CLICK PLCs and modbusTcp

[TheTinker]

I've been playing around with the new Click Ethernet enabled PLCs and thought I'd pass along a few things I've learned.

First, the Ethernet port only supports ModbusTcp/IP. You can't access it by typing the IP address into a browser (it would be cool if you could!).  This caused some minor confusion at my shop.

Second, the inputs, X001 etc., are read only. I was hoping to use AdvancedHMI and a touchscreen as a direct replacement for a panel full of push-buttons without having to reprogram.

Third; there are a few quirks with the addressing.  For all the discreet bits, the address in the HMI must use leading zeros.  Even though the CLICK displays the Mobbus address as 8193, it needs to be addressed as 008193 in the HMI program. I was almost ready to shift integer registers around for discreet bits before I figured it out.
Also in addressing floating point registers (DF in the CLICK) you need to put a F in front of the address in the HMI program F428673 for example.

So far I've been using the CLICK as a Slave only.  I plan on trying using it as the Master as well at some point.

I hope this can help save a few people some frustration and time.

Enjoy,

Sam

[Archie]

Thanks for posting this. I have been considering buying one of these Ethernet controllers just for evaluation.

[TheTinker]

The CLICK is pretty nice. I'm using it with the analog cards to automate a startup and shutdown sequence. Currently the operators have to press a series of buttons in a set order as well as ramping up media flows to match a set value.  I'm adding PID controllers to the media controls and at the same time converting to a one button startup/shutdown. I'm hoping to use the Raspberry Pi with AdvancedHmi to fetch the set-point values from a recipe file or database through a touchscreen and provide informational displays on the current process state.

The Clicks don't appear to have native PID capabilities, but I don't need that for this project. It may be possible to program them in manually, I want to try it if I ever get a chance.

The Raspberry Pi with the 7" touchscreen is 1/10th the cost of the cheapest off-the-shelf HMI screens and it can be networked with existing computer networks without the need for expensive gateways.

Sam

[Zip]

I am using the same unit Tinker, with AHMI on Rpi and a touchscreen and ran into the same issue with the inputs. I just added Contacts in parrallel with all my inputs to get around it.