Description

The TwinCAT-Xplorer data interface is suitable for the recording of measured data on a Beckhoff PLC using the Beckhoff ADS protocol over standard network cards. Access is transparent for the controller. It is not necessary to configure or program the controller especially. Up to 16 connections can be configured with a TwinCAT-Xplorer interface on each license. A total of a maximum of 240 connections can be implemented by the additional purchase of up to 14 further one-step-up-TwinCAT-Xplorer licenses. One connection is required for each Beckhoff PLC.

The interface supports TwinCAT versions 2 and 3 running on industrial PCs, embedded PCs (CX series) and bus controllers (BC/BX series).

The signals to be measured can be conveniently selected using their symbolic names with support from the ibaPDA Symbol Browser. This allows access to all measurable symbols, which are stored in the PLC itself or which are available in a symbol file (.tpy).
Interface configuration

The interface has the following features and configuration options:

Set all values to zero when the connection to a PLC is lost.

If enabled, all measured values of the PLC are set to zero as soon as the connection is lost. If this option is disabled, ibaPDA will keep the last valid measured value in memory at the time the connection was lost.

Start acquisition even if a PLC is not accessible.

If this option is enabled, the acquisition will start even if the controller is not accessible. A warning is issued in the validation dialog. If the system has been started without a connection to the controller, ibaPDA will try to connect to the PLC at regular intervals

Allow inaccessible symbols

Enable this option to start the acquisition even if no symbols are accessible. The inaccessible symbols are indicated as warnings in the validation dialog instead of errors. This can only occur if the address book is not up-to-date.

If you do not enable this option, then the acquisition does not start if there are inaccessible symbols.

<Open log file>

If connections to TwinCAT controllers have been established, all connection-specific actions are logged in a text file. Using this button, you can open and see this file. In the file system on the hard disk, you will find the log file in the program path of the ibaPDA server (…\ProgramData\iba\ibaPDA\Log\). The file name of the current log file is TwinCATLog.txt; the name of the archived log files is TwinCATLog_yyyy_mm_dd_hh_mm_ss.txt.
Connection table

For information about the connection table, see Connection table.
Available modules

  • TwinCAT PLC

  • BC/BX Controller
Product name

ibaPDA-Interface-TwinCAT-Xplorer (Art. no. 31.000005)