I have been learning ignition though your inductive university for the past few months and I feel like I have a good knowledge of the basics.
I am now interested in using Maker Edition of ignition to create Arduino projects. From my short search online, I found that you can use Modbus library in Arduino to create a TCP server witch then you can add as a device in the ignition gateway. Am I on the right track? Also, would my board need to be connected to my WIFI?
Where do I start to connect my Arduino board to an Ignition gateway? My goal is being able to control devices that are connected to my Arduino though Ignition. Also, to have connected displays show my ignition project windows.
Please comment down bellow for advise and where I need to start in order for me to start controlling Arduino I/O and displays using Ignition.
You will need a Modbus library, using Modbus TCP IP is probably your best bet, either wifi or ethernet. There are a ton of examples you can get from the Arduino forums, but most of your work is going to be on the Arduino IDE side of things.
Ignition can read or write Modbus addresses in the device but your code on the Arduino will need to handle what values are assigned or actions taken when it sees a change in value.
On a side note, check out the ESP8266 or ESP32 boards if you haven't already.
Cool, thanks for the tips. Looks like I'm in the right direction. So, when adding the device (my Arduino) for the address would be the Modbus one or the WIFI IP address.
Do I need to configure a Modbus client or server in the Arduino IDE?
Let me know if you know more information on this topic.
I've only ever used the Arduino as a Modbus peripheral(slave in previous terminology), you add the device in ignition using the Modbus TCP IP driver and enter you device IP. When you create your tags in ignition (just manually address them) you will need to use the Modbus addressing.
You many need to play around with the Modbus device id / zero based addressing / reverse word order settings.
I’ve seen people talking about using modbus with Arduino before, but never attempted it myself. If you don’t have a lot of experience with modbus, it might be a bit easier to get a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W communicating with your gateway. They can be had for about $15, connect over WiFi, and use MQTT as its protocol.
I’ve got mosquito, an open source MQTT broker, running on the same server hosting my ignition gateway, and it’s pretty simple to use. I find MQTT addressing a lot easier to handle than ModBus for simple home projects like this.