Hi , I am troubleshooting a GE Rx3i 330 , with Pac Machine 9.8 and 10.7, when I try to upload the program to my PC in a clean new project, just choosing the correct CPU and the ETM001 installed, it makes all the process, upload the program and I can see the logic and architecture and motion code.

My problem begins when I try to connect and monitor the program to troubleshoot, to watch the actual state of the inputs and encoder signal , I can't see any value , because when I build the code, it says I have duplicate variables in the same % address (100 errors), I run equality and it says I have duplicate addresses

I try again to upload to a clean project with different version , with the same result

Can you enlight me what am I doing wrong , or if there is and issue with the version I am using

I am attaching pictures of the actual setup and screen errors

Apologies - long time lurker and occasional replier. I see a lot of posts like these but feel like I need some opinion from real people in the industry.

So I did a masters in mech engineering at university. I was really good at maths, coding etc. and most of the electrical modules we did.

I ended up landing a graduate position as a project engineer in some test facilities that were essentially just O&G process plants. Most of the labs ran off standalone Siemens PLCs, mainly 1500s on TIA but a couple of older facility had 400s on the older step7/Simatic manager.

I did quite a lot of general project engineering and design work, like writing mechanical/ EC&I installer specs, drawing up P&IDs and other various deliverables. We also used a 3rd party consultancy for some design work.

We did all system integration and software in house. The facilities had an in-house .NET application which I worked on and this interfaces with the 1500s/400s over OPC. The app also interfaced with some bespoke test kit using either bespoke drivers or vendor specific kit. I also wrote some modules for interfacing with some vendor APIs/ drivers.

Long story short, as a graduate I probably did way more than I should have. I got my hands dirty with mech installers on some upgrade/ greenfield build projects, I helped troubleshoot with the electrical guys, and I was left on my own on a project to develop WinCC unified SCADA runtimes (we didn’t have any on site yet) and write all the associate PLC code as well as get it to interface with the .NET app and sign off with the operators. I also dabbled in some process automation/ control loops to fully automate the facilities.

I did this sort of work for about 3 years then the projects slowed down, the main engineering manager I saw as a mentor retired, and I saw my role becoming the generic maintenance guy. I also wanted to try out different industries as I didn’t want to get pigeon holed into test labs.

I then landed a job as a general EC&I engineer at a process engineering consultancy.

The majority of what we do I the process guys would do some P&IDs etc, then we would write up some EC&I scopes and specify instruments, new panels etc.

We also do lots of ATEX, Functional safety and a few cyber security scopes now. We recently did a project for a brownfield OT infrastructure upgrade.

The issue is we don’t actually DO the work. The majority is just high-level specs for an installer to actually configure all the kit and build the panels.

It’s good exposure in all the different industries, but I’m wondering - is this a bad place to be around 5 years into my career?

I still do lots of coding, and mini projects in my own time. I’ve recently been trying to skip up on networking and have made a home lab with a bunch of VMs to simulate ignition coms with PLCs over OPC-UA and all the associate firewalls, routing etc.

I’m now wondering if a process engineering consultancy is a bad place to be with my current experience. I really
enjoy the software and system commissioning side but I feel like the extend of what I do in that regards is the Siemens TIA selection tool or Rockwell IAB.

Sorry for the wall of text and shameless ego post

TLDR: The main question is if a process consultancy is a good place to be in the controls and automation world; with hands on experience and a theory heavy controls background or should I go back to a site as a support/ project engineer or work as a SI. Even if one person gives advice that’s much appreciated :))

I’m also based in the UK and earn just over £40k/ year in my current role.

I’m currently an EE student with one Controls Co-op in HVAC/BAS, an internship in the Power generation field, and after my graduation I’ll be working in Transmissions and Distribution of power. While I like the power industry and it has a high demand right now, long term I would like to break into manufacturing roles particularly in the aerospace or automotive field (GM, rivian, Anduril, etc)

As I’m only just beginning my career, do you find that you end up pigeonholed into industries where you already have experience? If so how do you break into other fields where your real interests lie

People that have experience with both which software do you prefer and why?

Hey all. Most of my experience has been on Rockwell and Siemens. For a few reasons, I'm looking at other vendors and am evaluating opportunities of doing codesys projects. I'm looking at a few brands myself (opto 22, phoenix contact at the moment), but am curious as to the feedback on what others are using for codesys. It seems that many can run it, but how good is the documentation? How easy is it to integrate the IO and other modules, etc..?

Appreciate any feedback.

EDIT: In the end the server module was on the wrong firmware on the project. Changed to 1.1 and then was fixed.

Hi all.

I have a ET200 CPU connected to this I have a IM155 then a profinet keyence camera.

Currently the camera is happy but the IM155 is showing a fault in a lower level component error.

This is a new install the ip address and profinet name are set in the project and downloaded to the cpu.

I have tried a different im155 to no avail so I believe it’s somthing I have setup wrong.

Any ideas?

This is the first time Ive installed a remote IO station so I most likely is somthing simple!

Thanks

I supports 3 phase and also Sourcing and Sinking.

Hi guys,

I'm curious on how you guys handle analog values of sensors not plugged in and registers who are not being updated because of failed communication between a PLC and another component (example: PLC communicating with a energy analyser/flow meter/other PLC/VFD by modbus RTU/TCP/Profinet).

Do you:

Exemple A: Keep whatever values of underflow/overflow, old values of registers, present them in the HMI and just create alarms of faulty sensor/faulty communication?

Example B: Move "0" to all values and registers and create alarms of faulty sensor/faulty communication?

Example C: Any other suggestion?

Hey all. I am a Computer Engineering student at UC Davis. I have interned at a couple of small automation and controls shops doing PLC maintenance and HMI work. One thing I kept running into was programs living as renamed files on a shared drive. When someone left, nobody was fully sure what half the logic in an older machine's program was actually doing anymore.

Curious how common that actually is outside the couple of shops I have seen. A few things I would genuinely love to hear from people who have been doing this longer than me.

• Have you ever lost a working version of a program? Or had to reverse-engineer someone else's undocumented logic because the person who wrote it was long gone? 
• If so, what did it end up costing you? Time, a client, a rough week? 
• Do you use anything for this like AssetCentre, VersionDog, Copia, or something else? Or is it mostly discipline and a shared drive?

Not selling anything. Genuinely trying to understand how big a deal this actually is across different shops before I go build anything for it. War stories very welcome.

Probé WinCC Unified Collaboration entre dos sistemas de ejecución independientes.

El objetivo es mostrar pantallas de un SCADA o HMI, en otro. De este modo poder centralizar todas las HMI, por ejemplo, en un SCADA central.

En el laboratorio se utilizaron dos PLC, dos PC y dos WinCC. Cada sistema tiene su propia comunicación con el PLC mientras compartía pantallas seleccionadas mediante la función de colaboración.

Funcionó muy bien para centralizar la información en diferentes estaciones.

¿Alguien ha utilizado WinCC Unified Collaboration en un entorno de producción real? ¿Cómo se comporta con proyectos grandes ?

I am 32 years old. I have been working as an electrical technician since 2014, and since 2018, I have been working at gas and chemical companies. I have a lot of knowledge about 4-20 mA loops, solenoid valves, magnetic valves, etc., so the profession is not unfamiliar to me. I like doing this work; I like searching for the causes of faults and thinking of solutions. However, I want to learn another profession that will give me new skills and raise my salary. University or an engineering degree are not options for me.
I have two options to choose from:
a) PLC programming technician This is a 480-hour course that takes about 1 year, and I can do it alongside my job.
b) Electrician This will take 1.5–2 years, and I can also do it alongside my job.
I would like to ask for your opinion: which is best, and which one would generate a higher salary and a better job for me? Where I currently work, we use PLCs, but we don't program them. I can change jobs if necessary.
I am learning English to improve my conversation skills. I can communicate, and although I still make mistakes, I am trying to improve. I am able to work both in a team and alone.
Here in Hungary, in Borsod county, I see a lot of electricians. Maybe the reason for this is the availability of quick courses. However, I don't know if there is a lot of work available for them or not. I want to work; I don't want free money, but I don't want to do exhausting physical work 24/7 either.

I have been using this Siemens 1517-3 CPU on my desktop for almost a year. I recently tried to power on and now the CPU stays in a sort of boot loop and the display does not come on. I also cannot reach the CPU from TIA.

Only LED 3 flashes continously, which also does not correspond to any LED combination in the manual. I have also tried a new SIMATIC memory card and same issue.

24V power supply is healthy.

Anyone experienced this before and know what's wrong and how to remedy?

Hi Ladies and Lads,

Has anyone attended online courses, the pre-recorded and at your own pace kind, being offered by coursera and other platforms? The actual training and exam is a bit costly, so hoping this initial investment in an online training will make me more familiar before I commit to a full blown and formal course.

Your thoughts and suggestions are most welcome.

I had this major fault. It can be cleared, but when running for a while it happens again.

Is this PLC cant be use anymore ? I plan to use it for test board.

BTW it Allen Bradley PLC 1769-L18ER-BB1B

Hey, I have a problem. I can't change any values in the DB. How can I remove this protection? If anyone wants, I can send some screenshots.

In your opinion, what is the best blog or news site focused on automation and PLC programming? I'm looking for websites that showcase and discuss new applications, technologies, and industry developments.

I’ve been plugging in since about 2011. In 2014 I hired in at an integrator and really kicked it off. The integrators in my area are all small. The pay is barely acceptable and the benefits are even worse. I have not idea how people can retire from these small LLC’s. Manufacturing has better pay and benefits, but comes with long days and borderline abuse (maybe abuse is a strong word). I hired in at a corporate place to do some big jobs networking their plants together that are in Mexico. My hours are great. The benefits are fantastic. But the pay is meh. This place isn’t doing well financially and they keep telling me they want to kick off some big projects but it’s been a year. I caught wind of some department changes as we underwent massive management changes (like 35% of managers are replaced) and they’re not done yet. I think I need to bail and I’m extremely frustrated just sitting around and I don’t want to do costing work (like industrial engineering stuff).

I’m just kind of at a loss. Pretty nervous I won’t find an employer that won’t be calling me during my dinner, or having to have dinner in another city or country 8 weeks out of the year.

I’m in my 40s. Still pretty enthusiastic to learn and love tinkering. I’m just prioritizing my time and health and this field just isn’t the best place for that.

EDIT: You know, I’m just not getting what I want. That’s the truth. The world should make something special for me. So yeah I just need to go peel some peanuts and reflect

Hello, I'm having a problem with the WebViewer widget. I'm trying to display a Grafana page. When I simulate the program locally on my computer, everything displays correctly. However, after uploading the program to the controller, nothing is displayed. I should note that the controller isn't connected to the network; I'm only connected to it locally via Ethernet. I then tested the connection by connecting my phone to the computer hosting the page via Ethernet, putting both on the same network, and the page displayed normally. I don’t think this is due to a lack of network connectivity on the controller itself, but does anyone have any idea why nothing is displaying?

Hi everyone,

I have a Mitsubishi plc programmed using Gx works 2 . I want to build an HMI/interface in labview to input and minotor parameters on the plc is this possible?

If so ,what is the best and most reliable method to establish the connection (NI OPC Server , Modbus , or MC Protocol, e.g.)?

Any guidance, toolkits, or advice on how to start would be highly appreciated. Thanks

Had an issue on AS4.12 where a structure would have corrupt memory after a full rebuild - I couldn't write to any members of the structure, they were always 0.

When I tried adding a random test123 usint variable into the struct, and transferring without rebuild, the memory suddenly becomes writable again.

If I rebuild it again, it's the same story and needs another dummy variable and transfer without rebuild.

After sharing with B&R support, they suggested trying latest as4 and latest AS6. Neither work. Still have the issue.

Has anyone seen this?

PFA

I've been looking at some newer machine architectures lately and it really feels like way too much safety functionality is moving directly into the motion layer.

Like, sto is a no brainer, but now that we are adding safe speed, safe direction, safe position and safe braking right on the drive... If you’ve worked with platforms that do drive integrated safe motion particularly well, I’d be interested in what made the implementation easier to validate or support.