Sorry, I'm kind of late to the party here. My guess is that either your working computers networking are not configured identically to your non-working computer, or that there is a firewall or router difference.
When you are setting up an Ethernet driver in RSLinx, the term 'remote subnet' is the traditional TCP/IP meaning, where there is an IP router in between your network and the remote network. The term 'remote subnet' is causing a little confusion as well.Įarthscape is thinking of it in terms of a network that is accessible only by browsing from one network module to another across a ControlLogix backplane. It's also possible that something in your IP network is preventing the broadcast from working correctly. If your Windows firewall is blocking those responses (or the broadcast itself), that would be consistent with the fact that the Ethernet Devices driver works, and with your description of other computers with the exact same configuration working correctly. This translates to a much more controlled method of communication & eliminates user mistakes.The EtherNet/IP driver uses a broadcast packet to send out a "List Identity" service request, to which all the EtherNet/IP devices send back an identity packet. The advantage of this method is that you’re limiting yourself to the devices you specify. In other words, you’ll have to enter the IP address of each device that you’re looking to communicate with. The “Ethernet devices” driver allows the user to granularly specify each device. However, their setup and interface are different & need to be set up differently. Either one can be created from the “Configure Drivers” prompt within RSLinx. When it comes to the EtherNet/IP protocol, the user has two options: Ethernet devices and EtherNet/IP Driver.
RSLinx is a straightforward application with confusing driver configurations.
It allows the user to create miscellaneous drivers that connect to a specified field device. RSLinx is the networking tool from Allen Bradley. Similarly, other items are found at their respective addresses. For example, a “Cognex Camera” is found at the IP of 192.168.1.15. The spreadsheet above can be seen to have devices at specific IP addresses.
Lastly, the rightmost column provides a section for miscellanious notes which are most commonly used to store a password for the device. The columns are strategically created in order to track the octet, device, device type, software, physical location, data verified and the owner of the device. In my case, I’m using a private network with the IP address of 192.168.1.xxx where xxx is the last octet address assigned to a specific device. Managing PLC Network Infrastructure in ExcelĪ simple spreadsheet is used to track the different subnets of a network. We will be exploring the basics of networking as well as the RSLinx Classic driver setup within this article.
Furthermore, RSLinx is the software Allen Bradley devices utilize to connect to the user computer.
This software package provides an interface that can be used to scan an entire subnet & map the devices to their appropriate IPs. The technical component of visualizing an Allen Bradley PLC, HMI, VFD, etc. I manage a private home network of over 20 devices through Excel. This method is prone to errors on larger scales, but it very easy to manage and visualize for small networks. Deploying a control systems network can be challenging & without proper tracking and implementation may lead to complications.Ī young organization may choose to track their network infrastructure through a simple Excel spreadsheet. If they’re the heart, the veins which link them to other field components are the network. Programmable Logic Controllers are placed at the heart of the manufacturing process.