This blog is Part 3 of a multi-part series. Make sure to check out the other blogs on this topic:

1. Beckhoff Setup Basics: IPC Configuration Steps
2. Beckhoff Setup Basics: Getting Started with a Beckhoff PLC
3. Beckhoff Setup Basics: HMI Configuration Steps

Term Definitions

Throughout this blog series, I refer to two devices repeatedly. For clarity, those devices are as follows:

1. “Beckhoff IPC” – The industrial PC that will run the PLC and HMI server. Device configuration will occur on this device. Beckhoff sells these directly. Third-party IPCs can also be used, but licensing is more expensive.
2. “Programming Computer” – A computer, such as an engineer’s laptop, where the TwinCAT XAE development environment is installed. Programming happens on this device, as well as some of the configuration of the Beckhoff IPC.

Configure HMI Server

First, we’ll need to configure the HMI server so we can publish to it. On the Beckhoff IPC, find the HMI server tray icon, and click on it.

Note: If you do not see this icon, double-check that TE2000 HMI Server is installed on the Beckhoff IPC following the instructions in Part 1 of this blog series.

Select “Service Configuration.”

The webpage http://127.0.0.1:19800/ should open in the default browser.

On that page, add a new Server Instance by entering the information in the form and creating an HMI administrator password.

In the menu that appears, select the HMI Instance we created and select “Config.” (If there are issues, you may need to restart the HMI server through the same menu).

The default startup page will open.

If you get a “License Expired” error page, then double-check that you have a valid or trial license for TE2000.

In XAE Shell, ensure that TF2000 is selected and there is an active trial license.

If you have created a new trial license but still experience this error, then restart the HMI Server Instance.

Once the HMI Server has a valid or trial license, the Config page will show this. Enter the HMI administrator password created on the “Server Configuration” page.

The configuration will open. Navigate to TcHmiSrv > Webserver.

Expand the Endpoints menu and select “Add.”

Add the IP address of the HMI Server where it will be accessed externally (an external browser or HMI) and use your HTTPS port.

For this guide, we will assume the HMI server is on the Beckhoff IPC and use the URL: https://192.168.42.42:1021/.

An “Add successful” message will appear at the top of the page if it is successful. If not, make sure the URL is correct and you’ve used https:// as a prefix to the IP address.

Publish HMI Program

Now that the HMI server is configured, we can create the HMI Project in XAE Shell on the Programming PC.

Once the HMI project is complete, we can publish it to the HMI server.

To do this, select the HMI program in the project tree.

At the top of XAE Shell, change the platform dropdown to “TwinCAT HMI.”

At the top of XAE Shell, select TwinCAT HMI > Publish to TwinCAT HMI Server.

If you have not created any profiles, TwinCAT will prompt you to enter a profile name. Different profiles can be used for different environments (ex: development, release, etc)

Enter the IP address of the HMI endpoint created earlier, the appropriate port (1020), and the administrator password for the HMI Server set up earlier in this guide.

You can also click the “…” button to open a pop-up of available HMI servers to connect to.

It’s a good idea to click “Validate Connection” to ensure all information is correct and a connection is successful. If an error occurs during validation, you will not be able to publish until you correct it.

Then click “Publish” in the top-right corner to publish the HMI project to the Server.

It may take a long time for the project to publish. You can track progress in the bottom bar of XAE Shell.

Full-Screen HMI Start in Chrome/Firefox

When our Beckhoff IPC is booted, we usually want it to immediately open the HMI screen instead of requiring an operator to start the HMI manually. This can be accomplished with a very simple batch script.

Open Notepad on your Beckhoff IPC and paste in the following code:

@echo off
start "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --kiosk -fullscreen --incognito http://127.0.0.1:1010/
exit

@echo off
start "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --kiosk -fullscreen --incognito http://127.0.0.1:1010/
exit

Save this file as “StartHMI.bat” in your startup folder. For convenience, if the HMI screen ever does need to be started manually, create a shortcut for this batch script and place it on the desktop.

This will automatically open Chrome in full screen on startup. You may want to do this step after you’ve finished other setup steps, as it can be a bit of a nuisance after restarts.

Make sure the path for Chrome in the batch file is correct. The above is the default location, but it may not be correct.

Note: Similar instructions are available for Firefox.

Once the HMI is published on the server and starts in kiosk mode on startup, you are now complete with your Beckhoff PLC and HMI.

The post Beckhoff Setup Basics: TwinCAT HMI Configuration Steps appeared first on DMC, Inc..

This blog is Part 2 of a multi-part series. Make sure to check out the other blogs on this topic:

1. Beckhoff Setup Basics: IPC Configuration Steps
2. Beckhoff Setup Basics: Getting Started with a Beckhoff PLC
3. Beckhoff Basics: HMI Configuration

Summary

This is the second installment of a three-part blog series covering all you need to know about getting started with a Beckhoff PLC/HMI. In this blog, we’ll be covering how to configure and license the PLC to run your code.

Term Definitions

Throughout this blog series, I refer to two devices repeatedly. For clarity, those devices are as follows:

1. “Beckhoff IPC” – The hardware, likely obtained from Beckhoff, that will run the PLC and HMI server. Device configuration will occur on this device.
2. “Programming Computer” – A computer, such as an engineer’s laptop, where the TwinCAT XAE development environment is installed. Programming happens on this device, as well as some of the configuration of the Beckhoff IPC.

Connect to the IPC Via a Programming Computer

First, we’ll need to check if TwinCAT XAE is able to communicate with the IPC. If you’ve done this before, feel free to skip this step.

Next, make sure your programming computer is connected to the Programming Port on the Beckhoff IPC. On the programming computer, right-click on the TwinCAT gear icon and select Router > Edit Routes.

On the TwinCAT Static Routes popup, select “Add.” The Add Route Dialog will appear. Check the Advanced Settings box at the bottom left to expose the full connection settings.

The most reliable method to find the IPC is to enter the IP address in the field at the top, then click “Enter Host Name / IP.” If the Beckhoff IPC doesn’t appear, make sure you can ping it (if the firewall pinging rules are enabled) and check your IPC’s or network’s firewall settings.

Select the Beckhoff IPC. The most reliable way to add a route is to set the address info to reference the IP address, not the hostname. This is because many plant networks don’t have DNS set up in such a way that allows access of factory devices via hostname. Select this option, then “Add Route.” Enter the proper credentials for your IPC in the popup and click “Okay.” Default credentials for Beckhoff IPCs are:

• User: Administrator
• Password: 1

If you have changed these, use the appropriate credentials. If the connection process succeeds, you should see an X or a small lock appear under the Connected column in the Add Route Dialog and the TwinCAT Static Routes window. You can exit these windows now.

From within TwinCAT XAE Shell, open your project. Then use the target dropdown menu and select “Choose Target System.”

Note: these instructions will show screenshots from 32-bit XAE Shell, but can be followed the same in XAE Shell 64-bit.

In the window that pops up, expand the browser tree and select the Beckhoff IPC. Click “OK.”

If you are prompted to change the solution platform, do so.

Set IPC Boot Settings

Before the TwinCAT project can be downloaded to the PLC, a few boot settings need to be configured. First, right-click on the PLC project in the solution explorer and make sure “Autostart Boot Project” is checked. This ensures the project starts automatically when the Beckhoff IPC boots.

Next, double-click on “SYSTEM” in the solution explorer, then navigate to the Settings tab. Select “Run Mode (Enable)” under Boot Settings (Target). This will make sure the PLC enters run mode on boot.

If you want to enable auto-login for the Beckhoff IPC, check the Auto Logon box. Enter the username and password for the IPC and click Apply to save the boot settings to the IPC.

Confirm Hardware Configuration and Activate Configuration

Next, we will need to activate the PLC configuration. Make sure your IO cards are powered and connected to the IPC before continuing with this step.

To do this, first navigate to I/O > Devices > [YourEtherCATMasterDeviceName]. For example, in this project, the EtherCAT Master device is named “Device 1.”

Double-click to open the device settings. On the Adapter tab, click “Search…”

The pop-up window should include a list of NICs with the TwinCAT RT Ethernet Driver installed. Select the NIC that will be used to connect to IO.

If no Ethernet adapters are listed, then please return to the “Install the Beckhoff Real-Time Ethernet Driver” section in Part 1 of this blog series.

If EtherCAT devices are already connected to the PLC, you can add them to the I/O tree by either manually adding the devices in the correct topology or scanning for devices. To scan, right-click the EtherCAT Master and select “Scan.”

Note: Scanning is only possible when the PLC is in Config mode.

Now you can activate the hardware configuration using the steps icon in the top ribbon:

If the button is grayed out, make sure you have selected the correct target in the TwinCAT XAE software and have a valid route.

When the Activate Configuration confirmation window appears, click “OK.”

If issues arise during this step, you may need to troubleshoot your hardware setup and verify that your TwinCAT project is configured correctly.

If your Beckhoff IPC does not have runtime licenses installed, which is common during an initial setup, TwinCAT XAE will prompt you to generate trial licenses. Click “Yes” and follow the prompts.

If you have purchased full runtime licenses, you can install them in a later step to replace the trial licenses.

Enter the Captcha required for trial licenses.

You can now click the login button to log in to the PLC. Once logged in, you can also click the start button if you need to start the PLC’s runtime.

You can now click the login button to log in to the PLC. Once logged in, you can also click the start button if you need to start the PLC’s runtime. 

Activating Licenses

Activating licenses in TwinCAT can be somewhat tricky, and this walkthrough will cover the basics. For further help with licensing, your contact at Beckhoff is a great resource.

First, you’ll need to select the proper license device. If using a USB dongle or card, it is critical that you select the right device before sending your license request file to Beckhoff. License request/response files are tied to device IDs, and so once a request has been sent and a response received, that license can only be used with that device. To change devices, you’ll have to get in touch with Beckhoff headquarters in Germany, and depending on your location, that might take some time. So try to avoid that by getting the license device correct first!

To select the proper device, go to System > License.

If you’re using a dongle and it’s already in the project, you can select it from the License Device dropdown in the “Order Information (Runtime)” tab.

If you are not using a dongle, select Target from the dropdown to bind the licenses to the Beckhoff IPC’s hardware ID. In this case, you can skip the remaining dongle-related steps and proceed directly to generating a license request.

We do recommend the use of a dongle when possible, so the IPC can be replaced without losing licenses.

If the dongle is not already configured in your project, click “Add…” to the right of the dropdown to add it. The dongle will then appear under License in the project tree.

After you click “Add…”, the License Device window will open. From here, you can select the appropriate dongle on your target Beckhoff IPC by clicking “Search in I/O Configuration…” or “Search USB Dongle on Target…”.

To use either option, TwinCAT must be in Config mode. You can switch to Config mode by clicking the blue gear icon in the TwinCAT engineering environment. After selecting the correct dongle, return TwinCAT to Run mode by clicking the green gear icon.

If the dongle doesn’t appear while searching, be sure your IO is configured correctly and the IPC recognizes the dongle. When the dongle has been selected, the dongle status information should populate.

Now that the dongle is in your project, you can go back to the License window, and you should be able to select it in the license device dropdown. Make sure that when you select it from the dropdown, the system ID changes (indicating the dongle system ID is different from the target system ID). Also ensure the system ID of the dongle is something reasonable (e.g., not a bunch of 0s; this might indicate you’re not communicating properly with the dongle).

If you have multiple license devices (e.g. target and a dongle), a “License Device” column will appear in the table at the bottom of the window. Make sure to select the correct device that you’d like to store each license on (most likely choose the dongle for all licenses).

Now that we’ve selected the correct license device, we need to generate a license request file. To do this we’ll first need to enter a license ID (provided by your contact at Beckhoff) in the license ID box. You can also enter a customer ID and a comment, but these are optional. Once you’ve entered a license ID, click “Generate File…”.

TwinCAT will prompt you to save the license request file to your programming computer. Save the file, then, when prompted to “Send license request to Beckhoff,” select “No”. We’ll send the file manually instead.

Note: This is your last chance to turn back before tying licenses to a device ID! Check over your license hardware setup and make sure everything is in order. If there are problems, regenerate the license file with the corrected settings before sending to Beckhoff.

Locate the license request (*.tclrq) file you just saved. Create a new email, attach the file, and send it to tclicense@beckhoff.com.

If everything is set up correctly and your license request is valid, Beckhoff will respond with an automatically generated email that has a license response file (*.tclrs). Save this file to your programming computer.

If the file is not attached to the email, the email will include whatever issues the automated system had with your license request, and you may need to work this out with your Beckhoff contact.

Back in the license window, use the “License Response File” button to select the license response file. For the new license response to take effect, you’ll need to restart TwinCAT on the target, which you can do with the green gear icon.

If everything worked properly, the Current Status column in the License window should be green and read valid for every license. You may need to refresh the window (close it and re-open it) to see this status change.

Now that we’ve correctly activated and configured the licenses, we are ready to configure the HMI server, which we cover in part three of this blog series.

The post Beckhoff Setup Basics: Getting Started with a Beckhoff PLC appeared first on DMC, Inc..

This blog is Part 1 of a multi-part series. Make sure to check out the other blogs on this topic:

1. Beckhoff Setup Basics: IPC Configuration Steps
2. Beckhoff Setup Basics: Getting Started with a Beckhoff PLC
3. Beckhoff Basics: HMI Configuration

Summary

This is the first installment of a three-part blog series covering all you need to know about getting started with a Beckhoff PLC/HMI. In this blog, we’ll be covering how to initially set up your Beckhoff IPC to run PLC code and a TCHMI server.

Within DMC, we often find ourselves setting up a new IPC, and it has proved very helpful to have a standardized guide to start with. So, we’ve compiled this guide to serve as a resource both within our organization and externally, and we’ve updated it for TwinCAT build 3.1.4026. Some key steps have changed significantly with build 4026, so if you are using an earlier version, please consult the version notes on the package install steps.

Note: If you aren’t planning to use TwinCAT HMI, you may disregard any steps specific to it. If you find yourself needing to use it in the future, you can perform those steps at any point.

The process below was developed and documented on a Windows 10 development machine, but the process will be functionally identical for Windows 11.

Term Definitions

Throughout this blog series, we refer to two devices repeatedly. For clarity, those devices are as follows:

1. “Beckhoff IPC”– The industrial PC that will run the PLC and HMI server. Device configuration will occur on this device. Beckhoff sells these directly. Third-party IPCs can also be used, but licensing is more expensive.
2. “Programming Computer”– A computer, such as an engineer’s laptop, where the TwinCAT XAE development environment is installed. Programming happens on this device, as well as some of the configuration of the Beckhoff IPC.

Power-On and Connection

Most Beckhoff IPCs do not have a power button; rather, they power on as soon as power is supplied. When ready, supply power. A keyboard, mouse, and monitor will also be useful for first power-on and initial configuration.

Beckhoff Device Manager

If your device is a Beckhoff IPC, Beckhoff Device Manager will generally run on startup. For a basic setup, you can step through the wizard with default options, and on the last page, uncheck the box that says “Run Beckhoff Security Wizard on next startup,” so it won’t run on startup in the future.

Change NIC Settings

We’ll begin with some basic network setup. Open up the IPC’s adapter settings by right-clicking on the Network Icon in the system tray and selecting “Open Network & Internet settings”.

From this window, select “Change adapter options” (“Change adapter settings” on the left side of the window in Windows 7).

This window should display the Network Interface Connections (NICs) available on your Beckhoff IPC. There are often two (though there may be more or less) – one that you can use to connect a programming computer and another that can be used to connect to IO racks/devices. Before you proceed, identify which NIC you will be using for each purpose and the IP addresses that you’d like to assign to these NICs. A helpful (but optional) step is to rename each NIC to describe its purpose.

To do this, right-click on a NIC and select Rename. In this example, Programming Port will be used for programming, and EtherCAT Master will be used to connect to IO.

To change IP addresses for these NICs, right-click on them and select Properties. Then navigate to Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and select Properties. You can then input your selected IP addresses. For advanced network configurations, the subnet mask can also be changed at this point.

For this tutorial, we will be using:
Programming Port: 192.168.42.42
EtherCAT Master: 192.168.43.43

(Optional) Rename PC

While this step isn’t necessary, it can be helpful to rename your PC so if it’s connected to a network in the future, it can be easily identified. To do so, navigate to Start Menu > Settings > System > About > Rename PC.

After you rename your IPC, it will prompt you for a restart. You may postpone this to save time, as some of the following steps will also require a restart.

Install Chrome or Firefox If Using TwinCAT HMI

Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox work well with TwinCAT 3, and we’ve seen issues with other browsers in the past. So, we recommend you install one of these browsers if you’re going to be using TwinCAT 3 HMI on this IPC.

If you’re working on an IPC that cannot be connected to the internet during setup, you will need a standalone installer.

• Chrome requires a special installer for this.
  • At the time of writing, Google does not make it clear on the webpage whether the installer is standalone or not.
  • The downloaded file from the given link should contain “Standalone” in its filename, which confirms it is correct.
• Firefox install files are generally standalone by default.

Download or transfer the install files to the IPC and follow the instructions in the installer. Once installed, you may want to launch the browser and disable distracting features such as suggested homepage links or password-manager prompts.

Create a Beckhoff Account

If you do not already have a Beckhoff account, you must register so you can download software. Beckhoff generally requires an account for any software downloads, so this will be useful going forward as well. Go to https.www.beckhoff.com, where you can register for an account as shown below.

Setup Packages

The installation process has changed significantly for build 4026. Package Manager is a new feature that streamlines downloading and installing packages, and it must be used when working with 4026.

Legacy 4024 installation notes

If you are using 4024, you have two options. You may install legacy packages through Package Manager. Or, you may follow the legacy installation procedure using EXEs.

The legacy installation procedure:

1. Visit https://beckhoff.com/, log in, and navigate to Download finder > Software and tools.
2. On your programming PC, you will need eXtended Automation Engineering (XAE) and the engineering versions of any TwinCAT functions.
3. On the Beckhoff IPC, you will need eXtended Automation Runtime (XAR) and the runtime versions of any TwinCAT functions.
   • Note: If you require a build of 4024 not available on the website, you will need to reach out to Beckhoff support for assistance.
   • TwinCAT Functions are Beckhoff-developed applications that allow for special functionality on the PLC. They will have their own separate EXE to install.
   • Common TwinCAT Functions include the following–install the ones required based on your project; you can install more functions later if required.
     • TF2000: TwinCAT HMI
     • TF3300: TwinCAT Scope
     • TF5000: TwinCAT NC PTP
     • TF6100: OPC UA Server
     • TF6250: Modbus TCP
     • TF6255: Modbus RTU
     • TF6310: TCP/IP
4. For any Engineering EXEs, install them onto your programming PC.
5. For Runtime EXEs, transfer the EXEs to your IPC, then install them. Install XAR first, then the remaining packages.

You cannot use the legacy EXE installation along with the newer Package Manager-based installation. If you need to upgrade or change versions, you must carefully follow the instructions in this Infosys page before installing the other version.

Install Package Manager

You will need Package Manager on the IPC–it should come preinstalled with Beckhoff 4026 IPCs. You will likely also need Package Manager on your programming computer.

Once you have registered or logged in on Beckhoff.com, go to Download Finder as boxed in the figure below.

Package manager should be the first option at the top of the page; if it isn’t, search for it in the download finder.

Download the available version as an EXE, and install it on your programming computer and IPC if it is not already installed.

Configure Feeds

Feeds are repositories of packages that Beckhoff provides. Beckhoff provides a Stable Feed, Outdated Feed, and Testing Feed. We recommend using the Beckhoff Stable Feed for any production systems. See this Infosys page for details on each feed.

If your IPC is (or can easily be) connected to the internet directly, you will likely find it easiest to download and install your required packages from the online feeds.

If the IPC cannot be connected to Beckhoff’s servers, then you can follow these instructions from Beckhoff to transfer the packages onto your offline IPC. Beckhoff supports using a file directory with package files as a personal feed. Beckhoff also supports a compressed file containing all selected packages, transferred from a programming computer.

To configure the feeds, launch Package Manager.

Click the “+ Add new feed” button to add a new feed.

As discussed, you may enter the Beckhoff online feeds if connected to the internet, or if offline, you may use any local folder as a feed.

If selecting the outdated feed, you may get a disclaimer as shown. If you are comfortable with the disclaimer, you may accept it by clicking “Yes,” and the feed will be added.

Multiple feeds can be added, as necessary, and will be used in the priority order displayed.

Package Manager will next ask to integrate with Visual Studio (if installed), or XAE Shell or XAE Shell 64-bit. XAE Shell 64-bit is a more modern, faster version of XAE Shell, newly added with the release of 4026.

Select a location to install the TwinCAT Packages.

Note: This is a different default location than legacy 4024 XAE/XAR installations.

Use Package Manager to Install TwinCAT Packages

Once Package Manager is set up, we can now install packages onto the IPC.

If the IPC is connected to the internet and can access the Beckhoff-hosted feeds, you will see a list of available packages to install.

The packages can be filtered by Engineering Packages and Runtime Packages:

• Engineering Packages are meant to be installed on your programming computer and will allow you to connect, modify, or control the PLC.
  • Common examples include:
    • TwinCAT Standard
    • TwinCAT XAE Shell / XAE Shell 64-bit
    • TE9000: Safety Editor
    • TE1300: TwinCAT Scope
    • TE2000: TwinCAT HMI
• Runtime Packages provide applications that will run on the Beckhoff IPC.
  • Common examples include:
    • TwinCAT Standard
    • TC1000: TwinCAT ADS
    • TF2000: TwinCAT HMI Server
    • TF3300: TwinCAT Scope Server
    • TF5000: TwinCAT NC PTP
    • TF6100: OPC UA Server
    • TF6250: Modbus TCP
    • TF6255: Modbus RTU
    • TF6310: TCP/IP
    • Beckhoff Device Manager

Select all the packages that you need for your system. Then either click Install (Blue Download button) to install locally, or Download to send to an offline IPC (Press 3 dots button, then “Download”).

Once all the packages are selected, either click “Apply Modifications” to install them locally, or click “Start Download” or “Start Download as a Zip”. Please refer to Infosys for more information on installing offline feeds.

Install the Beckhoff Real-Time Ethernet Driver

Next, you will need to install the Beckhoff Real-Time Ethernet Driver on the NIC to which you plan to connect your IO. This will allow the Beckhoff IPC to communicate with said IO.

Navigate to C:\TwinCAT\3.1\System and run TcRteInstall.exe.

In the Compatible devices section, select the NIC that you will use for IO (EtherCAT Master if you configured your NIC settings as described earlier) and click Install.

After the process is completed, the NIC should move to the Installed and ready-to-use devices (real-time capable) section. You can close out of the application.

Set Firewall Settings

It’s important to maintain secure firewall settings on industrial devices to avoid allowing unwanted access to an industrial network, especially if said devices will be connected to the internet. But we must allow communication to the TwinCATTwinCAT runtime/HMI server via a programming computer to download code. To do this, we will enable a few rules within the firewall. Beckhoff will pre-configure certain ports on IPCs, but we recommend going through these steps to confirm that no traffic will be blocked. You may also need to refer to this section if firewall settings are inadvertently changed or reset.

Navigate to Start Menu > Settings. In the search bar, search “firewall” and open Windows Defender Firewall.

In the window that appears, select Advanced Settings on the right.

In the Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security window, select Inbound Rules on the left and click New Rule on the right.

Details on important TCP/UDP ports required for TwinCAT Services can be found on Infosys, but in our experience, the most important ports are:

• TCP 48898 (TwinCAT ADS Not Secure)
• UDP 48899 (TwinCAT ADS Discovery)
• TCP 8016 (TwinCAT ADS Secure)
• TCP 1010 (TwinCAT HMI <=1.12 Local)
• TCP 1020 (TwinCAT HMI <=1.12 Incoming)
• TCP 2010 (TwinCAT HMI >=1.14 Local)
• TCP 2020 (TwinCAT HMI >=1.14 Incoming)

Step through the wizard, using Port as the rule type, and add rules for all required ports.

Change AMS Net ID

The AMS Net ID is used by the TwinCAT XAE programming suite to identify specific PLC runtimes, and to connect to that runtime. It is made up of 6 values from 0-255, period-delimited. At DMC, we usually set the AMS Net ID to be the same as the IP address of the programming port of the Beckhoff IPC, followed by “.1.1”, for instance, “192.168.42.42.1.1”. This makes it easier to remember than using an entirely different number (though any value technically works).

Click on the TwinCAT gear icon in the system tray and select Router > Change AMS Net ID. If this gear icon does not appear in the system tray, you may need to restart your IPC first. After typing in your selected AMS Net ID and confirming, you will be prompted to restart. Now is a good time to do so.

Legacy Troubleshooting Steps

In the past, when using build 3.1.4024, we have sometimes seen an error message when trying to put the PLC into Run Mode:

Init4\RTime: Start Interrupt: Ticker started >> AdsWarning: 4115 (0x1013, RTIME: system clock setup fails)

We have not seen this yet with build 3.1.4026 but have preserved the resolution here. If you encounter this error, you can navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Beckhoff\TwinCAT\3.1\System and run win8settick.bat as administrator. This sets some TwinCAT-required clock settings and resolves the error.

The post Beckhoff Setup Basics: IPC Configuration Steps appeared first on DMC, Inc..

Table of Contents

1. Installation
2. Configuration
3. Workloads and Packages
4. Conclusion

TwinCAT Package Manager is Beckhoff’s new innovative way of managing packages within the TwinCAT environment. Released with their latest build 4026, Package Manager allows for quick and easy downloads of TwinCAT versions and workloads (collections of one or more packages), as well as individual packages. Let’s get started with some of the key features of the TwinCAT Package Manager.

Installation

Download the latest version of the TwinCAT Package Manager from the Beckhoff website. This blog will use the full installation, which includes the UI. If you would prefer the command-line-only install, some common commands are available on Beckhoff Infosys.

Follow the installation procedure to install TwinCAT Package Manager.  

Configuration

Once TwinCAT Package Manager is installed successfully, open it. If this is your first time launching Package Manager, you should be greeted with the Introduction screen. If you have previously launched Package Manager, but want to follow along, you can access this screen with the Settings button (gear icon) in the bottom left.

Introduction

If you’re installing Package Manager on a system with a previous build of TwinCAT already installed, there will be a migration tab instead of a location tab. We will deal with that in a later section. Click Next.

Feeds

The next section is for configuring the feeds for Package Manager. Click the “Add new feed” button to add one of these feeds.

By default, Beckhoff provides three feeds: the stable feed, the outdated feed, and the testing feed. The stable feed contains officially released Beckhoff products and is typically the main feed for most workloads and packages. Select the URL that ends with “/stable” to add the stable feed. The feed name should auto-populate, but can be changed. Enter your valid myBeckhoff account credentials and click Save to add the feed. You can create your own myBeckhoff account if you don’t already one.

You’re also able to create your own feed, which you can access here. This would allow you to easily share custom libraries with other developers on your team. We won’t go in depth on how to do that in this blog, but the Beckhoff community GitHub repo has an example structure.

You should now see the feed added. You’re able to disable, edit, or delete the feed from this view if needed.

The outdated feed contains previous TwinCAT builds. If you used TwinCAT prior to build 4026, this is essentially the new version of Remote Manager. The testing feed contains test versions of workloads and packages. It’s most commonly used if you need access to an unreleased feature or are testing packages with Beckhoff engineers.

Follow the steps above for the stable feed to add the outdated and testing feeds, making sure to use their respective URLs.

Once you add the outdated and testing feeds, your Feeds tab should look like the one above. You can reorder the feed priorities using the up and down arrows on the right side. It’s recommended to keep the stable feed as priority 1 since it contains the officially released packages. If you reordered the feeds, click the save button in the top right. If you click next with unsaved changes, you will get this warning.

If you see this warning, click “Yes” to save changes. Click “Next.”

Integration

The next screen asks which versions of TwinCAT XAE to install. Since TwinCAT XAE is built on Visual Studio, it requires the same Visual Studio version (32-bit or 64-bit) to be installed. If you’re working on a project in build 4026 or newer, it’s recommended to use the 64-bit version when possible. If you’re working on a project in a build prior to 4026 or on a 32-bit computer system, the 32-bit version of TwinCAT XAE is the only option. You can always add or remove these XAE versions later, so for now, let’s install both. Click “Next.”

Migration

If you had a previous build of TwinCAT, you will be prompted to complete a Migration screen. If you did not have a previous build of TwinCAT, feel free to skip to the Location section.

The migration tool will attempt to capture existing user settings on previous versions of TwinCAT, uninstall previous versions, install the latest versions, and reapply the user settings. Let’s click “Start Migration” to get started.

When getting to step 2 of the preparation screen, you may see a notification that you need to install the MigrateCli package. Click “Yes” to continue.

Once the migration tool is installed, click “Start Simulation.”

Once the migration simulation runs, you should see a list of all existing products in the system and how TwinCAT Package Manager plans to upgrade them to packages and workloads.

Assuming all the products can be upgraded to packages and workloads, we are ready to start the migration. Click Start Migration.

Depending on the products you have installed, you may need to reboot your system. Press Ok and the TwinCAT Package Manager should automatically start up after rebooting and continue the migration.

Once the migration is complete, click Finish. You should see all the latest versions of the products you had previously installed on the system.

Location

If you did not have a previous version of TwinCAT installed, the final screen asks where to install TwinCAT. The default location is fine unless you have a reason to install it elsewhere. Click Finish.

Workloads and Packages

The workload view should be the default view when opening Package Manager for the first time. It can be navigated to by hovering over the package icon with a W in the bottom right and selecting workloads.

Workloads

Workloads are groupings of packages that closely align with Beckhoff’s licensing structure. For example, if you’re planning on using Beckhoff XTS in your solution, you can search for “XTS” to find the TF5850 | TwinCAT 3 XTS workload. This will install the necessary packages to work with XTS. If you are using XTS in your solution, check out our blog series on XTS to help get started!

The workloads in the general section are the ones we should install first. Let’s start by installing the latest version of TwinCAT Standard Engineering and the latest versions of TwinCAT XAE Shell 32-bit and 64-bit. If you’re installing the latest version, simply click on the blue download button associated with that workload.

You’ll see the planned installations added to the right side of Package Manager under selected products. Click Apply Modifications to start the installation.

Some workloads will require a restart. The TwinCAT Standard installation is one of them. Click Accept to continue.

If a pop-up appears asking you to allow the TwinCAT Package Manager to make changes to your device, click “Yes.”

The installation may take a few minutes, but Package Manager will give you a download and installation status.

Once the installation completes, Package Manager will show a check mark next to the workloads that were successfully installed.

We didn’t explicitly install TwinCAT Standard Remote Manager or TE9000 | TwinCAT 3 Safety Editor. Why are they showing as installed? TwinCAT Package Manager will install all dependencies needed to install the selected workloads! These workloads are dependencies for TwinCAT Standard and are automatically installed for us.

Workloads (Other Versions)

One of the nice things about TwinCAT Package Managers is the ability to access prior versions of all the workloads. Each workload has an ellipsis on the right side. Clicking on this provides the option to select other versions.

Click on the other versions option for TwinCAT Standard.

We can see that the latest version is currently installed and can be uninstalled here if needed. If we wanted to install a previous version, say 4026.21.2, we could click the icon next to that version. That icon is the downgrade icon. This would uninstall 4026.22.0 and downgrade TwinCAT Standard to 4026.21.2.  However, TwinCAT Standard Remote Manager can be used when working on multiple solutions across different versions.

Click the triple-dot icon next to TwinCAT Standard Remote Manager, then select other versions.

The icons here are install icons instead of downgrade icons, even though we already have the latest version installed. This is because the TwinCAT Standard Remote Manager supports multiple versions, as indicated by the AllowMultiple attribute in the top left. Installing from here will allow both versions to coexist on the same system. To illustrate this, I’ll install version 4026.21.2.

The Package Manager workload for TwinCAT Standard Remote Manager now shows a [ + 1 ] to indicate multiple builds are installed.

When opening TwinCAT XAE, we now have multiple builds to select from!

Installing Pre-4026 Builds

If you haven’t already, make sure you’re connected to the Beckhoff outdated feed. You can configure your feeds by clicking on the settings icon in the bottom left.

Once you have the outdated feed configured, hover over the package icon with the database in the bottom right. Select the “Beckhoff Outdated Feed.”

The only workload associated with the Beckhoff Outdated Feed is the TwinCAT Standard Remote Manager. From the outdated feed, we can install pre-4026 builds of TwinCAT.

I’ll install build 4024.75.4 to illustrate.

After installing build 4024.75.4 on TwinCAT Package Manager, it is now selectable in the build dropdown.

*NOTE: This is only available in the 32-bit XAE. The 64-bit version of XAE only supports builds 4026 and newer.

Packages

So far, we’ve been dealing with Workloads. Workloads are groupings of packages that TwinCAT organizes primarily according to Beckhoff’s licensing structure. TwinCAT projects reference packages directly. Let’s open a new TwinCAT XAE project to see this.

In the References folder of a brand new TwinCAT project, there are the Tc2_Standard, Tc2_System, and Tc3_Module packages.

Let’s switch back to the package manager. On the left, you should be able to go to the package view menu and select Packages.

This will show the individual packages that are available and installed on the system. Let’s search for Tc2_Standard.

We can see that Tc2_Standard is installed.

How To Deal with a Missing Package

If you have a missing package on a TwinCAT project, you will be greeted with a warning sign that looks something like this:

The package with the warning symbol next to it is missing from the project. Double-clicking on the package shows that the library is not available and does not have an effective version listed.

Right-click on the missing package and open the properties window. The resolution will show the version of the package that the TwinCAT PLC project is expecting.

If we go back to Package Manager and search for the Tc2_System package, we can see that although it is installed, it is not the same version the PLC project expects.

Click the ellipses next to the package, then select other versions.

Similar to Workloads, Packages have multiple versions that can be installed onto the same system. In this scenario, we have Tc2_System v3.10.1 installed already, but do not have v3.9.1. Tc2_System allows for multiple versions to be installed, indicated by the AllowMultiple tag. Let’s install v3.9.1 and see if that resolves our issue. Click the download button next to v3.9.1 and click “Apply modifications.”

If you see a message about “TwinCAT XAE / Visual Studio stop required,” be sure to close all open XAE windows before clicking Accept. Once the package is installed successfully, we can check the previously missing package.

The library is now available and has an effective version of v3.9.1. We have installed our missing package through Package Manager!

Conclusion

The TwinCAT Package Manager is a huge improvement in how engineers can manage the various Packages and Workloads that make up a TwinCAT solution. TwinCAT Package Manager is just the start of the improvements that TwinCAT build 4026 brings to development. A complete list of changes is offered on the Beckhoff website. If you’re starting a project in 4026 or upgrading an existing solution to 4026, reach out to DMC and see how we can help! We have extensive experience with upgrading and developing across all TwinCAT builds.

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Prerequisites 

1. TwinCAT XAE installed 
2. TwinCAT HMI installed 
3. PLC Project built and running (see bonus information for the PLC Code used in this example)

Project Setup

Creating the Project

With the prerequisites checked off, we can start the basic project setup for the HMI. Begin by right-clicking the solution in the Solution Explorer project tree and selecting Add > New Project. When the Add New Project window launches, navigate to TwinCAT HMI > TwinCAT HMI Project and name it whatever you like.

Linking Tags 

The first step in setting up a TwinCAT HMI project is linking PLC symbols to the user interface. This is done by exposing symbols to the TwinCAT HMI Server and binding them directly to HMI control properties.

Navigate to TwinCAT HMI > Windows >  TwinCAT HMI Configuration.

From TwinCAT HMI Configuration, navigate to All symbols > ADS > PLC, and wherever you have your variables defined, in my case ‘MAIN’.

Note: If ADS is not appearing, check your ADS Route (review the bonus information to learn how). 

From here, you can right-click on a variable and hit ‘Map Symbol’. You can also simply double-click on a symbol to map it. We have now successfully pulled the PLC data into the HMI Server.

Now, we can bind these tags to controls in the HMI screen. Navigate to ‘Desktop.view’. This is the main screen on which we will develop.

Creating Controls 

On the right pane, we have properties and the toolbox. These are used to add and edit controls within the project. We’ll start by dragging a Button into the project.

After your component is added, you can then select it to edit the Properties tab. For a basic button, we will want to create a data binding for the state symbol. Click the square to the right of the text field to link tags and select ‘Create data binding’.

This opens the symbol browser where you can select mapped PLC variables. On my screen, some variable groups include ‘ADS’, ‘PLC1’, ‘Global_Version’, and ‘MAIN’. Within the ‘MAIN’ category, we’ll select the bRun variable. It is worth noting that you can also map symbols from this screen using the same method as in HMI configuration.

You should now see the name for that symbol populated in the ‘StateSymbol’ box. You can also hover over property names to see a description of what they do. Now, we will drag in an Ellipse to show how the Events tab works.

With your ellipse selected, navigate over to the Events tab indicated by the lightning bolt symbol. From here, you can see that there are many built-in events to configure, like .onMouseDoubleClick, .onMouseEnter, .onMouseLeave, etc. You also have the option to configure a custom event.

Click the small square next to the Custom field to map a symbol to this control. In our case, we will select ‘bState’. Once that symbol is mapped, click the pencil icon to open and edit the custom event associated with the control.

In the Events tab, you will see a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to define logic for the controller’s behavior. This visual workflow makes it easy to configure interactions without writing traditional code. For this example, we will use a Condition block. Drag the condition into the steps section, then begin populating the auto-generated fields.

Here, we want to check whether the boolean variable bRun is set to ‘True’. If the condition evaluates to true, we will update the ellipse’s appearance to indicate an active state. To do this, drag the FillColor property into both the ‘then’ and ‘else’ branches. Set the ‘then’ color to green to represent a running state, and the ‘else’ color to grey to indicate that the system is not running.

Testing in Live View

After configuring this logic, it’s also important to establish your screen’s behavior. Return to the Desktop.View, where you will see a set of controls on the right-hand side. Click the ‘L’ button to launch the live view.

As you interact with the interface, observe the ellipse once again. When the button is pressed and held, the condition should evaluate to true, and the circle should toggle from red to green in real time. This confirms that your event logic is working as expected and that the control is properly responding to changes in the mapped variable.

User Controls 

As your HMI projects grow in size and complexity, maintaining reusability and consistency becomes increasingly important. TwinCAT HMI addresses this need through User Controls, which are reusable templates that combine multiple HMI elements into configurable, modular components.

To get started, create a new folder in your project called ‘UserControls’. This helps keep your project organized as your library of reusable components expands. Within this folder, add a new item and select ‘User Control’. From here, you can begin building a custom control that can be reused across screens, reducing development time and ensuring a consistent user interface.

Once again, on the right‑hand side of the screen, you’ll see a set of small buttons. Selecting the ‘P’ button opens the User Control parameters. These parameters are configurable values that are passed into each instance of the User Control, allowing multiple instances to be created without modifying the control’s internal layout, grouping, or logic. 

We are going to create two parameters:

• One for the HMI_PbLight struct
• One String for the name of the component

Note: If your struct does not show up, try closing parameters, adding a button to your user control, and linking HMI_PbLight. Return to the parameters and the datatype should now appear as PLC1.HMI_PbLight, with String for sName.

With the User Control parameters defined, we can now build the control in much the same way as before, with one key difference: instead of binding directly to PLC symbols, we bind each element to properties exposed by the User Control. The pushbutton is configured so its state and behavior reference the bRun member of the HMI_PbLight parameter, allowing each instance of the control to respond to its own data source.

In the same way, the ellipse used as a status indicator is bound to the bState variable within the same struct, and simple logic is applied to drive its fill color, green when the run condition is true and grey when it is false. Finally, we’ll add a text element and bind its Text property to the sName string parameter, enabling each instance to display a unique label.

Notice that none of the elements inside the User Control are bound directly to PLC symbols. Instead, each element references the variables exposed by the HMI_PbLight struct parameter. This indirection is what makes the control reusable.

After saving the User Control, switch back to Desktop.View and you will see it appear in the toolbox alongside the standard HMI elements. From there, drag the control onto a screen, bind the HMI_PbLight parameter to a specific instance of the struct, and assign a name. Boom! With that single step, the control is fully configured, and you can now drop in as many instances as needed while maintaining consistent behavior, appearance, and logic across your HMI.

Bonus Information

Adding a Combobox

This section introduces a Combobox that allows the operator to change the light’s color behavior within the User Control. Rather than hard-coding the color logic, the Combobox provides a simple, configurable way to select between predefined color states at runtime.

To add the Combobox, navigate to SrcData, click the three dots on the right-hand side, and create a new data source that will hold the selected value. This data source is then bound to the Combobox and referenced by the User Control logic, allowing the selected option to drive how the indicator is displayed. By handling the color selection this way, the control remains flexible and reusable while giving each instance the ability to behave differently based on user input.

Next, define the selectable color options for the Combobox. Add three entries labeled Green, Yellow, and Red, and assign each one a corresponding hex color value in the Value category. These values will be used directly by the User Control logic to drive the appearance of the status indicator.

Once the options are in place, navigate back to the ellipse inside the User Control and update its custom action. For the bRun true condition, set the fill color using a function binding that references the Combobox selection: ({ color: %ctrl%TcHmiCombobox_1::SelectedValue%/ctrl% })

This binding allows the ellipse color to be determined dynamically based on the selected Combobox value rather than fixed logic. With that complete, you can add additional instances of the User Control to your screen, bind each one to a different HMI_PbLight [HO16.1] struct instance, and select the desired color from the Combobox. Each control now behaves independently, while still leveraging the same reusable design.

Basic PLC Project 

This section walks through setting up a simple PLC project to support a basic pushbutton and light, which will later be consumed by the TwinCAT HMI. Start by creating a new solution and selecting ‘TwinCAT XAE Project’. This initializes the TwinCAT environment and provides the framework needed to add PLC logic and HMI communication.

Once the project is created, navigate to the Solution Explorer, right-click on PLC, and add a new PLC project. This creates the runtime environment where the control logic will live. With the PLC project in place, we can define the shared data structure used by the HMI. Right-click on DUTs, select Add > DUT, and choose Structure. Name this structure HMI_PbLight and add two boolean members: bRun to represent the pushbutton command, and bState to represent the resulting status of the light.

Next, navigate to POUs > MAIN (PRG) and declare an instance of the HMI_PbLight struct along with any supporting variables. Add simple logic that drives bState based on the value of bRun, mimicking the behavior of a pushbutton controlling a status light. This keeps the PLC logic intentionally straightforward while clearly demonstrating the data flow between the PLC and HMI.

With the code in place, activate the configuration and log in to the PLC. If you are running TwinCAT on a local host, be sure to execute the required .bat script before logging in. At this point, the PLC is ready, and the HMI_PbLight structure can be bound to the HMI elements and User Controls created in the previous sections.

Updating to User Mode Runtime ADS Route

This final step ensures that the TwinCAT HMI Server is communicating with the correct runtime by updating the ADS route to point to the User Mode Runtime. Begin by opening the TwinCAT HMI Server configuration by going to TwinCAT HMI > Windows > TwinCAT Server Configuration. From there, navigate to ADS > Runtimes > AMSNetId. This setting defines which TwinCAT runtime the HMI will connect to for symbol access and data exchange.

Verify that the AMSNetId is set to the AmsNetId of your User Mode runtime, if that is the runtime you are using.

This is especially important when running TwinCAT locally or when multiple runtimes are present, as an incorrect AMSNetId will prevent the HMI from resolving PLC symbols and binding data correctly.

Once the AMSNetId is confirmed, the HMI and PLC are fully aligned, allowing the User Controls and bindings configured in the previous sections to function as expected at runtime.

Conclusion

This tutorial walked through the foundational steps required to build a simple, reusable TwinCAT HMI project, starting with PLC structure design and basic HMI bindings, then expanding into User Controls and runtime configuration. By introducing the HMI_PbLight struct and gradually abstracting symbol bindings into User Control parameters, we demonstrated how to move from a single hard-coded screen toward a scalable, modular HMI architecture. The use of events, visual logic blocks, and configurable parameters highlights how TwinCAT HMI enables powerful interaction design without requiring custom scripting.

By the end of this project, you should have a working HMI that connects cleanly to a PLC, supports multiple instances of a reusable control, and allows runtime configuration via simple UI elements such as a Combobox. These same concepts scale directly to larger applications, where consistency, maintainability, and development speed become critical. Whether you are building a small operator interface or a plant-wide visualization system, following these patterns will help you create HMIs that are flexible, readable, and easy to extend.

The post Getting Started with Beckhoff TwinCAT HMI: Simple Project Setup Tutorial appeared first on DMC, Inc..

With the advances in TwinCAT 3 and the eventual discontinuation of TwinCAT 2 support in the coming years, now is a great time to upgrade your TwinCAT 2 projects to TwinCAT 3. TwinCAT 2 requires a 32-bit operating system, and as of early 2026, most 32-bit operating systems are nearing end-of-support. Luckily, conversion is an easy process, and most conversions can be accomplished seamlessly with just a few clicks.

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for upgrading your TwinCAT 2 Project to TwinCAT 3, including information on converting Safety and Motion projects.

Section 1: Hardware Selection / Considerations:

1. Take inventory of your controls hardware, including controllers, I/O, drives, and checking support/sales status. Beckhoff publishes a list of End-of-Life products along with successor products on their Service Products page.
   • Reach out to your local Beckhoff Sales Engineer for more personalized recommendations on product upgrade paths.
2. Upgrade any legacy K-Bus I/O to EtherCAT, which is faster, more performant, and easier to maintain. Alternatively, consider replacing any K-Bus IO couplers with the BK1120, which allows an upgrade to EtherCAT without re-terminating any I/O points.
3. Consider your safety system as part of the upgrade plan. Some TwinCAT 2 systems use the KL6904 Safety Controller, which is not programmable within TwinCAT 3 and will not be convertible to a TwinCAT 3 Project.
   • This should be replaced with a TwinSAFE Logic-capable EtherCAT terminal, like the EL6910.

What You’ll Need:

If you are interested in converting an entire TC2 Project (PLC project and related Motion, IO, and System information), you will need the TC2 project’s .tsm/.wsm, .pro files, and any referenced libraries. Then follow the instructions in Section 2.

If you only wish to convert a library or a PLC project by itself, you will only need the .pro or .lib file) and to follow the instructions in Section 3.

Please note: Beckhoff provides some additional information on restrictions and warnings on TC2 Conversion projects on Infosys. These can help resolve some compilation errors. 

Section 2: TwinCAT Project Conversion (System, Motion, IO, PLC):

1. Ensure that you have the .tsm and .pro files for the TwinCAT 2 Project
   • The TwinCAT 2 project must successfully compile before attempting the conversion.
   • If you have a .wsm file instead of .tsm, the file can be easily converted using TwinCAT System Manager by clicking “Save As…” and choosing the .tsm file format.
2. Ensure that you have the .lib file for any custom libraries used in the Tc2 project available for conversion
   • Any missing libraries will need to be re-created or replaced
3. If you are planning on using TwinCAT 3 4026, the conversion from TwinCAT 2 MUST occur in 4024 first. After conversion, the 4024 project can then be migrated to 4026.
   • This guide will be for converting using TwinCAT 3 4024 installed through the Full XAE Installer.
   • Doing the conversion using an Engineering PC with TwinCAT Package Manager may be possible with the 4024 Remote Manager, but for the smoothest process, use an Engineering PC with 4024 installed.
4. Create a new XAE Shell project for the new TC3 Project
5. Right-click the XAE Project and select “Load Project from TwinCAT 2.XX Version …”
   • 
   • Note: By loading the project here, the .tsm project will also be converted.
     • If you want to convert only the PLC code (.pro file), that is detailed in section 3: “Convert TC2 PLC Code / Libraries to TC3.
6. In the pop-up window, select the .tsm file of the TwinCAT 2 Project
   • Reminder: If you have a .wsm file, this needs to be re-saved as a .tsm file in TwinCAT System Manager (Tc2 IDE)
   • 
7. Select OK in the confirmation pop-up
   • 
8. XAE Shell will now begin converting the project
9. If there are any custom libraries in the TC2 Project, you will receive the following warning message that it cannot find certain libraries. Please press no.
   • 
   • Any libraries with available source code (.lib file) can be converted and added to the project later in the guide.
10. A new pop-up will appear with a list of all missing libraries
    • 
11. During the conversion, there may be unrestored links. Press Yes to keep this information.
    • 
    • Later in the guide, we will go through this list to ensure no IO is unlinked.
12. After this, information in SYSTEM, MOTION, PLC, Visu, and I/O should be populated from the converted project.
    • I recommend going through the project to make sure there are no missing files or IO that were missed in the conversion.
13. Congratulations! Most of the project is now converted. Now, we just need to resolve any issues that came from the conversion.
14. If there were any external libraries in the TC2 Project that were not converted, we will add them now.
    • If no external libraries need to be converted, skip to Step 20.
15. Follow the instructions in section 3 “Convert TC2 PLC Code / Libraries to TC3” below to convert the library. Once complete, return to this step.
16. After converting the external library, right-click the library’s .plcproj and click “Save As Library” or “Save as Library and Install…”
    • 
17. You may get a warning and be asked to fill in Library Information. If so, fill out the 3 bolded sections and click Save.
    • 
18. Try “Save as Library …” or “Save as Library and Install …” again
    • After this, the library should now be installed as TwinCat 3 library and can be added to our PLC project.
    • Example of the converted library below:
    • 
19. Once the library has been installed, we can delete the library’s PLC project from our solution.
    • 
20. Once all external libraries have been converted and installed, we can now perform some library management.
    • Some of the Beckhoff-provided libraries may be obsolete and should be replaced.
    • One common replacement needed is the TcMC library. This should be upgraded to the TcMC2 Library.
      • Beckhoff provides great documentation on what is needed for this upgrade in the Infosys.
21. This guide does not cover any hardware changes needed, but the IO tree will need to include any changes made to the hardware configuration.
22. After this, you can attempt to compile the code and work through any errors that may come up.
23. Once the code successfully compiles, your PLC Project should be complete!
24. Please check the Safety or Motion sections of this guide to set up those sides of the project.
25. Tips and Tricks:
    • All GVLs will come with attribute {attribute ‘Tc2GvlVarNames’} and all GVL tag references will not include the GVL’s namespace.
      • This can make the converted code unclear, as global variables may appear as local variables.
      • I recommend that you add the GVL namespace to all global variables in the converted code if possible.
      • More info on this attribute can be found on Infosys.

Section 3: Convert TC2 PLC Code / Libraries to TC3 Section:

This section of the guide will cover how to convert a single PLC project or a library file to TwinCAT 3.

1. Ensure that you have the .pro or .lib file that you wish to convert. Start with the .lib files.
2. Open the TwinCAT project that you wish to add the PLC project to.
3. Right-click the PLC Project node, and select “Add Existing Item…”
   • 
4. Then select either the .pro file if PLC project, or the .lib file if converting a library
   • The default selection in the file explorer will allow both file formats.
   • 
5. Once added, XAE Shell will convert the code to TC3, and add it as a separate .plcproj to the solution.
   • 
6. Look through the converted project to ensure there are no errors or mis-conversion. This should be unlikely, as XAE Shell does a good job of converting.
7. If you are converting a library, you can now return to Step 15 of the TwinCAT Project conversion section to continue with the System Configuration conversion.
   • If you are only converting PLC code, you are done!

It is possible even if only converting the .pro file that when importing into TC3 the system will ask about converting libraries. You should go back and convert libraries first, then use the installed library with the second option in the dialog to avoid issues. 

Section 4: Safety / TwinSAFE Projects:

Safety projects are not automatically converted when converting the .tsm file covered in Section 2, so we will need to manually import the project from TwinCAT 2.

Note: If the TwinCAT 2 Project is using the KL6904 Controller, that will need to be replaced as it is not configurable through TwinCAT 3. To see a listing of acceptable terminals with both logic and output like the KL6904, see the TwinSAFE product overview page.

1. Open the TSM file in TwinCAT System Manager and navigate to your IO Configuration.
2. Inside your IO configuration, identify your Safety Controllers
   • TwinCAT 2 Compatible safety controllers are:
     • EL6900
     • EL6930
     • KL6904 – see note above about TC3 compatibility
3. From your TSM file in TwinCAT 2, open your safety controller and click the “TwinSAFE Logic” Tab. Then click the “Export…” button and save the export as an XML file.
   • 
4. With the XML export, go to the Safety Node of the TwinCAT project and select “Add Existing Item…”
   • 
5. In the pop-up, select the XML export of the Safety Project(s). Make sure to change the file format options to include XMLs.
   • 
6. In the pop-up, select your Safety Controller
   • 
7. Then restore all the links in the Safety Project
   • 
   • 
   • Finished Example:
   • 
8. With the safety project converted, double-check that all connections and TwinSAFE FBs are correct.

Section 5: Motion

While the Motion tasks and axes are automatically converted by XAE Shell with the TSM configuration, the PLC control of the axes may need manual adjustments. This section of the guide covers how to re-link the Axes to the TcMC2 data types.

1. If the TwinCAT 2 Project used TcMC, please follow the instructions in Step 20 of the TwinCAT Project Conversion section regarding the PLC code changes recommended by Beckhoff.
   • The NCTOPLC and PLCTONC AXIS_REFs have been combined into a single AXIS_REF struct
   • Old:
     • 
   • New:
     • 
2. Once completed with these changes, the AXIS_REF structs will need to be linked back to the axes.
   • Note: If you do not see the Axis when linking, try rebuilding your PLC Project.
   • Linking:
     • 

Congratulations, your TwinCAT 2 Project is now ready for a TwinCAT 3 PLC!

You can follow our other guides: Getting Started with a Beckhoff PLC to continue with your PLC upgrade.

The post Beckhoff TwinCAT 2 to TwinCAT 3 Conversion appeared first on DMC, Inc..

Interface and Editing

You Can Select Multiple Controls and Change the Same Parameter for all Controls at Once

Have a bunch of items in a grid, each one with the same 5% margin from the left, and suddenly you decide 3% looks much nicer? No need to click through each one nor find and replace in the HTML source files! Just select all controls and change the parameter in the properties tab. The property you changed is now changed for every control you selected.

The Document Outline is a Great Help When Working on a Screen

Having trouble selecting a control, or is a control lost behind another? As great as the main WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) editor screen is, the Document Outline provides greater visibility into nested controls (when using Grids and Containers) and invisible controls. I almost always have this pinned to my XAE layouts when developing with TwinCAT HMI.

Symbols and Parameters

“Symbol” and Related Terms to Know When Searching Infosys

Symbol just refers to a tag or variable, in TwinCAT HMI. There are variations:

• Server Symbols are symbols saved in the TwinCAT HMI server. Most notably Mapped Symbols are a type of server symbol which comes from the PLC.
• Internal Symbol are symbols which are limited to a single browser instance.
• Symbol Expression refers to the text

You Can Double Click on a Symbol to Pop Up a Nifty Binding Details Window

When you have a symbol in a data binding or function binding, you can double click on it to pop up a ‘Edit Binding’ window. This can show you some details on modes and settings and can also be used to quickly edit the symbol name. In the screenshot below, I might have a similar ‘IsAlarmLowEnabled’, and I can switch this symbol binding to that symbol more quickly than reopening the Create Data Binding window

When Making a Parameter for a User Control, Comments are Very Underrated

User controls are great for creating reusable custom controls, but they’re even better when you comment any parameters you make. Now, not only can developers that use your control (including future you, probably) hover to see your comment, they’ll also be able to hover to see the datatype!

Function Bindings and Scripting

Function Bindings are Basically Javascript

Consider a function binding as a continually evaluating single JS expression where symbol expressions get evaluated as their value and the result of the JS expression is what the parameter sees.

Remember that the function binding accepts and evaluates only a single JS expression. With that in mind…

“IIFE”s are incredibly useful when you want multiple expressions in a function binding but don’t want to write a full TwinCAT HMI function

Custom Javascript or Typescript functions in TwinCAT HMI are an excellent tool, especially when you will need to run the same snippet in multiple places. But sometimes you want to have a few expressions together in a one-off function binding. Ordinarily, one can’t do the following in a function binding:

let a = 1;

let b = 2;

return(a+b);

Well, you could write that in a function binding, but you won’t get anything useful back. Instead, you can write this:

(function (){

  let a = 1;

  let b = 2;

  return(a+b);

})();

I’ve grown to really love TwinCAT HMI for its power and extensibility, for industrial HMI applications from simple to complex. I hope these tips are useful as you create your design.

The post Beckhoff TwinCAT HMI – Tips and Tricks appeared first on DMC, Inc..

We will be using the information from TwinSAFE Tutorial 11: Safe Addressing for AMP and AMI, and TwinSAFE Tutorial 1: SafeMotion Wizard – Creating and configuring a Safe Motion project with SLS.

Load In IO

The drives and safety IO will need to have been scanned or added into your IO tree and  axes created in a MOTION project. After downloading the Drive Manager 2 (DM2) software from Beckhoff, a project can be added to the TwinCAT solution. See Beckhoff’s Quick commissioning guide | EN TE5950 TC3 Drive Manager 2 for more information on setting up DM2.

With the system still in config mode, a new DM2 project can be created by right-clicking on the solution and selecting ‘Add’. Then, in the project tree, you can select the new project, and it will search for drives. In the popup, you should see every drive currently connected to the PLC.

In this example, DM2 was able to automatically find all of these drives shown below. You can click “Check all” at the top for both options to enable automatic scanning of the motors and have ‘Scan motor in Pre-Op’ selection.

The other setting shown will be system specific, follow the specs for your motors. Any additional gear box ratio and settings for the motor should be applied.

Then, make sure you Activate Config to push configuration settings and scaling from the DM2 project to the motors.

Create and Expose PLC Variables

Create a PLC project if you haven’t already. Our safety program will require input from the PLC. In either a global variable list (GVL) or a program (PRG), make your four output address variables.

OUT_bSafetyResetSignal AT %Q*: BOOL;
OUT_bSafetyRun AT %Q*: BOOL;
OUT_bSafetyErrorAck AT %Q*: BOOL;
OUT_bSafetyDriveErrorAck AT %Q*: BOOL;

OUT_bSafetyResetSignal AT %Q*: BOOL;
OUT_bSafetyRun AT %Q*: BOOL;
OUT_bSafetyErrorAck AT %Q*: BOOL;
OUT_bSafetyDriveErrorAck AT %Q*: BOOL;

Build, so that the variables generate in the instance of the PLC project and can later be used for linking.

Every TwinSAFE program for an EL6910 or newer logics is required to have “RUN” and “ERRACK” signals linked to standard signals, which we are calling OUT_bSafetyRun and OUT_bSafetyErrorAck, as error acknowledgement is not automatic in TwinSAFE. Without these, the TwinSAFE Group our function blocks are in will not execute. Additionally, we have created a reset signal (OUT_bSafetyResetSignal) that we can use in the PLC to reset our function blocks when specific conditions are met. This could be from an external push button, an HMI screen, or some other code condition.

Lastly, specific to the fact that we are making a safety program for Beckhoff Motors with embedded safety cards, we have a separate error acknowledgment signal (OUT_bSafetyDriveErrorAck) for the drives. This is because many types of drives require explicit error acknowledgement, and it may be that this needs to be distinct from error acknowledgment of the entire TwinSAFE group. The operating manual for your specific drive’s safety card is the best reference.

Creating the Standard EL6910 Safety Project

Click the blue cog icon in the top left of the TwinCAT toolbar to swap the system back into config mode and select yes on the popup to activate free run. This will allow for proper scanning of terminals.

Now, a standard TwinSAFE project can be created by right clicking on the safety node and selecting ‘Add New Item’. In the window, select “TwinCAT Safety Project Preconfigured Inputs” to create a project with preconfigured inputs.

In the project’s Target System, select the terminal you will use as your safety controller. For this example, here is the relevant safety IO.

We have an EtherCAT coupler, a power supply terminal, a safety digital input/output card, a standard digital output card, a standard digital input card, a dedicated safety controller card, and a license key terminal followed by a bus end cap. For more information about each terminal, see Beckhoff’s EtherCAT terminals overview.

After selecting the Target system from the drop down, you need to ensure the Safe Address matches the hardware address for the terminal. This example uses an EL6910, so the hardware address was set via the dipswitch on the physical terminal and, when scanned in, we see it reads the number expected in the hardware address field.

NOTE: If you forgot to set the hardware address on any of your safety terminals (EK1914, EL2911, EL6910, or any ELx9xxx series terminals), please pause now and safely power down your system so that the physical terminals can be accessed. Read the operating manual for each terminal for information on how to set the hardware address. Remember, each address must be unique within the network and 0 is not a valid TwinSAFE address.

To make the Safe Address match the hardware address, select the green reload button next to the hardware address box to make sure the number in the field is correct, and then the green arrow button to push the number to the safe address field.

Additionally, for this project we are going to select the two checkmarks for Connection Inputs/Outputs for visible traceability. This allows for an exact interpretation of the links.

‘Save-All’ with CTRL+SHIFT+S or via the top menu bar before leaving this page.

Add Relevant Alias Devices

With our safety controller configured to hold a project, you can now import in your PLC variables, and any additional safety terminals. Importantly, you do not want to add any of the drives to this safety project. They will instead be added via the safe motion wizard later.

To do this, right-click on our newly created safety project’s Alias Devices folder. From here, you can click on New Item and make both of the additional digital Inputs. You should name both of them appropriately. Then, you can import any safety terminals you will use in the safety project from your IO.

As shown above, two of the inputs we need were created already by choosing to make a preconfigured safety project. Since we already created the PLC variables we need to link to, we can do that as well. For each alias device created, open its page and click the:

symbol to link each to its corresponding PLC variable.

Now, the blocks inside the standard safety project can be made.

Write the .SAL

First, you add a safeEStop and safeAnd block. This is for our single dual channel EStop. Then, create variables that match those below. It is important that this layout of this is not deviated from for reasons discussed below.

bPLCRestart and bPLCDriveErrorAck will be the two additional standard digital input variables we created. In order to have the drive error acknowledgment signal properly reset the entire safety system, it must be the first input on the safeAnd block as it is a standard input. Beckhoff has documentation on TwinSAFE Logic and Function Blocks if you want to learn more.

bChannelA and bChannelB represent both channels of the E-Stop, and will be physically wired through the EL2911. By clicking on the EStopIn1 port you can open the properties tab and change the channel interface from Single-Channel Both Activated to Two-Channel and set a discrepancy time.

For now, we will not do the Variable Mapping as there is more to add in. Save All and then Verify the project. Errors are expected and can be ignored for now.

Safe Addressing for AMP and AMI

Beckhoff AMP and AMI drives have internal TwinSAFE cards that like their physical terminal counterparts, also require unique safe addresses. These drives do not have physical hardware switches though and must be set a different way. AX8xxx drives do have physical hardware switches to set and this section can be skipped for such hardware.

With the system in config mode, and free run activated, navigate to the TwinSAFE toolbar. If you do not have this toolbar added, you can do so from right-clicking in the toolbar area and clicking to add TwinCAT Safety, or under View on the menu bar, View>Toolbars>TwinCAT Safety.

Click ‘Download Safe Address’. In the popup, select all the drives you need to set the safe address of.

Click ’Next‘. Now you need to assign  a unique safe address within the network for each drive. Remember, address 0 is not a valid TwinSAFE address. In this example, the Terminal number was arbitrarily decided to be made the drive’s address. When finished, click Next.

Input the default TwinSAFE username (Administrator) and password (TwinSAFE) to the window and select all the devices to download the safe addresses.

Read through and finish verifying you work, closing the window with the ‘Finish’ button when you are done.

Now, you need to power cycle your system (specifically, the drives) so that upon system startup, the drives will load the correct FSOE address.

To check and make sure the address was set, in the IO tree navigate to any drive and go to the CoE – Online tab. Click Update All to refresh the information there. Scroll down until you see Safe Address and expand it. By default, the FSOE address was 1, it should now be what you set it to.

In this picture, we can see the FSOE was set to 4

Create Safe Motion Wizard Safety Project

If you have not followed the above steps for Safe Addressing AND powered cycled your motors for AMP or AMI systems, do not continue.

Now that you have your standard safety project and safe addresses on your drives, you can run the Beckhoff TwinSAFE Motion Wizard. This requires >=v1.3.0 of the Safety Editor. Start the wizard from the drop-down option under TwinSAFE>Wizards>Start Safe Motion Wizard….

Then, in the popup that opens, select your drives under Target Type  if they do not automatically populate. Check all of the drives as the project targets.

Click ‘Next’. For the safety feedbacks, on the AMP8xxxx system there is only the default encoder option available for all drives, and only on channel A. Choose the option appropriate for your hardware.

An AX8xxx system might have options for channel A and B, as well as options on what encoder can be selected on each. If only using one channel on AX8xxxx systems, select No Safety Encoder for the unused channel.

Click ‘Next’. For selecting safety function(s), we only desire STO functionality and will therefore touch nothing. This is auto-selected for all of our drives.

Click ‘Next’. The project can be given a name on the configuration page. We will call it Safe Motion.

Click ‘Next’. On the assignment step, click on the “…” button to select the drives. This will create the FSOE connections in the standard safety project to allow communication between it and the safe motion project.

Click ‘Next’. For the Safe Address page, a few incorrect states can be noted. As the system should be connected, you should not see the red boxes. The wizard should automatically load in the correct TwinSAFE address from the drives.

If this is being performed offline, manually putting the FSOE addresses here would suffice.

Troubleshooting Note: If addresses show up as zero, and we have communication to the drive under the EtherCAT master (free run turned on), it is possible that the safe addresses were not set properly either via safe addressing download or dipswitch. Cancel the wizard and perform necessary checks, do not try and continue with an FSOE address of zero on any device.

The following is incorrect:

This is correct:

Click ‘Next’. Read and acknowledge the safety warning and exit the wizard by clicking the ‘Finish’ button.

There should be a popup that the safe motion wizard project was created successfully, and the master project was updated successfully.

Finishing the Standard EL6910 Safety Project

As promised, we now return to the standard safety project for variable mapping.

In the standard safety project we created before, you should now see new custom FSOE connections for each of the drives. This is why we did not manually add the drives to this project earlier.

Open up the .SAL and click on the bottom tab for Variable Mapping. The following picture shows all the mappings with explanations of each piece to follow.

The first two variables are the standard I/O variables from the PLC defined by the preconfigured project. They should already be mapped for you.

Next, the bPLCRestart signal to our safeEStop block is mapped to the corresponding alias device digital input created earlier. As previously mentioned, this allows for the PLC to issue a signal for restart of the safeEstop block and ensuing error acknowledgement, presumably after an EStop press.

bChannelA and bChannelB are the two inputs from our physical EStop, run through the EL2911 safety terminal and activate our safeEStop block.

The EStopOut signal from the safeEStop block is mapped to a multitude of devices. Notably, both  ChA STO and SS1 bits for each drive. You can hold down CTRL+Click to select a multitude of variables. In addition to the drives, another standard variable was created to see the EStop signal status in the PLC (not necessary for functionality), and the signal was mapped to the coupler (also not necessary). This was done for the ability to add other functionality desired later.

The safeAnd block then takes in the EStop signal, expected to be high, with drive error acknowledgment from the PLC. This lets the PLC acknowledge drive errors and if the EStop has been reset since it was last pressed, the bSafetyErrorAck then pushes the error acknowledgment to the drive. CTRL+Click to select all the error acks on each drive.

Save-All when done.

Finishing the Safe Motion Wizard Project

Looking at the newly created safe motion wizard project, there is nothing in the SALs we need to touch as the wizard handles it all. For this example, since we have multiple AMP8xxx series drives, we need to do multisettings. If you only had one drive, this part is not necessary, and you can skip to the last section.

Multi-Settings

In the safe motion wizard project, there is a last bit of configuration to be done before everything fits nicely together. If we open the Multi-settings.sms, we see all the drives we previously added. If we horizontally scroll to the right, we can see that Run and Err_Ack don’t have all the same links as the first motor.

You need to click the “…” on each and add the run and err ack links. Then it should look like this when it is finished.

Completing and Downloading

With the projects complete, you can now verify the main project and then perform a multi-download.

Now activate the configuration.

Using the login feature on the PLC, you can now toggle the ErrAck and Run signals. You will now be able to move the motors via the MOTION project, or Drive Manager 2.

The post Getting Started with Beckhoff AMP8000 Series Motors in TwinSAFE appeared first on DMC, Inc..

This blog will continue to use the Beckhoff XTS_Base GitHub and the large XTS starter kit. 

Beckhoff XTS Series

• Part 1 – Downloads and Starter Project
• Part 2 – Setting Up a Physical XTS System
• Part 3 – Simulation and PLC Logic
• Part 4 – Movers
• Part 5 – Stations
• Part 6 – Position Triggers

Customizing the Logic

Let’s update this logic to customize our system a bit more. For my system, I’m going to have stations and position triggers at the following places:

Update the Station and Position Trigger Positions

Remove the existing station and position trigger definitions on lines 108-117 and replace it with the following:

// Initialize station positions
Station[0].Position := 5;
Station[1].Position := 3200;
Station[2].Position := 3300;
Station[3].Position := 3400;
Station[4].Position := 3500;

PositionTrigger[0].Position := 1500;
PositionTrigger[1].Position := 2000;

This will define the stations and position triggers as shown above.

Updating the Station and Position Trigger Logic

Next, we need to update the logic of these stations and position triggers to get them to behave as we want. For this application, let’s have the mover run at high velocity across the top rail, then go down to the low velocity around the bend. Once it clears the bend, it can go back up to the medium velocity until it reaches the next station. Once we have a mover in each of the four bottom left stations, send them all back to station 0. Replacing lines 210-265 with the following code will do that:

// Station 0 Logic
IF Station[0].MoverInPosition THEN
    StationTimer[0](IN := TRUE, PT := T#1000MS);
    IF StationTimer[0].Q THEN
        Station[0].CurrentMover.MoveVelocity(highVelocity);
    END_IF
ELSE
    StationTimer[0](IN := FALSE);
END_IF
    // Position Trigger 0 Logic
IF PositionTrigger[0].MoverPassedPosition THEN
    PositionTrigger[0].CurrentMover.SetVelocity(lowVelocity);
    PositionTrigger[0].MuteCurrent();
END_IF
    // Position Trigger 1 Logic
IF PositionTrigger[1].MoverPassedPosition THEN
    PositionTrigger[1].CurrentMover.SetVelocity(mediumVelocity);
    PositionTrigger[1].CurrentMover.MoveToStation(Station[nextStation]);
    nextStation := nextStation – 1;
    IF nextStation = 0 THEN
        nextStation := 4;
    END_IF
    PositionTrigger[1].MuteCurrent();
END_IF

// Group of Stations 1, 2, 3, and 4 Logic
IF Station[1].MoverInPosition AND Station[2].MoverInPosition AND Station[3].MoverInPosition AND Station[4].MoverInPosition THEN
    StationTimer[1](IN := TRUE, PT := T#750MS);
    IF StationTimer[1].Q THEN
        StationTimer[1](IN := FALSE);
        Station[1].CurrentMover.MoveToStation(Station[0]);
        Station[2].CurrentMover.MoveToStation(Station[0]);
        Station[3].CurrentMover.MoveToStation(Station[0]);
        Station[4].CurrentMover.MoveToStation(Station[0]);
    END_IF
END_IF

Execute the New Code

Save the new code and activate the configuration. After logging in, you should be able to open the Controls visualization, press the Enable button, and then the Start button to start seeing the movers follow the new logic.

This is just an example of the many customizations you can make to your XTS system. There’s even more functionality that comes with this starter project, though. In the next entry in this blog series, we will go over zones and add those to our custom logic.

If you’d like help with the next steps for your XTS system, DMC is proud to be a Beckhoff System Integrator and has worked on multiple XTS projects and applications.

The post Beckhoff XTS Part 7: Customizing Logic appeared first on DMC, Inc..

This blog will continue to use the Beckhoff XTS_Base GitHub and the large XTS starter kit. 

Beckhoff XTS Series

• Part 1 – Downloads and Starter Project
• Part 2 – Setting Up a Physical XTS System
• Part 3 – Simulation and PLC Logic
• Part 4 – Movers
• Part 5 – Stations
• Part 7 – Customizing Logic

Position Triggers

Position triggers are defined positions along the XTS track that know when movers pass by. This can allow for on-the-fly redirections or changes in velocity.

Declaring a Position Trigger

In MAIN, in the variable declaration we already have an array of position triggers defined with the line

PositionTrigger : ARRAY[0..2] OF PositionTrigger;

PositionTrigger : ARRAY[0..2] OF PositionTrigger;

This defines 3 position triggers to use. If you want to use more, you can increase the array bounds. It’s also likely worth using a global constant similar to how the stations are defined.

Configuring Position Triggers

The existing starter project already has 3 position triggers configured, shown below.

Similarly to the stations, the position definition for these position triggers is in the MS_INTIIALIZING_OBJECTIVES section of the MAIN state machine, which is at line 115.

PositionTrigger[0].Position := 1500;
PositionTrigger[1].Position := 2000;
PositionTrigger[2].Position := 3500; 

PositionTrigger[0].Position := 1500;
PositionTrigger[1].Position := 2000;
PositionTrigger[2].Position := 3500; 

We can see that the position triggers are given positions (in mm) around the track that line up with the picture above. Changing these positions will change where along the track the position triggers exist.

These position triggers also have CyclicLogic methods that must be called every scan and are already called for us at line 419.

PositionTrigger[0].Cyclic();
PositionTrigger[1].Cyclic();
PositionTrigger[2].Cyclic();

PositionTrigger[0].Cyclic();
PositionTrigger[1].Cyclic();
PositionTrigger[2].Cyclic();

If you add more position triggers, make sure to call their CyclicLogic methods as well.

The stations also make sure to unregister movers on stopping or disabling. This happens on lines 332 and 367 by calling the UnregisterAll method for each position trigger.

FOR i := 0 TO SIZEOF(PositionTrigger) / SIZEOF(PositionTrigger[0]) - 1 DO
  PositionTrigger[i].UnregisterAll();
END_FOR

FOR i := 0 TO SIZEOF(PositionTrigger) / SIZEOF(PositionTrigger[0]) - 1 DO
  PositionTrigger[i].UnregisterAll();
END_FOR

Position Trigger Logic

The existing starter project already has some position trigger logic. The logic for these position triggers is in the MS_RUN section of the MAIN state machine, which starts at line 250. There’s a few methods and properties about the position triggers that are useful to describe to interpret this code:

MoverPassedPosition

MoverPassedPosition is a property of the position trigger object. It goes TRUE when a mover passed the configured position trigger’s position. This will allow for logic based on the position trigger to affect the mover passing by.

MuteCurrent

MuteCurrent is a method of the position trigger object. It will set MoverPassedPosition to FALSE and clear out the mover being tracked by the position trigger. This can be used to indicate the position trigger logic is done and a new mover can be handled.

With these properties and methods, let’s see what the current position triggers are doing.

// Position Trigger 0 Logic
IF PositionTrigger[0].MoverPassedPosition THEN
  PositionTrigger[0].CurrentMover.SetVelocity(lowVelocity);
  PositionTrigger[0].MuteCurrent();
END_IF

// Position Trigger 1 Logic
IF PositionTrigger[1].MoverPassedPosition THEN
  PositionTrigger[1].CurrentMover.SetVelocity(highVelocity);
  PositionTrigger[1].MuteCurrent();
END_IF

// Position Trigger 2 Logic
IF PositionTrigger[2].MoverPassedPosition THEN
  PositionTrigger[2].CurrentMover.SetVelocity(lowVelocity);
  PositionTrigger[2].CurrentMover.MoveToStation(Station[0]);
  PositionTrigger[2].MuteCurrent();
END_IF

// Position Trigger 0 Logic
IF PositionTrigger[0].MoverPassedPosition THEN
  PositionTrigger[0].CurrentMover.SetVelocity(lowVelocity);
  PositionTrigger[0].MuteCurrent();
END_IF

// Position Trigger 1 Logic
IF PositionTrigger[1].MoverPassedPosition THEN
  PositionTrigger[1].CurrentMover.SetVelocity(highVelocity);
  PositionTrigger[1].MuteCurrent();
END_IF

// Position Trigger 2 Logic
IF PositionTrigger[2].MoverPassedPosition THEN
  PositionTrigger[2].CurrentMover.SetVelocity(lowVelocity);
  PositionTrigger[2].CurrentMover.MoveToStation(Station[0]);
  PositionTrigger[2].MuteCurrent();
END_IF

Position triggers 0 and 1 are doing similar things. They both wait for a mover to pass their position and then change the velocity of the mover. Position trigger 0 changes to low velocity and position trigger 1 changes to high velocity. They then both call the MuteCurrent methods to clear out the mover from the position trigger. Note that neither of these position triggers are sending a command to the mover, just changing its velocity. The mover is still obeying the MoveVelocity command from station 4.

Position trigger 2 waits for a mover to pass its position, sets the velocity low, and then commands the mover to move to station 0. This will override the move velocity command from station 4 and so the mover will next stop at station 0. The logic then calls MuteCurrent to signal the position trigger has processed the mover.

Now that we’ve reviewed movers, stations, and positions triggers we can not only understand the existing starter project logic but also write our own custom logic. In the next entry in this blog series, we will go over writing some custom logic for our XTS application.

If you’d like help with the next steps for your XTS system, DMC is proud to be a Beckhoff System Integrator and has worked on multiple XTS projects and applications.

The post Beckhoff XTS Part 6: Position Triggers appeared first on DMC, Inc..