I work with lot of Mettler Toledo scales. I was wondering if there is a way to connect to MT-IND-780 through ignition.
I saw few models discussed here in the forum, but curious to know if I can read the readings from IND-780.
It has EtherNet modules, currently they are connected to a PLC etc which is a overkill for simple weighing readings.
Ignition has a good Modbus TCP driver, and it looks like the weigh scale supports it too (amongst many other industrial communications). Might be a good starting point:
@simeonw
Thank you for sharing these links, it was encouraging, that on the gateway it showed status as connected. However when I browse through the tags to see if I can get scale values, I am only getting Diagnostic folder contents back.
I was wondering if I need to change the port number or other variable to get to the scale data.
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I don't believe that the Modbus driver natively has the ability to browse the end device: Modbus Addressing | Ignition User Manual. You will need to create the specific Modbus tags to reference the different data in your scale.
Modbus tags aren't browsable. You'll have to read the manual starting around page 167 or so to determine the data format used and to read the appropriate address.
For starters, try adding an OPC tag with the following Item Path (assuming it's using floating point):
[MT_IND780_Scale1]1.HRF2
If that doesn't work, try this item path to get the integer value instead (may need scaling):
[MT_IND780_Scale1]1.HR1
Edit: Corrected addresses as I missed the difference between floats and integer addresses. This is also getting the weight for scale/message #1. You'll have to read the manual to get the correct addresses for other scales, status, etc.
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Thank you @michael.flagler, I think getting close to still some gaps are there. When I put 200 grams of weight on the scale, I am seeing a value change.
This is what I used ns=1;s=[MT_IND780_Scale1]HR3 similar format for 1 through 4
Also I tired to use Kepware to make the connection, it generated tags but its status is shown bad.
Spoke to MT sales rep, it said there is a setting in the MT Ethernet-IP Modbus-TCP to toggle between the two. Perhaps once I toggle it I can browse the tags through kepware.
You'll probably never be able to browse the tags, that's not how comms with those types of devices work.
Per the manual, there are settings that need to be set to switch between the floating point format and integer format.
You really need to find out what format your scale is using, otherwise you'll be chasing your tail as to what you're getting as the addresses are different between the 2 for scale status bits and values.
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I haven't used the 780, but have crossed paths with the 570.
If you're sticking with the Modbus route and you're seeing data but it's not making sense, try byte swapping.
Alternatively, if you're using the right ethernet card, you might be able to use the Ignition TCP driver to connect directly to the scale. Try creating a device on the gateway, and test a string tag using port 1702. Item path should be something like
ns=1;s=[DeviceName]1702/Message
@dhiren.naidoo
I tried creating Ignition TCP connection but it asks for a port(s), I did not what to use for port.
This is how it looks on the gateway. 0/1 connected. I am not sure what it means?
I found this manual
On page number 199 it appears to say use port 1701. But I still could not make the connection
You're going to be better off and have a more reliable connection using Modbus rather than trying to parse out the TCP packets.
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We used port 1702 for some reason. Not sure why. Try that?
As @michael.flagler says, ModBus might be the easier route since you already have some sort of connection. I'm just offering alternatives.
Here is the format setting with in the scale itself.
On the gateway, it appears that Modbus made successful connection. Yet I still could not get the data out
This is the setting in Ignition
Now, you need to change your item path to:
ns=1;s=[MT_IND780_Scale1]HRF2
or
ns=1;s=[MT_IND780_Scale1]1.HRF2
But you may also need to play with various other settings like zero based offset, byte/word swapping, etc.
Per the manual/table here:
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