, sometimes referred to as DA2. The valid range is 0 to 255. The default setting is 0.

The Arguments section below details the arguments covering these items. If you find that you can read data from the PLC, but the data doesn't make sense, it usually means one or more of these arguments have been set incorrectly.

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Arguments

  • Anything that starts with # is a comment line, and will be ignored

  • The Memory Location is the Ormon memory location/address.

  • Scale will only be used for decimal and integer types. An error will be reported if you try and divide an integer, or multiply by anything other than a whole number. The scale can also be a value such as 0.75-9, where the -9 is a BIAS value (addition or subtraction). In which case it will FIRST subtract the 9, THEN multiply by 0.75. If using a bias value, then it can ONLY be used with a decimal type.

  • Invalidate. This column will only do the following task": If an entry starts with >, it will invalidate ALL entries in a configuration file, if the value for this entry is greater than the specified amount. For example; if the Invalidate column entry is >10000, then a value of 12,000 will ensure ALL readings in the configuration file are invalidated. Use this item with caution. Also, it will ONLY work on dec values. This invalidation feature is intended for those machines that have poor quality control, and sometimes transmit wildly wrong values.

  • In Lookup Table; Sometimes you want to convert an INT to a keyword, through a lookup table. Or you may want to get a register bit and convert it to a keyword. See examples below.

  • Allowable Type column values are as follows:

    • dec ... Converts the Omron memory location to a decimal. Can be scaled (including division).

    • int ... Converts the Omron memory location to an integer. Can only be scaled upwards (not divided). So a scale value that is not a whole number will be rejected. See also the explanation for scale above, since it can include a bias and scale factor.

    • bool ... Omron memory location is converted to an INT. This value is then check as follows: Anything other than 0 will output a True. Else, output will be False.

    • int_bool ... Omron memory location is converted to an INT. This value is then check as follows: Anything other than 0 will output a 1. Else, output will be 0.

    • bin ... Converts the Omron memory location to an integer, then to a binary representation.

    • bit ... Used with a lookup table (in the Lookup Table column) to define a bit being turned or off. See example contents of file below. Bits start at "1" (not "0"), and are defined in the Lookup Table column.

    • bitb ... If a bit in the Omron memory location is turned on/off, it will reflect a boolean ("True"/"False") output.

    • bitb_int ... If a bit in the Omron memory location is turned on/off, it will reflect a boolean ("1"/"0") output.

    • str ... Treated as an ASCII character. If it can't be converted, it will output an empty field

    • str_rep ... Same as str, but it will clear \0 values in the resultant string.

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Arguments

  • ip_address This is the IP Address of the Omron PLC. Make sure that Port 9600 is open.

  • config_path. This is the config file location. There must be a config file.

  • --attempts Is the number of attempts to make to get data from the PLC. The default=2

  • The network parameters can be set using the following arguments. They all default to 0.

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Example of "bit" lookup

Bit starts at 1. Include a 0 value to display something (or blank) if no bits are turned on

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Example of "str" lookup file

Numbers can be anything, since they are read from a single Omron memory location

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