M580 Safety S_MUTING_PAR function

[MatthewM]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have any experience using the S_MUTING_PAR function?  I am currently working on a simulator and I'm stumped about the function operation, to the point I think it is bugged.  The Timing Diagram in the help makes perfect sense and is what I expect to see, and yet if I follow the sequence of events in order as per that timing diagram, from state 8012 it then trips to state 8002 when the exit muting switch (21 or 22) is made.

The only way I can get anything to go through the light curtain is if the mute on both the entry and exit sides are made before the light curtain is breeched, which is physically impossible (unless it is setup as cross-muting, which is not the design of this project).

Analysis of the SE state diagram compared to the PLCOpen diagram also reveals differences, and I interpret the PLCOpen state machine as correct.  The SE one is interesting, in that it looks like the state machine is representing what I am seeing happen (which I believe is wrong), but it does not match the timing diagram which I believe should be how it works.

See snips below.  Pallet direction is top to bottom.  Pallet has entered entry mute switches GS01 and GS02, and breeched the curtain, and is successfully muted in state 8012 'Muting Forward Active 1':

But when the exit mute is reached (GS03 on MutingSwitch21), instead of going to state 8014 like the timing diagram says, it trips to 8002, like the state machine indicates:

So how are we supposed to get a pallet through the light curtain?

Am I doing something or interpreting something wrong?

Is this a bug in the simulator?

Should I be opening a tech support case with SE?

[MatthewM]

And further to the above, if you make the entry mutes, then make and break the exit mutes, the whole function gets locked up in state 8021 and all inputs can be turned off and the function offers no protection until the max mute timeout is reached.  No mutes active, light curtain breeched, output still on, no protection:

Simulator bug or S_MUTING_PAR coding bug?

[MatthewM · Accepted solution]

I heard back from Tech Support.  It turns out that these issues have been fixed in ECE v16.0 (the site is using v15.3).  But 5yrs since first released?  Sheesh.  It would seem very few people are using this function for it to have taken so long to be identified and fixed.