Siemens S7 Client

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Mech-MSR can communicate with external devices through Siemens S7 Client. Before you read the following content, make sure that the communication configuration has been completed in Mech-MSR.

About Siemens S7 Client

Siemens S7 series PLCs communicate with Mech-MSR through the TIA Portal software by using Siemens S7 Client. In this communication mode, Mech-MSR acts as the client and the PLC acts as the server.

Required Hardware and Software

Hardware

  • The following S7 series PLCs from Siemens are supported:

    • S7-300: Integrated PN network port or CP343-1

    • S7-400: Integrated PN network port or CP443-1

    • S7-1200: No special requirement for modules

    • S7-1500: No special requirement for modules

  • 220V AC to 24V DC power adapter

  • The following industrial PCs are supported:

    • The standard IPC provided by Mech-Mind (recommended)

    • User-provided device

  • Network cable

Software

  • Siemens PLC programming software TIA Portal V15.1.

  • 3D measurement and inspection software Mech-MSR (the latest version 2.2.0 is recommended).

  • Interface file MM MSR Interface.db for Siemens PLC Snap7 communication between Siemens TIA Portal and Mech-MSR (used to enable data communication).

  • If string data needs to be transferred, the interface file must be MM MSR Interface Supporting String.db.

  • The files MM MSR Interface.db and MM MSR Interface Supporting String.db are stored in center/MSR_Interface/Siemens S7 under the installation directory of Mech-MSR. Copy the required file to the computer where the TIA Portal software is installed.

  • Do not use the MM MSR Interface data block as the IN/OUT interface parameter of a function block. If the function block stays enabled, the PLC reads and writes the IN/OUT interface parameters in every scan cycle, which may occasionally overwrite the data already sent by the 3D measurement system. To avoid this problem, the ToCamera and FromCamera structure data in the MM MSR Interface data block should be used as the OUT and IN interface parameters of the function block, respectively.

Communication Workflow

The workflow of Siemens S7 Client communication is shown in the figure below.

See Input Signals and Output Signals to learn the meaning of each signal.
handshake-workflow

Input Signals (from the PLC to Mech-MSR)

Name Description Data type DB offset

CMD_ENABLE

Enable

Boolean

0.0

CMD_TRIGGER

Command trigger

Boolean

0.1

DATA_READ_FINISHED

Data read finished

Boolean

0.2

RESET

Reset output data

Boolean

0.3

BIT_SPARE_1

Reserved

Boolean

0.4

BIT_SPARE_2

Reserved

Boolean

0.5

BIT_SPARE_3

Reserved

Boolean

0.6

BIT_SPARE_4

Reserved

Boolean

0.7

BYTE_SPARE_1

Reserved

Byte

1.0

BYTE_SPARE_2

Reserved

Byte

2.0

BYTE_SPARE_3

Reserved

Byte

3.0

COMMAND

Command code

Integer

4.0

CMD_PARAM_1

Command parameter 1

Integer

6.0

CMD_PARAM_2

Command parameter 2

Integer

8.0

CMD_PARAM_3

Command parameter 3

Integer

10.0

CMD_PARAM_4

Command parameter 4

Integer

12.0

CMD_PARAM_5

Command parameter 5

Integer

14.0

CMD_PARAM_6

Command parameter 6

Integer

16.0

CMD_PARAM_7

Command parameter 7

Integer

18.0

CMD_PARAM_8

Command parameter 8

Integer

20.0

CMD_PARAM_9

Command parameter 9

Integer

22.0

CMD_PARAM_10

Command parameter 10

Integer

24.0

VAR_1

Variable 1

Float

26.0

VAR_2

Variable 2

Float

30.0

VAR_3

Variable 3

Float

34.0

VAR_4

Variable 4

Float

38.0

VAR_5

Variable 5

Float

42.0

VAR_6

Variable 6

Float

46.0

VAR_7

Variable 7

Float

50.0

VAR_8

Variable 8

Float

54.0

VAR_9

Variable 9

Float

58.0

VAR_10

Variable 10

Float

62.0

WORD_SPARE

Reserved

Word (0~30)

66.0

CMD_ENABLE

Only when the enable signal is set to 1 are the other input signals considered valid.

CMD_TRIGGER

Mech-MSR reads the command code and command parameters only when the command trigger signal changes from 0 to 1 (rising edge). After Mech-MSR returns the Trigger Acknowledge signal, the command trigger signal can be set to 0.

DATA_READ_FINISHED

After the PLC finishes reading the data, set this signal to 1. Only after the Data Ready signal changes to 0 can this signal be set to 0.

RESET

When this signal is set to 1, the judgment results and measurement results received by the PLC (output) are cleared. At this point, the PLC can send a new command, and the related status codes are also reset.

COMMAND

The following table lists the supported commands in the current protocol and their corresponding command codes, command parameters, and descriptions.

Command Command Code Command Parameter Description

execute

1

Project ID. Only 1 project ID can be set at a time.

Used to trigger a project to run and obtain the project’s judgment results and measurement results.

trigger

2

Project ID. 1 to 4 project IDs can be set at a time.

Used to trigger a project to run.

return

3

Project ID. Only 1 project ID can be set at a time.

Used to obtain the judgment results and measurement results of the specified project.

judge

4

Used to obtain the overall quality judgment result of the specified project or the judgment results of individual measurement items.

value

5

Mainly used to obtain the measurement values of the specified project.

recipe

6

Project ID and parameter recipe ID.

Used to switch the parameter recipe used by a project.

solution

7

Solution ID.

Used to switch a solution.

SetNumVar

8

Global variable ID. Only 1 can be set at a time.

Used to set the value of a numeric global variable. The variable value is passed through VAR_INPUT.

GetNumVar

9

Global variable ID. Only 1 can be set at a time.

Used to read the value of a numeric global variable. The result is returned through VALUE.

TIP:

VAR_INPUT

When the SetNumVar command is executed, the set value is written to VAR_INPUT.

Name Description Data Type DB Offset

VAR_1

Variable 1

Float

26.0

VAR_2

Variable 2

Float

30.0

VAR_3

Variable 3

Float

34.0

VAR_4

Variable 4

Float

38.0

VAR_5

Variable 5

Float

42.0

VAR_6

Variable 6

Float

46.0

VAR_7

Variable 7

Float

50.0

VAR_8

Variable 8

Float

54.0

VAR_9

Variable 9

Float

58.0

VAR_10

Variable 10

Float

62.0

Output Signals (from Mech-MSR to the PLC)

Name Description Data type DB offset

HEARTBEAT

Heartbeat signal

Boolean

128.0

TRIGGER_ACKNOWLEDGE

Trigger acknowledge

Boolean

128.1

DATA_READY

Data ready

Boolean

128.2

EXEC_COMPLETED

Command execution completed

Boolean

128.3

BIT_SPARE_1

Reserved

Boolean

128.4

BIT_SPARE_2

Reserved

Boolean

128.5

BIT_SPARE_3

Reserved

Boolean

128.6

ERROR

Error

Boolean

128.7

OVERALL_JUDGE

Overall judgment result

Boolean

129.0

JUDGE_SPARE_1

Reserved

Boolean

129.1

JUDGE_SPARE_2

Reserved

Boolean

129.2

JUDGE_SPARE_3

Reserved

Boolean

129.3

JUDGE_SPARE_4

Reserved

Boolean

129.4

JUDGE_SPARE_5

Reserved

Boolean

129.5

JUDGE_SPARE_6

Reserved

Boolean

129.6

JUDGE_SPARE_7

Reserved

Boolean

129.7

BYTE_SPARE_1

Reserved

Byte

130.0

BYTE_SPARE_2

Reserved

Byte

131.0

STATUS_CODE

Status code

Integer

132.0

BYTE_SPARE_3

Reserved

Byte

134.0

BYTE_SPARE_4

Reserved

Byte

135.0

JUDGE

Judgment results

Boolean (0~63)

136.0

VALUE

Measurement results and variable values

Float (0~63)

144.0

HEARTBEAT

System heartbeat. It toggles every second. It can be used to determine whether the communication connection between the PLC and Mech-MSR is normal or disconnected.

TRIGGER_ACKNOWLEDGE

When Mech-MSR receives the rising edge of the Command Trigger signal, this signal is set to 1. When the command trigger signal falls, this signal is set to 0.

DATA_READY

Mech-MSR writes data to the output port and waits for the PLC to read it. When the Data Read Finished signal is 1, this signal is set to 0.

EXEC_COMPLETED

When command execution ends, this signal is set to 1, indicating that the command has been processed.

ERROR

When the status code returned by Mech-MSR is not 1, this signal is set to 1 to indicate an error.

OVERALL_JUDGE

The overall judgment result of the project. 1 indicates pass (OK), and 0 indicates fail (NG).

Quality judgment rules must be configured for the project in the Output Management window of Mech-MSR, and the measurement items considered during quality judgment must be determined. Only after the configuration is complete can valid quality judgment results be obtained.

STATUS_CODE

Mech-MSR may return the following status codes:

  • Normal status code: 1, indicating that the command was executed successfully.

  • Error status codes: -1, -2, -3, -4, and -5. See Error Codes for details.

JUDGE

The quality judgment results of measurement items added on the Communication Output tab in the Output Management window are returned here. 1 indicates pass (OK), and 0 indicates fail (NG).

Up to 64 judgment results can be output at one time for a single project.

VALUE

The VALUE module can return the following data:

  • The measurement results of the measurement items added on the Communication Output tab in the Output Management window.

  • The values of numeric global variables read when the GetNumVar command is executed.

Up to 64 measurement values can be output at one time for a single project.

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