Migration is Inevitable. Here's How We Would Do It.
It’s hard to believe that remote I/O has been around for over thirty years. While its served you well, you’re finding out that it is unable to perform to today’s control requirements and standards. Sooner or later you’re going to have to upgrade your legacy DH+ & Remote I/O systems.
I think it’s safe to say that Drives and PanelViews are the pulse of your plant. Drives help ensure that processes; such as bottling, filling, cartoning, and palletizing, are running efficiently and smoothly. PanelViews give you the critical insight into your control system. Should either one of these fail, your entire control system could be affected. Replacements for legacy Remote I/O drives and PanelViews are in short supply, and are quickly becoming unavailable. What should you do?
Today’s modern control systems run on EtherNet/IP networks. It just so happens that ProSoft Technology has developed an innovative modernization gateway that will allow you to convert Remote I/O and DH+ to EtherNet/IP. Now you can upgrade your legacy Remote I/O control system in phases; eliminating the need for extended scheduled downtime that would be required to upgrade your system.
The gateway we are referring to is ProSoft’s AN-X2-AB-DHRIO. The gateway enables the ControlLogix or CompactLogix systems to control PLC, SLC, or Flex I/O racks over Remote I/O. The module can be added to an existing network and monitor the changing states of I/O without interrupting the process. This provides you with the ability to build and verify the new control system before switching over, minimizing risk. The gateway also has a built-in MicroSD card which stores configuration files and firmware. This Micro SD card can be transferred to another gateway to resume operation in the event of a disaster.
The AN-X2-AB-DHRIO has multiple operating modes including:
HMI - Upgrade up to 8 Remote I/O PanelViews to EtherNet/IP enabled PanelView Plus 6/7 terminals without modifying PLC code
DRV - Upgrade up to 4 legacy drives on Remote I/O to EtherNet/IP Drives without modifying the PLC code
SCAN - Control racks of Remote I/O from and ControlLogix or CompactLogix processor
DHP - Remote monitoring, upload, download over EtherNet/IP to a DH+ network
- ADAPT – Monitor the Remote I/O network
