Utilizing ACM and configurable library objects allow you to streamline development by deterministically generating the code you need based on easy to modify configurations. This saves time, reduces mistakes, and enforces approved coding standards. While this blog illustrates the use of a few specific AOIs, the concept can be extended to any objects in your development library. 

Planning the Routines and Programs

The first step is to define the routines and programs within the library to organize the logic being generated. For this example, the alarm logic is organized in routines within the MainLogic program, which is dedicated to alarms and other control logic such as sequences. The MainProgram is used to organize and generate AOIs for devices, such as transmitters, into related routines. Both program names are intended to be placeholders and will be modified via parameter substitution in ACM. 

In this example, Analog Objects are configured with LoLo, Lo, Hi, and HiHi status thresholds. The Lo and Hi thresholds generate alarms, while LoLo and HiHi generate shutdown conditions. Alarm handling is contained within a dedicated Alarm routine, and shutdown handling is contained within a dedicated Shutdown routine, as illustrated in the figure below. 

Next, we’ll need to define the routine for our devices. For demonstration purposes, this routine will house the AOIs for processing and scaling the input data from either in-chassis IO or from a Turck IO block. 

For this example, we will use the name “myRoutine” so that we can later modify it via parameter substitution in ACM.  

Programming the Routines

We will create an analog input routine consisting of two AOIs, AOI_TurckAnalogInputProcessing and AOI_AnalogInput.  

Analog Input Routine

The Analog Input routine will be structured to be fully configurable and allow the use with Turck I/O or without. This will be handled with configurable ACM parameters that will be explained later in the article.

The Turck Analog Input Processing AOI is intended to be used with a BLCEN-8M12LT-4AI-VI-4A-VI. This AOI will combine the two Bytes which make up the analog input raw value, which will then be passed into iInRaw tag of the AOI AOI_AnalogInput via configurable ACM parameters. If Turck I/O was not being used ACM will not generate the Turck logic and will insert the user’s preferred I/O tag into iInRaw of the AOI_AnalogInput AOI. 

Alarms Routine 

The Alarms routine will be used to configure alarm logic automatically if the AnalogInput is configured to have the corresponding Alarm(s). What does this mean? We will only generate Hi or Lo alarm logic if the input is configured to use them in ACM. In this example, we will use simple alarm bits with a global reset. 

Notice that the naming convention “C0000_myAnalog” matches the generic name of the AOI_AnalogInput that was added in the Analog Input Routine. This is done so we can use the parameter substitution feature in ACM to replace this text when generating code. 

Shutdowns Routine 

Similar to the Alarms routine, HiHi and LoLo shutdowns will be added to the Shutdowns routine if the analog input is configured to use them.  

Building the Library Object with Library Designer

From here, we’ll work within Rockwell’s Library Designer Plugin and configure the required text substitutions, parameters, and deterministic logic creation. 

Access the Library Designer plugin by right clicking the top of your controller organizer tree. 

Once in Library Designer, navigate to “myRoutine” to get ready to apply conditional expressions that will handle logic creation. 

In Library Designer, you can set up instantiation rules per rung, per ladder branch, and even down to logic components like contacts and coiles. Here, we will be applying a rule for a rung containing the Turck AOI. Select the rung by clicking it. A green box will appear indicating that the rung has been selected. 

Update the condition to control the creation of the logic. By default, the library will have the field filled in with “Always.”

This means that no matter what, this logic will always be created during the code generation process. For our example, we will only instantiate this logic if the configured IO is coming from a Turck IO device, which will be set using the parameter “bTurckIO.” 

This new parameter is added to the parameters section of our library object.  

With that rule configured, the Turck AOI will only be included if the device is configured as a Turck IO point, while the Analog Input AOI will always be included when we instantiate one. We will leave the condition set to “Always” for the AOI_AnalogInput so that it will always be added for every input we configure. 

Next, we will use the same concept for the Alarms and Shutdowns routines. Just like the Turck object, we will create parameters to define if an alarm should exist.  

In the Alarms routine, we will apply a conditional parameter for both the Hi and Lo alarm rungs. 

We will apply the same concept to the Shutdowns routine as well. These parameters are shown below. 

To demonstrate an additional option, we will add a conditional statement on the Alarms and Shutdown routines themselves. Just like choosing to instantiate rungs and small pieces of logic, you can choose to optionally create routines as well. Here, if no alarms or shutdowns are enabled, we will not create the respective routine. 

For Alarms we will require the following ACM parameters bAlarmLEnable (Low Alarm Enabled) or bAlarmHEnable (High Alarm Enabled) to be true.

For Shutdowns we will require the following ACM parameters bAlarmHHEnable (High High Alarm Enabled), bAlarmLLEnable (Low Low Alarm Enabled), or bAlarmOREnable (Out of Range Alarm Enabled) to be true. 

From here, we can jump to the Application Code Manager and see how we can enter values into the parameters to affect what is created with the logic during code generation. 

Application Code Manager Code Generation

To continue with our demonstration, let’s add an Analog Input instance within ACM. For the first instance, we’ll configure it to require the Turck I/O without any alarms. To do so, we’ll need to concentrate on the following fields. 

• Name – This field specifies the device name and is used to generate the corresponding PLC tag name. 
• sRoutineName – This field defines and creates the routine that the device will be instantiated in. 
• bTurkIO – This field is used to enable or disable the creation of Turck IO logic.  
• AI_ADDRESS – This field is used to assign the I/O tag to the AnalogInput AOI. In this example we use “TIT_100.iInRaw” so that it can be referenced by the Turck AOI output. 

Next, we’ll create an Analog Input instance that does not use Turck IO but has all its alarms enabled. For now, I will put a placeholder into the AI_Address that can be configured later once I/O is configured in the project.  Additional fields for alarm configuration will be used in this example.  

• bAlarmHHEnable – This field specifies if the High High alarm is enabled or disabled for the device. 
• bAlarmHEnable – This field specifies if the High alarm is enabled or disabled for the device. 
• bAlarmLEnable – This field specifies if the Low alarm is enabled or disabled for the device. 
• bAlarmLLEnable – This field specifies if the Low Low alarm is enabled or disabled for the device. 
• bAlarmOREnable – This field specifies if the Out of Range alarm is enabled or disabled for the device. 

Now we’re ready to use ACM to generate our code. To do so, right click on the controller in ACM and click Generate Controller. 

When the pop‑up dialog box appears, select Create ACD, enter the desired file name, select whether to overwrite the existing ACD file, and define the file path. 

After you generate the .ACD file from ACM you will see that the following routines and programs have been created.

If we open the AnalogInputs routine, we will now see the two instances, TIT_100 and PIT_100 that were configured in ACM.

You’ll see that the Turck Interface created only for the TIT_100 object based on the parameters we set. Note that PIT_100 was instantiated without the Turck AOI based on its parameterization. 

Now, let’s look at the newly generated Alarms and Shutdowns routines. In this example, alarms were only created for PIT_100 as TIT_100 was not configured to use them. 

Conclusion

While this demonstration was simple in nature, it illustrates the benefits that can be derived by creating your own library objects and utilizing ACM to autogenerate a significant portion of your PLC logic.  

These concepts can be extended to create much more advanced programs and routines based on configurable parameters. For very large projects, or for OEMs with very similar systems, this can significantly streamline the development process.  

Here at DMC, we leverage ACM as a powerful tool to accelerate development timelines, improve code standardization, and quickly modify projects to account for changing requirements.  

For more information on Application Code Manager, read our other articles:  

• Streamline Rockwell’s Application Code Manager with Excel 
• Importing and Customizing a Library with Application Code Manager
• How to Use Application Code Manager (ACM) with PlantPAx Distributed Control System (DCS)

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Enter FactoryTalk Logix Echo. Released by Rockwell Automation in 2021, Logix Echo is a full-fidelity PLC emulation tool that allows you to directly download and test any modern Rockwell PLC project – no controller or I/O changes required! This emulator behaves exactly as if it were a physical PLC sitting on your desk, which allows for significant testing of your PLC logic before you ever connect to the real machine. In cases where your project necessitates some form of digital twin – whether it be minimal I/O simulation or a full-fidelity machine model – tools like Emulate3D and Simulink can integrate with Logix Echo to provide full virtual commissioning functionality.

At DMC, we make heavy use of FactoryTalk Logix Echo every day to allow Automation engineers in any of our offices to program and test PLC code before deployment for our customers. To do this, we set up a centralized Logix Echo server that many users can access at once. This blog will walk through the process of setting up a FactoryTalk Logix Echo server, creating an emulated PLC, downloading PLC programs, and connecting your simulated PLC to external Rockwell applications.

Using FactoryTalk Logix Echo on a server can support lots of developers at once.

Step 1: Set Up Your Server

Server Performance

Before you get started, make sure you have the right IT hardware for the job. From testing, we’ve found that each emulated PLC likes to take up one entire processor core and around 1GB of memory on the host computer. Excessive numbers of emulated PLCs on an undersized server can quickly lead to performance issues or cause some PLCs to lose their onboard programs. At DMC, we got around this problem by using a virtualized server with the following critical stats:

• Windows Server 2022
• Intel Xeon processors @ 2.30 GHz
• 36 GB RAM
• 24 (virtual) processor cores

These stats work very well for us right now, but having a virtual server allows us to quickly add or remove processing resources as necessary to keep up with our customers’ project needs.

Network Provisioning

Since your Logix Echo server will be hosting many PLCs at once, it’s likely you’ll want to assign a unique IP address to each PLC. Fortunately, there’s a way to do this without running bundles and bundles of Ethernet cable to the same server! We’ve taken advantage of Windows’ ability to assign multiple IP addresses to the same physical Ethernet port on a PC.

To do this, open the adapter properties for your (virtual) server’s network adapter, navigate to the IPv4 settings, and click the “Advanced” button on the bottom-right corner of the pop-up window. The “Advanced” pop-up window that opens allows you to add an arbitrary number of IP addresses. The server at DMC has over 10 IP addresses all running off the same physical Ethernet connection! This gives us a large pool of IP addresses to use when spinning up a brand-new Logix Echo PLC.

Once you have your server configured properly, install FactoryTalk Logix Echo using Rockwell’s install wizard.

Step 2: Add a Controller to Your Server

Now that we’ve got Logix Echo installed, it’s time to go ahead and set up our first emulated PLC! To do this, we’ll use the FactoryTalk Logix Echo Dashboard::

The left-hand toolbar on the Logix Echo dashboard shows a list of all emulated PLCs that have been created on the server. Emulated ControlLogix controllers are hosted in a virtual chassis, just like a physical ControlLogix. Emulated CompactLogix controllers do not belong to a chassis.

To add a new controller (or chassis) to your Logix Echo server, right-click in any white space in the Devices toolbar or press the hamburger button on the top right-hand corner of the toolbar.

Choosing “Add controller” will open a configuration pop-up window. Here, you will pick the controller type and firmware version, give your controller a name, and assign it to a chassis slot (if it’s a ControlLogix).

Note that at the time this blog was published, only the following PLCs are available for emulation with Logix Echo:

• ControlLogix 5580 controllers
  • v33 through v36
• GuardLogix 5580 controllers
  • v35 and v36
• CompactLogix and Compact GuardLogix 5380 controllers
  • v36 only

Before hitting “Add,” the last step is to assign an IP address to your controller. If you’ve assigned lots of IP addresses to your Echo server using the steps above, they will all appear in the drop-down menu here.

Once your controller has been added to the server, you can always go back and edit its properties by double-clicking on the device in the “Devices” toolbar on the left-hand side. This will open a status page on the main window of the dashboard where you can:

• Cycle controller “power”
• Change the controller’s name and IP address
• Change the assigned chassis or slot (for ControlLogix controllers only)
• Attach or detach a simulated SD card to your controller
  • Yes, really! Logix Echo creates a folder on your server that emulates file storage on an SD card connected to a physical controller – you use all the functions of a real SD card in your emulated PLC environment.
  • The server storage location for the emulated SD card is in
    C:\ProgramData\Rockwell Software\FactoryTalk Logix Echo\Controllers\<your_controller>\Root\sd

Step 3 – Connect to Your Echo PLC and Get Programming!

The next series of steps should be familiar to any Rockwell PLC programmer – since your emulated PLC is running and has an IP address, you should be able to browse it using FactoryTalk Linx. To make things easy for myself, I’ve created a whole Ethernet driver in FactoryTalk Linx specifically to browse for Logix Echo PLCs on DMC’s server. Keeping the Logix Echo PLCs segregated from physical ones in my Linx browser helps me remember what I’m connected to.

Once your emulated PLC shows up in FactoryTalk Linx, you’ll notice that it will have a model number of 9310-WED300ENT. Don’t panic! You can still download your ACD file without needing to change the controller type in your project – just make sure the firmware version of your project matches the firmware running on your Logix Echo PLC.

Once you confirm you can successfully locate your PLC in FactoryTalk Linx, you should be able to perform the following Linx-based tasks:

• Connect and download an ACD file using FactoryTalk Logix Designer
• Create a shortcut to the PLC inside a FactoryTalk View ME or SE application
• Expose PLC tags to third-party software via OPC-UA using FactoryTalk Linx Gateway
• Configure scheduled PLC program backups using FactoryTalk AssetCentre

We’ve used all these functions – plus plenty more advanced Logix Echo tricks – to continue to deliver quality solutions for customers.

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“The Rockwell Network is huge, and there are a lot of great partners out there. We believe we are one of the best, but this is the first time we have attended PNC and been eligible to be recognized. Receiving this award is validation of what we can do as a company,” Jason Mayes, Senior Director of DMC’s South Region, said. “Although we have not been a [Gold] member for long, we have been contributing to the industry for many years. We’ve been contributing to our customers for a long time, so receiving this award is not only recognition for a specific project or work we’ve done in a recent time frame, but is an indication of the quality of work we as an organization have been doing for many years.”

DMC proudly achieved Gold Partnership status in 2023: recognizing our demonstrated expertise in implementing Rockwell technologies and qualifying us to attend this annual four day exclusive, invitation-only event in Orlando, Florida. At the PartnerNetwork Conference, Rockwell Automation recognized and awarded those partners who have shown exemplary efforts in their Sustainability and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) programs and initiatives as well as their innovation to leverage Rockwell’s portfolio of products to help drive customer success.

“The System Integrator Innovation Award recognizes DMC for demonstrating an innovation solution for their customer that helped solve and address business problems, drove transformation, and delivered meaningful and measurable business outcomes using best-in-breed technologies,” Amy L. Graff, North America Partner Marketing Manager at Rockwell Automation, said.

DMC is a long time Rockwell Automation partner and will continue to excel in implementing the best in breed technologies and solutions for our clients. We are honored to be recognized for our hard work, dedication, and our ability to design, develop, and deliver innovative solutions that allow our customers to reach new levels of success.

“Receiving this award is a great honor and an incredible measure of validation. DMC’s motto is Smart People, Expert Solutions, and our goal was to deliver world class systems for every project,” Leon Grossman, Senior Director of DMC’s Automation Service Area, said. “The Rockwell ecosystem [and] the Rockwell team have been huge bright spots for us as we’ve transitioned from a software only company to a company that delivers complete turnkey solutions. On behalf of everyone at DMC, we are honored to be awarded the Rockwell System Integrator Innovation Award at the 2024 PartnerNetwork Conference.”

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Rockwell Automation is a leader in automation. Their expertise is built off the understanding of the factory floor and business models that will make it the most productive. This partnership level recognizes and rewards DMC for the commitment we have made to deliver expert solutions with a variety of different technologies and industries. 

They have created an unmatched partner network that stretches around the globe and expands daily. Customers value the PartnerNetwork as it provides exceptional support whenever and wherever. DMC is proud to recognize our expertise with Rockwell Automation technologies and platforms such as ControlLogix, CompactLogix, FactoryTalk View, Magnemotion, Kinetix Motion Controllers, PowerFlex VFD Drives, PanelView, and more. 

The PartnerNetwork will help DMC serve customers more effectively while working towards a thriving future for industrial automation. This certification identifies DMC as a company that offers knowledge and experience in design, implementation, project management, and maintenance of Rockwell Automation industrial control systems.

Learn more about DMC's Rockwell Automation expertise. 

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