Configure In-Sight Vision Systems for SLMP Communications

This section describes how to connect to an In-Sight vision system using SLMP communications to a Mitsubishi MELSEC Automation Controller. The ReadMC and WriteMC functions are used to create an SLMP connection between an In-Sight vision system and a MELSEC Automation Controller, sending Batch Read/Write commands using a 3E QnA compatible or 1E A compatible Binary frame to send/receive data from the Automation Controller.

Note:
  • In this topic, PLC/MC and Robot Controllers are referred as "Automation Controller".
  • The In-Sight 2000 series vision sensor does not support robot controllers.
  • When SLMP is assigned to a Mitsubishi MELSEC FX Series (1E frame) Ethernet module, the available ports and the maximum number of connections vary depending on the module’s model type (FX3U-ENET or FX3U-ENET-L). For more information, please refer to the module’s documentation.

Get Data From an In-Sight Vision System

In order to get data from the In-Sight Explorer spreadsheet to a MELSEC Automation Controller (PLC and Robot Controller), the data must be transferred using the WriteMC function. This function takes a buffer of data created by the FormatOutputBuffer function and writes the data to the configured memory location of the Automation Controller. This data is then transferred during the next update cycle. For more information, see WriteMC and FormatOutputBuffer.

  1. Right-click an empty cell and select Insert Function to open the Insert Function dialog. From the left pane, click on the Input/Output category, then double-click the FormatOutputBuffer function, from the right pane, to insert it into the spreadsheet.
  2. From the FormatOutputBuffer dialog, click the Add button. This will initiate the cell selection mode. Select the data that will be transferred to the Automation Controller.
  3. If there is additional data to be sent, again, from the FormatOutputBuffer dialog, click the Add button. Once again this will initiate the cell selection mode. Select the additional data to transfer.
  4. Close the FormatOutputBuffer dialog by clicking the OK button.
  5. Right-click an empty cell and select Insert Function to open the Insert Function dialog. From the left pane, click on the Input/Output category, then double-click the WriteMC function, from the right pane, to insert it into the spreadsheet.
  6. Set the WriteMC function's Buffer parameter as a cell reference to the recently created FormatOutputBuffer function's Buffer data structure.
  7. Configure the WriteMC function's Host Name, Port, PLC Series and Device Address parameters to the Automation Controller settings.

Read Data Into an In-Sight Vision System

In order to send data from the MELSEC Automation Controller (PLC and Robot Controller) to the In-Sight Explorer spreadsheet, the data must be read from the Automation Controller using the ReadMC function. This function takes the data format created within the FormatInputBuffer function and determines which memory location of the Automation Controller to read from. The function then formats this data into the In-Sight Explorer spreadsheet. For more information, see ReadMC and FormatInputBuffer.

  1. Right-click an empty cell and select Insert Function to open the Insert Function dialog. From the left pane, click on the Input/Output category, then double-click the FormatInputBuffer function, from the right pane, to insert it into the spreadsheet.
  2. From the FormatInputBuffer dialog, click on the Add button and add a 32-bit float and a 32-bit integer to the list.
  3. Close the FormatInputBuffer dialog by clicking the OK button.
  4. Right-click an empty cell and select Insert Function to open the Insert Function dialog. From the left pane, click on the Input/Output category, then double-click the ReadMC function, from the right pane, to insert it into the spreadsheet .
  5. Set the ReadMC function's Buffer parameter as a cell reference to the recently created FormatInputBuffer function's Buffer data structure.
  6. Configure the ReadMC function's Host Name, Port, PLC Series and Device Address parameters to the Automation Controller settings.
  7. Once the functions have been implemented, place the In-Sight vision system Online to test the configuration.