Description

Learn how to connect to Allen-Bradley CompactLogix devices.

Video recorded using: Ignition 8.3

Transcript

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[00:00] In this session, I'll demonstrate how to create a device connection using the Legacy Allen-Bradley CompactLogix driver. This driver is used to connect to Allen-Bradley CompactLogix PLCs, up to firmware version 20.18. Allen-Bradley Devices above this version can be connected to using the Allen-Bradley Logix driver, which we have a separate video on. To get started, I'll navigate to my Gateway's Connections section, expand devices, and click connections. Then I'll click create Device Connection. I'll select the Allen-Bradley CompactLogix (Legacy) driver since my device is below firmware version 20.18. and click next. First, I'll give my connection a name. I'll call mine LegacyCompactLogix. Then in the hostname field, I'll enter the IP address of my device. I could create my connection now, but I'll call out a couple more connection properties here that might be relevant for you. Below the hostname is the local address property, and this is the local address that will be used when establishing A TCP connection. This gives an opportunity to specify an address, but leaving it blank lets the driver just pick an available one.

[01:08] Next, the connection path is a set of four numbers that represent a route to the device's processor. This is used when the device has a special ethernet card versus a built-in ethernet connection, or when another device is being used as a bridge. I don't need to specify a connection path for my connection, but if you do, I'll include a link underneath this video to an explanation of connection paths in our user manual that will help you. The other property of interest is the concurrent requests in the advanced section. This is the number of requests that Ignition will try to send the device at the same time. Increasing this can sometimes increase throughput, but increasing it too much can overwhelm the device. To finish, I'll click Create Device Connection. Once it's created and has finished browsing, I can view the tags by opening up my designer. I'll browse my devices from the tag browser. Then if I expand the folders in my OPC UA server, I'll expand the device connection I just made and I can now see the devices tags.

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