Micrologix 1100 comunicating with printer board?

So i was sittin here working on a moveo/method 2 plc based robotic arm and it hit me. We might not be able to put gcode in the program but we can use the boards a and b outputs to press a counter. That should be able to drive the steps correct? We then send those to a stepper motor driver and have it trickle feed off a timer that resets itself. we then send plc outputs to a stepper motor driver and have 3d printing off of plc that shouldnt misstep because it becomes stored in the plc not spit out immediately. we can then tighten up with encoders and also access more user friendly hmi.



What do we gain? The micrologix is a entry plc that has freeware available to download. Electrical isolation. Less load on the micro controller if it becomes a simple input device with g-code output. G-code comes off of micro controller, calibrations from plc hmi which then sends a output to a micro controller for commands like set home ect.

What do you guys think? Worth looking into? Price wise id say about $1000 for a printer if not less

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2018 05:17PM by TheBoy.

Don't smoke that stuff, boy...

You are trying to ask us how to solve a problem, before we know what the actual problem is.
What do you want to achieve? Control one stepper with two pins?
What is the trickle feed off a timer that resets itself meant for?

The idea is to make a more user friendly hmi that is programmable by the user. Plc is point click stupid very easy to program so we separate our hmi for our micro controller with plc while sending gcode with the micro controller. We can use the drip feed method with optional stop and encoders to ensure full movement before the next command is injected. So the encoder and counter both count and then subtract and if the sum is > subtract or < add. Then send the next command with plc once those to numbers are equal.repeat for every line of code.

Each stepper motor would still be 4 wire but the driver would run off the plc vs the micro controller and utilize the +step commands.
With plc it makes it easier to add that conveyor belt, robotic arm, piston ect and if purchased used the plc can sell for less than some boards while being more versatile with modifications.

Call me stupid, but I don't know what a hmi is.
From the context I understood, Plc is some kind of ( widely known? ) controller, stupid but overpriced.
You want to build a closed loop stepper control with it.
Can you control 4 ( or more ) steppers at once to stay synchronized with one Plc?

BTW: When you send the next command line after the last one was successfully, your device will stutter. A line buffer inside the microcontroller is neccessary to plan ahead. That's where the closed loop algorhythm should be implemented, not some external device.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2018 05:49AM by o_lampe.

HMI. (Human Machine Interface)

Quote
TheBoy
Each stepper motor would still be 4 wire but the driver would run off the plc vs the micro controller and utilize the +step commands.
With plc it makes it easier to add that conveyor belt, robotic arm, piston ect and if purchased used the plc can sell for less than some boards while being more versatile with modifications.

Would like to know more about the PLC interface, and how in works to driver the steppers.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2018 07:45AM by Roberts_Clif.

Quote
o_lampe
Call me stupid, but I don't know what a hmi is.
From the context I understood, Plc is some kind of ( widely known? ) controller, stupid but overpriced.
You want to build a closed loop stepper control with it.
Can you control 4 ( or more ) steppers at once to stay synchronized with one Plc?

BTW: When you send the next command line after the last one was successfully, your device will stutter. A line buffer inside the microcontroller is neccessary to plan ahead. That's where the closed loop algorhythm should be implemented, not some external device.

[literature.rockwellautomation.com]

PLC are used in factories as a heavy duty micro controller that is programmed with wire diagrams (ladder logic) vs a txt based system we have now. It should be able to do what i want it to do; add precision while making it easier to customize for the users needs. With counters we should be able to use just the inputs and outputs to drive the motors. Depending on the stepper motor drive they can have a +step -step command we use the plc as a virtual push button to move the steps forwards or backwards and subtract from the A,B pulses we counted from the 3d printer board. Will M01 command cause the program to stutter or is M01 not a command on 3d printers? I have only ever tried on cnc.

It will require a AB 1762 I/O expansion but if purchased used can run as little as $50.

I have been thinking about the m01 problem and I think we are over thinking. Remember that if we do it this way we are only using the 3d printer board as a i/o slave with no load directly attached. The motors get power through the plc which the m01 wouldn't shut power off from. It would simply stop sending it +step commands until the criteria was met to move on to the next command line so we shouldnt see any inrush surges because it is constantly powered on waiting for its next command.