Industrial Automation Knowledge Base

Procedure to change TM3 module without stopping the PLC (M241 and M251)

Are you experiencing problem logon into EcoStruxure Process Expert System Server? Are you forgot the password? Or you want to set up another user name?   If your server or workstation is managed and connected to domain controller then simply ask your domain administrator to re-set your password or give your account access to the roles of “ESX HDCS System Admin”.   However, if the server or workstation is managed by your-self running on Physical Machine or Virtual Machine (VM) then this document will guide you how to regain your access to EcoStruxure Process Expert System Server in above case.   There are some workarounds to resolve this problem. This document will explain all possible workarounds and considerations you need to take before determining the method suits your case.

How to estimate and adjust the MAST task scan cycle time of the Modicon M580 Redundant (Hot Standby) system to an optimal value for better stability and performance?

Issue To connect and setup a tool connected to the M8 Tool I/O connector of Lexium Cobot a proper wiring and some system and I/O settings are required.  Resolution This article summarizes all necessary steps. Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Schneider Electric.  

Issue Within the General Purpose Library there are a set of function blocks called Signal Processing, which can be used to monitor the X80 module status. Resolution The following Knowledge Base article uses the Signal Processing function blocks from the Modicon General Purpose Library to monitor Channel health and Module health.   Download the attached PDF for instructions. Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Schneider Electric.  

Issue The Cobot is running an application program where parallel to the movement it shall: - monitor the position - update or react on IO - initiate additional communication (e.g. socket comms) Resolution Lexium Cobot allows to run programs with up to 5 sub-threads to trigger prallel execution. Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Schneider Electric.  

  Objective The purpose of this article is to introduce the basics and necessary steps, how to configure and set a tool at a robot in a Robotics application in EcoStruxure Machine Expert. The tool handling can be used for the Schneider Electric robots and Non-Schneider robots. For the Schneider Electric Cobot is this function not working, but for all other Schneider Electric robots. Resolution This article has highlighted how to configure and set a tool at a robot. It shows which possibilities are existing and the steps how to use them.  

Issue Before using AVEVA Industrial Graphics within Automation Expert, the AVEVA Industrial Graphics symbols need to be exported from AVEVA System Platform and then imported into Automation Expert.   Resolution The following Knowledge Base article details the steps required to install the required DLLs to export the AVEVA Industrial Graphics symbols and import them into Automation Expert.   Before exporting the AVEVA Industrial Graphics symbols, reference the AVEVA.IndustrialGraphicsLibrary Library and check that the symbols do not already exist.      Step 1 – Install DLLs   On the PC that AVEVA System Platform IDE is installed, ensure that the IDE Application is closed. Open the Services and stop the AVEVA.Watchdog   Navigate to the Automation Expert installation folder ” ArchestrA Extensions” and copy the DLLs.    Paste the three DLLs from “ArchestrA Extensions” folder to  "C:\Program Files (x86)\ArchestrA\Framework\Bin\IDEExtensions" folder  Restart the ArchestrA.Watchdog service  Relaunch the AVEVA System Platform IDE   Step 2 – Using AVEVA System Platform to Export the Symbols          Find the symbol that you wish to export right-click > Export > As Portable Object(s)         Save the zip file to a folder.   Step 3 – Import the Symbol into EcoStruxure Automation Expert          In the Solution Explorer navigate to the bottom of the tree and on OMI>MyContent right-click> New Folder, give the folder a name, e.g., Symbols         Select the newly created folder right-click>Import, select the exported zip file.         Click OK to the Import dialog box.         Give the Symbol a name.   Step 4 – Using the new Symbol within a CAT          Create the CAT function block network and HMI Interfaces, see example below:         Add the AVEVA Industrial Graphics.         Drag the new Symbol onto the Canvas.        Right click on the Symbol and select Custom Properties.         Highlight the three minus characters “---”,  click the three dots “…” and assign the OPC UA variable.         Save and Close the Graphics.       Prepare to create the template within AVEVA System Platform by using ASP Asset Mapping and the AutoMap feature.         Repeat using the ASP Attribute Mapping and Build.       Create the new template in AVEVA System Platform by using Sync AutoMapped .     Once the Template has been created in AVEVA System Platform, use the CAT in your applications and synchronize to System Platform via the normal method using the Deploy and Diagnostic Tab.   Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Schneider Electric.  

This Article describes step by step how to use Autotune tool for axis in a PacDrive System

Features and Handling of new SLC Controllers SLC300/400

This document presents different ways to change the animation color of the common process library objects in EcoStruxure Automation Expert.  3 methods are presented: a simple method using the standard parameters to modify the color animation of all objects in the library. A static method using the instance properties to customize the animation color of each instance. A dynamic method to change the animation color of an object, directly from the logic.   Example of dynamic color change:   These methods can be applied to change the color of any graphical objects. The Solution archive example is attached ( EcoStruxure Automation Expert V22.0) 

Manage forced variables in a PLC program has been a challenge on the industry for decades. Ideally every plant manager wants a ZERO force policy but in real world this not possible and eventually a force must be put in place to ensure production KPIs. Then the challenge becomes how to manager those forces. The solution to manage forces is to give full transparency by showing the status of forced variables in a SCADA system where operation managers and maintenance managers could see and take the needful action to replace the damaged sensors and then removed the forces in the PLC program. This KB shows an easy way to manage forces through the OPC quality code by displaying it in the supervision system.

Issue I want to archive data using EcoStruxure Automation Expert. Resolution The aim of this document is to provide guidance on configuring and using data logging within EcoStruxure Automation Expert. It covers configuration of the logging devices, choosing the data to be logged and checking the data storage. Finally, it shows the method of displaying the data. Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Schneider Electric.  

Issue EcoStruxure Automation Expert provides alarm controls to view realtime and archived alarms. Currently, it does not provide a method to export the alarms. Resolution This document guides users to implement this feature in the HMI. Users will be able to export alarms to CSV format files, and they can adapt the code to implement other formats if required. Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Schneider Electric.  

Issue At System Platform Management Console (SMC) is where all the communication drivers from AVEVA System Platform are installed. Natively, we can have OPC DA clients, OPC UA clients, we can use Modicon Communication Server, as an OPC UA Server to communicate with Modicon PLC’s. We can also use SMC as an OPC DA Server, to make all the variables from AVEVA System Platform available to other OPC DA clients, such as Inbatch. Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Schneider Electric.  

Connectivity to EcoStruxure Augmented Operator Advisor relies on additional software in the middle (Node-Red, EcoStruxure Operator Terminal Expert etc...). With EcoStruxure Automation Expert, it is possible to interface directly to EcoStruxure Augmented Operator Advisor using NETIO and REST API. In this knowledge base, you will find an explanation of how this integration could be achieved.

Check out this overview of the built-in recipe functions in EcoStruxure Machine SCADA Expert!

Do you have a need for multiple communication drivers in your HMI Project?  Want to scan them at using different scan rates?

Issue One of AOA’s (EcoStruxure Augmented Operator Advisors) most used features is the step-by-step procedures. These procedures are performed by operators, and the data of which procedure was made, by who, and when are stored in the AOA runtime PC, on a note.db file. These data are important when it comes to traceability. This knowledge base shows how you can retrieve this historical data through SQL. Resolution Enter resolution. Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Schneider Electric.  

The scope of this document is to provide information how to manage cellular modem connection in Windows Edge Box to solve some issues that we faced to use the standard solution with M-Connect software to connect on internet by modem cellular