Connecting to the AmbiLogique Target System

• Connecting the Power Supply

Look at the Power/Comms Module data sheet.  This will give details of the power supply required for the PLC system.  For example the POCO-01 requires a power supply of 12 or 24 Vdc at 0.2A.

Wire the power supply to the Power/Comms module with the correct polarity.

Note:
A ground or earth connection is provided on the Power/Comms Module.
This must be connected to a suitable EMC earth via a short wire link in order to ensure compliance with international EMC standards.
Whilst in many cases leaving this earth unconnected or using a wire of more than 60 mm in length will not cause a problem, correct earthing will ensure compliance.

• Connecting to the Target

First, find a free RS-232 plug on your computer, and work out which COM number it is.   The best way is to click the "Start" button on the computer desktop, select "Control Panel" then "Device Manager."
On some Windows installations, Device Manager is a sub-item of "Control Panel \ System."

On Windows 10 and 11 computers, right-clicking the Windows icon in the system tray will throw up a dialog box with Device Manager as one of the options.

Most modern portable computers do not have a serial RS-232 communications adaptor built in.
You can purchase a USB-to-Serial adaptor which will provide this facility at minimal cost from any competent computer shop.
It is a good idea to get a 9-pin 'D' extension cable at the same time.   The cable needs to end in a plug (with pins) at the PLC end.

In Device Manager, expand the 'Ports (COM & LPT)' item:

In the example above, the USB-to-Serial adaptor registered as COM7. That '7' is the number you need.

Connect the RS-232 cable to the socket on the top of the Power/Comms Module.

The cable in use must be a straight pin-to-pin connection, not a crossover cable for connecting two computers together.
Some games consoles use straight pin-to-pin 9-way cables, and such cables normally work very well.

Select "Project->Connect-to-target" from the menu, and a COM port selection dialog will appear.

Choose the correct number for the port you are using, and click OK.
AmbiLogique will now attempt a dialog with the controller in order to find out its type identifier.
If successful, it will tell you what controller it has found at the end of the cable, otherwise it will report that the connection has failed.
When a successful connection has been made, the COM number is remembered for future connections.

NEW IN REVISION 3.32 AND ABOVE - EXTENDED CONNECT DIALOG

In addition to the COM port selection, there are several new controls on the dialog:

• A check box "Check if RS-485 echo":  This must be checked if the PLC is connected via a half-duplex connection such as RS-485 where the sender also receives its own messages.
  Some RS-485 adaptors such as the FTDI USB-RS485 converters automatically filter out these echoes so that this dialog control should not be checked.
• "boX Address":  Most standard PLCs are set up with a fixed boX address of 0.
  However, some custom controllers have a different boX address, and this address needs to be set in this dialog item.
• "Slot Address":  Some custom controllers, particularly in aerospace applications, have controllers which have different control diagrams running in different slots in the same equipment.
  This dialog item allows you to change the slot address to load a control diagram into a specific controller.
  Note: If you use this dialog to connect to a different controller in the same system, the previously-connected controller is automatically disconnected.

Once the connection has been established, a tick (check mark) appears beside the "Connect-to-target" menu item, and the items below become full density, indicating that they are available.

• Processor Statistics (new in Rev 3.31)

When communication has been established with the PLC, it is possible to view some of its internal parameters.
This menu item brings up a dialog which displays as follows:-

Pressing the "Refresh" button will update the Time Used and Backplane statistics.

Note that the Serial Number will only display for CPDA-01 from firmware 3.61 onwards.  All CPDA-02 processors display their Serial Number.

The Control Diagram Time Used depends on the size of the control diagram and the mix of function blocks used in the diagram.  The scan time available is 62.5 milliseconds on a CPDA-01 or -02, and the Time Used is expressed as a percentage of this time.

• Uploading the Diagram

Select "Project->Upload-to-target" from the menu.
A warning dialog appears, telling you that you are about to perform an operation which requires that the processor be stopped.
You have the opportunity to Cancel, if this is not what you intended.
If you want to load your diagram, select OK.
The target processor is stopped, and its Status LED starts to flash rapidly, indicating that it is no longer running its diagram.

First the constants from your diagram are loaded, then the function blocks.
The constants are then verified, followed by verification of the function blocks.
For each operation, a progress bar is shown.   Note that if you have only one or two constants to load, you may not see the progress bar for this operation because it is so quick.

When the diagram has been successfully loaded and verified, you will see a dialog box advising you that the Upload process verified OK.
When you press the OK button, the processor is restarted, and it then runs the new diagram until you switch it off, or upload a new diagram.

• Verifying the Diagram

Select "Project->Verify-target" from the menu.
The verification process is exactly the same as takes place after a new diagram has been uploaded.
You need to be sure that you are looking at one of the sheets of the diagram which is installed in the controller.
Verifying does not interfere with the operation of the controller, and it is not necessary to take the controlled process off line.
The verification stops on the first difference between the diagram you are looking at (remember that all the sheets are checked, not just the one in view) and the diagram in the controller.
If the diagrams are the same, you will see a dialog which says "Verified OK."

• Running the Diagram

The controller will run its diagram automatically as soon as it has been loaded and verified.
It will also start in Run mode when it is first switched on.   Only a special computer command will stop it.

When the PLC is running a diagram normally, the Status LED on the top panel of the controller flashes once per second.
The duration of the flash is proportional to the time taken to process the diagram each scan - so you can tell if there is processing time available to extend the diagram.
Note that the AmbiLogique controller is processing its diagram much faster than this, for example the CPDA-02 processes a full diagram 16 times per second.

When the processor is stopped, the Status LED flashes rapidly - 8 times per second.

If the Status LED is permanently on, there is a failure in the controller.

If the Status LED is permanently off, either there is no power being supplied to the controller, or the controller has failed.

• Monitoring the Diagram

Select "Project->Monitor-target" from the menu.
This does not interfere with the operation of the controller.
The internal signals in the controller are continuously read out, and are displayed wherever there is a visible signal name on the diagram.

If you have a wire on the diagram whose signal is not displayed, and you want to see it, right-click on the wire segment, select "Properties," and tick the "Show signal name" check box.
You will then need to stop and re-start the Monitor process (so that the Monitor signal list gets updated), then the signal value will be displayed below the signal name.

You will need to cancel the Monitor mode if you want to do any other communication process with the target controller.
Pull down the "Project" menu item, and you will see that there is a check mark against the "Monitor-target" item, also that all the other communications options are grayed out.
Clicking on "Monitor-target" will cancel Monitor mode, and the other options become available again.

• K-Factors

K-Factors are an extremely valuable addition to the CPDA-02 toolset. These factors are used to set semi-permanent constants in the control diagram, but which can be edited and tuned without stopping the process being controlled.

K-Factors are defined in a script file named “KF****.txt” where the stars represent any textual characters. The file name can be any that conforms to the file name specifications of the operating system, so long as it starts with the upper case “KF” and carries the “.txt” extension.

Each K-Factor is connected into the control diagram via a TERMIN function block with:-

• a boX address of 0,
• a sUbslot address of 6,
• and a Register address corresponding to the serial number of the K-Factor.

Just as with any other instance of a TERMIN, the signal can be masked to filter specific bits in or out of the signal.

• K-Factor File Format

Each K-Factor is assigned to one, and only one line of the file.

The fields of each line of a K-Factor file are separated by tabs.   They are as follows:

• Serial number;
• Factor name;
• Lowest recommended value;
• Highest recommended value;
• Start value.

The serial number is one less than the line number, i.e. the first entry is 0, the second 1, etc.

The factor name is a string which has a meaning relevant to the application.
Note that a factor name cannot include spaces, so multi-word names are best linked_up_with_underscores in lieu of spaces.

The lowest and highest recommended values are there as a user guide, and do not have any function, specifically they do not constrain the user input.
Because of this, users need to be careful when editing K-Factors.

The start value is useful for commissioning new systems, as the K-Factor Editor allows for all of the Start values to be loaded into the edit boxes at once, which is much more efficient than typing them in individually.

A typical K-Factor file looks like this:

0 CTG_Closed_% 40 100 32.7