Connecting Flexsim to PLC / Ethernet

Hi,
I am looking for some experiences in connecting Flexsim to a PLC or Ethernet by using the TCP/IP interface or an OPC server.
Are there any big restrictions. Can you connect serveral systems at once? (E.g. PLC and Materialflowcontroler)
Who about letting Flexsim run with the speed of 1, equal to real time. How much can the runtime in simulation and the realtime vary.
What kind of hardware is required to wire the PLC to a PC?
Has anyone some experience in Europe?

My company, Velociti Alliance North America, Inc., has a product called PLSee (or Flexsim Controls Suite), that allows you to connect PLC's to Flexsim.

It is a real-time interface, and it can handle hundreds of signals per second between Flexsim and the PLC. It uses OPC, and is compatible with many different PLCs using the KEPware OPC Server.

PLC signals appear in Flexsim as Messages, and a single FlexScript command creates signals in Flexsim that the PLC receives as any form of data that the PLC supports.

You can also use Flexsim and PLSee as a replacement for a PLC to control devices if you want.

Please e-mail me at [email protected] for more information.

Hi

We're interested in modelling/testing PLC Control strategies, prior to real-world implementation.

Do you know what is involved in building a such a model and what levels of complexity can be built in?

If you have any models or examples then I'd really appreciate a look at them.

Thanks

Kenny

It sounds like you want to create a PLC program, and then run it against a model to prove that the PLC program is doing what it is supposed to do. Our product, PLSee, does exactly that. It is built as an external DLL to Flexsim, but comes with FlexScript support.

THis means that you can send I/O events to the PLC, and act on I/O events generated by the PLC. For example, when the PLC tells a motor to start, that event can be captured in your FlexSim model as a message. Next, the model logic can tell a conveyor in the model to "Start". When an item on the conveyor passes a photo eye, the logic for the photo eye can send a "photo eye blocked" output to the PLC.

It all uses OPC to make the messaging happen, and can be as high-level as simple FlexScript, or as low-level as actual C++ code.

GIve me a call at 864-616-6457 and I can give you more details!