GE Fanuc 90-30 PLC

[Sudhi Mukherjee]

I would like to know if anyone here has had experience using the NI IA Servers
with GE Fanuc PLCs. If so I would greatly appreciate it if you could tell
me:
1. Does group name have to be something that the PLC already has - or can
it be just a decriptive name -such as Analog Input 1?
2. In the add/edit items form - what should i put in the Name (device\item)
field. and in the item id field. is there a particular syntax.
3. After entering the relevant information, will all the channel information
be generated automatically (as in Fieldpoint IAK)? or does each channel have
to be configured individually?

Thank you in advance.

Sudhi

[Khalid]

Hello Sudhi,

Couple of things..

1> The easiest (and right?) way of configuring Items is to use the Wizard
(right-click on your GE Fanuc server and select 'Wizard'). Here, you'll
first add the 'Communication Resource' - in this case the IP address. Then,
add the 'Device' which is your PLC info'. Finally, right-click on the device
you just added to add Items. You will have to add Items manually.. you may
choose to duplicate Items and change the offsets. When all the Items you
need are added, you proceed with the Wizard, connect to the Server and Test
your Items.

These Items will then show up if you go into the Add/Edit Groups and Items
(which I guess you were trying to do). Group name can be anything.. this
is independent of any PLC configuration. Once conn
ected to the Sevrer, you
can choose the configured Items to add to a group.

2> If you'll be using BridgeVIEW 2.1, then I recommend you use the LookoutOPCProtocol
drivers for communicating with your PLC. The reasons being, it's easier
to configure and supports Serial SNPX protocol in addition to Ethernet.


Regards,

Khalid

__________________
"Sudhi Mukherjee" wrote:
>>I would like to know if anyone here has had experience using the NI IA
Servers>with GE Fanuc PLCs. If so I would greatly appreciate it if you could
tell>me: >1. Does group name have to be something that the PLC already has
- or can>it be just a decriptive name -such as Analog Input 1? >2. In the
add/edit items form - what should i put in the Name (device\item)>field.
and in the item id field. is there a particular syntax.>3. After entering
the relevant information, will all the channel information>be generated automatically
(as in Fieldpoint IAK)? or does each channel have>to be configure
d individually?
>>Thank you in advance.>>Sudhi

[Sudhi Mukherjee]

Khalid - as you had suggested the NI Lookout Protocol drivers worked out fine
for communictaing with the GE Fanuc PLC. However, when I try to read the
Analog Input (as denoted by AI) channels I am not reading any data - although
it is showing that the connection is good. Only data under the %R category
seem to be changing dynamically. Is there something I am missing here? Thanks.


Sudhi

[Khalid]

Well, am not sure what may be happening. 'AI' reads shouldn't be any different
from other reads. Have you tried with some other OPC Client? Like ServerExplorer?

You may want to give our Support team a call to get this issue resolved ..
512.683.0100.

Regards,

Khalid

-----------------

"Sudhi Mukherjee" wrote:
>>Khalid - as you had suggested the NI Lookout Protocol drivers worked out
fine>for communictaing with the GE Fanuc PLC. However, when I try to read
the>Analog Input (as denoted by AI) channels I am not reading any data -
although>it is showing that the connection is good. Only data under the %R
category>seem to be changing dynamically. Is there something I am missing
here? Thanks.>>>Sudhi