Motion Control: C-more Micro-Graphic Panel Programming (7 of 8) from AutomationDirect

The last programming task I need to complete is the project for the C-more Micro-Graphic panel that I am using as my operator interface. Also known as a Human to Machine Interface device, or HMI for short. Let’s see what this takes to accomplish. I use the C-more Micro-Graphic panel as my operator interface to execute the various motion profiles I have set up in the CTRIO module. For reference, this includes homing the axis, jogging the axis left or right, and commanding my two pre-defined motion profiles to perform. Again, the motion profiles are the Trapezoid and S-Curve moves. I start my C-more project by opening the C-more Micro application software as seen here. I next select the ‘Make a New Project’ button in the application window. I name my project ‘motion control demo – c-more micro project’, select my panel type, which is part number EA1-S3ML, a 3 inch touch panel with five different color backgrounds, and then select the PLC protocol I will be using with the DirectLOGIC DL05 PLC. My PLC protocol will be the ‘AutomationDirect K-Sequence’ protocol for the DirectLOGIC DL05, 06, 105, 205 PLC series, and the 350 and 450 CPUs. I click ‘OK’ and the ‘Main Application Screen’ will open showing the ‘Work Area’, ‘Navigation Window’ and the ‘Object List Window’ as seen next. Although the C-more Micro panel can have multiple screens, for my needs I decide to use just one simple screen that will allow selecting the various move operations. I use dark green for my ‘Background Color’ as I show here. Let me give you a quick rundown of the C-more Micro software’s application screen. The ‘Work Area’, indicated here, is the real estate area that I will use to place my operator devices, such as push buttons, and other objects, such as static text. The ‘Navigation Window’ is where the various tabs that allow me to make adjustments to my screens can be found. I can work with the different functions and features from here, and also get information about my connected panel. I can also update the panel’s firmware from here. It is always a good idea to start a new project with the latest programming software and firmware loaded into the C-more panel. You can find a short video on the C-more Micro web site that covers ‘Updating Panel Firmware’ under the site’s ‘Support Tools’ tab. Look for the ‘How-to Videos’ pull down menu, and you’ll find the ‘Panel Information – How to Update Panel Firmware’ video listed under the ‘Panel’ category. The ‘Object List Window’ shown here is where I’ll pull from the available standard objects to place on my screen, and also included are predefined special objects I can use. I can also save any special objects that I have created and may want to use in future applications. Next I’ll setup my communications port on the C-more panel that will communicate with my DirectLOGIC DL05 PLC. I decided to use the optional C-more ‘Serial Port & Power Adapter’, part number EA-MG-SP1, which is designated as ‘Comm. Port 2’. This second port allows the panel to be connected permanently to the PLC, while at the same time I can connect my PC to the panel’s built-in port, ‘Comm. Port 1’, for downloading my program. This will save time with disconnecting and reconnecting communication cables. Here I open the ‘Panel Manager’ under the ‘Setup’ drop down menu within the C-more application software. I make sure the selected ‘PLC Protocol’ for my application shows ‘AutomationDirect K-Sequence (DL05/06/105/205/350/405)’. I next select the communications port that I want to configure. In my case, ‘Comm. Port 2’. I use ‘1’ for my ‘Station Number’, with a ‘Baud Rate’ of 9600, and the ‘Parity’ set to ‘Odd’. I leave the ‘Timeout’ and ‘Poll’ times set as ’10 milliseconds’. Now that I have my communications and PLC protocol configured, I can ‘Import’ the Tag Names CSV file I created earlier from the DirectSOFT5 programming software. I select ‘Tag Names Database’ from ‘Import’ under the ‘File’ drop down menu. I select ‘motion control demo – directsoft5 project.csv’ file and click ‘Open’. A dialog window labeled ‘Import Tag name Database from Excel/CSV File’ will pop up. I make sure the ‘From DirectSOFT’ check box under the ‘Import Option’ area is checked so the imported data is treated properly. I next click the ‘Import’ button. All of the data records that are located in the CSV file will be stored in the C-more’s ‘Tag Name Database’. A bar graph shows the progress and an ‘Import Completed’ message will pop up when the import is done. Seeing is believing, so to make sure my Tag Names were imported, I open the ‘Tag Name Database’ utility under the ‘Database’ pull down menu. Shown here are the ‘Nicknames’ I had created within the DirectSOFT5 software. The ‘Assigned Functions’ I exported from the CTRIO Workbench utility, and later imported into my DirectSOFT5 ‘Nicknames’, can also be seen, along with a few C-more internal ‘System’ Tag Names. OK, I now have everything ready to start adding various objects to my panel’s screen. I’ll start by adding some simple text to identify my screen. I’ll use the ‘Static Text’ object by clicking on it from the ‘Library’, dragging it to my screen, and dropping it in place. The text will identify my screen, and would be very useful in allowing me to see quickly which screen I have active if I were using multiple screens. For my application, I type in ‘Motion Control’ for the text. I select ‘None’ for the ‘Frame Style’ so the text will occupy the least amount of screen space. For my text alignment I select the center icon under ‘Align’. I’ll use a ‘Font Format Setting’ of ‘8x16’. I next stretch the ‘Static Text’ object and locate it at the top of the screen. As a note, the C-more 3” Micro-Graphic panel has a screen size of 128 by 64 pixels. I set my screen’s title ‘Static Text’ to 128 pixels wide by 16 pixels high. For reference, take a look at the short video on the C-more Micro web site that covers ‘How to use Static Text’ under the site’s ‘Support Tools’ tab. Look for the ‘How-to Videos’ pull down menu, and you’ll find the ‘Text/Messages – How to Use Static Text’ video listed under the ‘Text/Messages’ category. Next I’ll add my first functional object, a ‘Pushbutton’. I click, drag, and drop the ‘Pushbutton’ object from the ‘Library List’ onto my screen. The ‘Pushbutton’ dialog box is now opened. I want the pushbutton to have a label, so I click the ‘Label’ check box and type ‘Jog’ for my text. I keep the text ‘Position’ at the top by having the ‘Top’ radio button checked. For displaying purposes, I type in ‘Left’ for both the ‘OFF’ and ‘ON’ condition text. For my needs I use the object’s defaults for ‘Color’, ‘Align’, and ‘Font’. I select ‘Button-1’ for my ‘Frame Style’. I then use the square ‘Style 1’ for the pushbutton’s ‘Object Style’. I want the pushbutton’s signal to be ‘On’ or ‘True’ only while it is being pressed on the C-more’s panel, so I check the ‘Momentary On’ radio button for the ‘Object Type’ as shown here. Finally I need to assign a ‘Tag Name’ to my ‘Jog Left’ pushbutton. Because I was able to import the ‘Tag Names’ earlier from the DirectSOFT5’s CSV file, I can use the C-more’s ‘Tag Name Database’ utility to look for the imported tag name for my pushbutton. I recall that the Tag Name ‘JOG LEFT PB’ was assigned to PLC Address ‘C1’ in the DirectSOFT5 ladder logic. I select the ‘JOG LEFT PB’ Tag Name from the drop down list. I click OK, and then size and position the pushbutton on my screen for a uniform look. In a like manner, I continue adding my other ‘Pushbutton’ objects for my demo project’s Jog Right, Home Axis, Trapezoid Move, and S-Curve Move pulse profiles. I size and position each object on the screen to make for a uniform look. The C-more Micro-Graphic panel has a built-in ‘Alarm’ feature, that I can setup to alert me with a pop up message of any problems that may come up during the operation of my application. I’ll use the alarm feature to alert me whenever one of the over travel proximity sensors is actuated. I program the alarms by opening the ‘Alarm Control Setup’ under the programming software’s ‘Setup’ drop down menu. To add an event, I click in the first pull down box under the ‘Event’ column for ‘Alarm Notification’. This is ‘Priority’ number ‘01’. A dialog box titled ‘Alarm Control Setup’ will pop up. Next I select the ‘Tag Name’ titled ‘OVERTRAVEL LEFT’ from the Tag Name drop down list, to use for my first alarm notification. I’ll click the ‘ON’ radio button so that my ‘Alarm’ is visible when the Tag Name is true. I check the ‘Beep’ check box so I can have an audible signal. I also check the ‘Backlight’ check box, select the color ‘Red’, check the ‘Blink’ check box, and leave the ‘Current’ backlight color selected. This will cause my backlight to blink off and on from red to the normal background color of the screen being displayed during an alarm condition. I want to display a ‘Banner Message’ during the alarm condition, so I check the ‘Banner Message’ check box and type ‘Over Travel Left’ for my alarm message. I click ‘OK’ when finished, and then create the next ‘Alarm Notification’ as ‘Priority’ number ‘2’ which will be used for the ‘OVERTRAVEL RIGHT’ alarm message. As shown here, when any of the alarm ‘Tag Name’ notification conditions are true, the screen will show the message in the upper area, blink back and forth from a green to a red background, and sound the beeper. This action will continue until the alarm condition is cleared. Here is shown my finished C-more Micro screen that I will use to control the various move profiles for the Motion Control demo. Again, I can home my axis, jog the axis left or right, execute a Trapezoid move, or execute an S-Curve move. I also have the ability to be alerted to any alarm conditions by way of alarm messages on the screen, along with background color changes and sounds. Let me take the time to point out a really nice feature that is built-in to the C-more programming software. What is the feature? How about the ability to test the C-more panel through ‘Simulation’? Here I click on the ‘Simulation’ icon and an on-screen representation of the C-more panel will be displayed. Also shown is a list of the various ‘Tag Names’ that were created as I developed my project. Using the list and the shown screen objects, I have the ability to change the status or values of the various bits and words. This will allow me to test the operation of my panel. Let me demonstrate! Here I use my mouse to click on the ‘Home Axis’ push button. I can hear a beep that indicates the push button has been pressed, and I can see in the ‘Simulation Tag List’ that the Value for ‘Home Axis PB’, bit ‘C0’, turns from ‘OFF’ to ‘ON’ and back to ‘OFF’ when released. I can also click on the Value for ‘Overtravel Right’ Tag Name, bit ‘X1’, to simulate an over travel condition, turning its status from ‘OFF’ to ‘ON’. I now see the ‘Simulation’ screen blinking between its normal background color of ‘Green’ to a ‘Red’ background color, and I also see my ‘Overtravel Right’ message in the upper left area of my screen display. In Part 8 of this video series, I will demonstrate the various pulse profile moves that I have created with the integration of the SureStep stepping system, with a CTRIO high-speed counter module controlled from a DirectLOGIC DL05 PLC and commanded by way of a C-more Micro-Graphic panel. Please join me! Motion Control – VID: L-PC-DL-STP-001-7 Part 7 of 8 – C-more Micro-Graphic Panel Programming 0 1