JimmyRig (Customer) asked a question.
Building a system to track scrap from various points on a production line and was thing to do it by weight via scales.
I've been in the arduino world for a while and could do this with a p1am however I am interested in seeing if a plc could do it (thinking productivity 1000)
Ideally the plc would connect to a few scales at a time, either over rs-232 or something else.......i didnt see any scales on automation direct.....any recommendations? need a pallet scale and "deli" scale. Budget around $750 per scale,
After connecting to the scales it would then log the data at regular time intervals to a DB for the purposes of recording the data to track process improvement changes.
Is this something a productivity series can do? Didnt see anything with a quick google search about connecting productivity to a DB. I could build software to gather the data from the web server and enter it into the DB but if its going to be Jerry rigged would rather go with the p1am.
Thanks
Jimmy
In general, there aren't many PLC's that interface directly with databases. There are getting to be more of them but still relatively few. None that AD offers interfaces directly with a database outside of whatever can be done with a P1AM. Database integration is primarily handled by a SCADA system in the industrial world. You can always read Modbus or EIP data from the controllers and then interface this with a database using whatever software you want.
@JimmyRig (Customer) For Productivity Series plc's there is a product DataWorx 2020 that is offered by BizWareDirect that works with Microsoft Access and ODBC (MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle) & is Windows 10 compliant.
I would reach out to them for any additional information:
https://www.bizwaredirect.com/index.html
In addition, you would use the DataWorx request (DWX) instruction (help file topic P143) in the Productivity Suite software to communicate to DataWorx 2020 to log to a database.
Will take a look at that, thanks
May I ask which type of database do you have in mind?
Don't care, just need a starting point
Hi @JimmyRig (Customer)
I would check out Node-RED for your communication to your controllers and logging into a database.
https://accautomation.ca/series/node-red-iot-enabling-software/
This software is free of charge and will run on most computers. The above link will show you the installation, communication to controllers, HMI dashboard, logging to a SQL database, and connecting the database to spreadsheets for analysis.
This will even run on a Raspberry Pi.
I hope this helps you out.
Regards,
Garry
https://accautomation.ca/
This is awesome, will do more digging, thanks for the suggestion!
As ADC_Community_02 said, Productivity series controllers do have integration to DataWorx for integration with SQL databases. I remember watching the videos many years ago and it looked extremely simple. The videos were done in the DataWorx P3k software, which I understand has been EOL for some time now. It appears the videos are gone from Automation Direct's website and youtube channel too? Very strange. Either way, it seems there is a newer DataWorx 2020 software that is updated and would work just as well.
Though if you are looking for something along the lines of free or cheap, Node-Red is definitely the way to go.
The one issue it looks like you may have with a P1k is that it doesnt appear to have a serial module for extra RS-232 ports. If the scales you get communicate that way then a P1k most likely will not work for you.
If you dont mind using Node-Red and you do need a lot more RS-232 interfaces, then a BRX PLC is the next cheapest way to go. Most likely a "10-series" controller would work nicely with one or two BX-SERIO-2 cards (or an 18-series if you plan to use a lot more IO and modules)
Ahhh good point with the 232 ports. Will take a look at the brx as well as I don't mind node red