Finding the IP address

Don't know or forgotten the IP address of #Beckhoff devices?  Use the tips here to find IP address quickly without any fuss.

Quick steps to find IP address of Beckhoff device
1. Install and run #Wireshark on your laptop http://bit.ly/1WEaRPa
2. Connect the Beckhoff device directly to laptop using a patch cable
3. Power on the Beckhoff device
4. take note of ARP command or IP address where the Source not from laptop
5. Configure your laptop to the same IP address group
6. PING the device IP address

For more information, read the Wireshark forum. http://bit.ly/1U6NxWU

Diagnostics with EtherCAT

Diagnostics with EtherCAT - Part1

EtherCAT provides a powerful diagnostic mechanism that can be used by master applications to monitor the network status synchronously with the communication cycle. Master applications such as PLC programs can therefore react immediately to any error condition within the network with a simple evaluation of the Working Counter in the application software

Diagnostics with EtherCAT - Part2

In Part 1, the Working Counter was described as a mechanism for EtherCAT master devices to cyclic-synchronously monitor slave behavior. Part 2 covers further diagnostic mechanisms that allow master devices to precisely detect the location and cause of error conditions both at the hardware and at the application level of a slave.

Debug TwinCAT Ads Driver in IWS

I was called to debug communication issue between Indusoft Web Studio and TwinCAT2 PLC by an ex-colleague of mine.

The hardware configuration is very simple. There's a Beckhoff Embedded PC CX5020 and Panel PC CP2212 which are connected to a Wifi router. Both PCs are configured with static IP addresses.

Initially, the router DHCP was enabled. Thus, the router automatically assigned IP addresses for both PCs. We had to disable the DHCP in the router to prevent automatic assignment of IP addresses.

The Scada project was working fine in my last visit. After the recent Scada project update, the TwinCAT ADS driver just seems "bad".

The first thing that I zoomed in is the AMS route setting. Having check on both PCs that the route settings are correct, I diverted my focus on the InduSoft Main driver sheet.

Altogether, there are approximately 500 tags inside the Main driver sheet. From my development laptop, I use the Remote Management >> Connect to the Panel PC having the IWS Local Interface runtime.

Then, I start the remote Logwin where instantly the Logs tell me exactly what went wrong.One of the tag is accessing a PLC variable that is invalid. This pretty much screws up the entire Main driver sheet.

In order to avoid making much changes to the Scada project, I changed the Scan frequency from default  "Always" to "Screen". This means that the tag will only be Read when the screen that requires it's status for update. The Scada status is up and running again after the change is downloaded.

In conclusion, knowing the right diagnostic tools to use helps in your troubleshooting.