KEYENCE Bar Code Reader

[Andrei Blagaila]

Has anyone used KEYENCE barcode readers with Mitsubishi PLC? 

[kaare_t]

I've never used Keyence, but what is the problem? It should be either serial or Ethernet, in both cases there are hardware modules for Mitsu that enables you to communicate via custom written programs. What's the type/spec of the barcode reader? Some readers supports SLMP directly.

[Andrei Blagaila]

I have an RS232 (C24) module that communicates with it . Problem is there is a new Barcode reader that supports MC protocol directly. Problem is that the SW no longer works. It was  Nonprocedural protocol and now it's MC protocol and I don't understand what changes I have to make for it to work. Biggest problem is that HW is half way around the world so testing is a bit hard and has a 6 hour delay.

[kaare_t]

My guess is that the new barcode reader also supports the "old" protocol (when you used Nonprocedural protocol in the C24), so I would simply try to use the barcode scanner with the original protocol even though it's a new scanner. Would that be possible to test?

What model Keyence are you using?

[Andrei Blagaila]

I'm using N 410 (old one was N400) and the sad thing is that it seems it does not support non procedural protocol. Or at leas I cannot find the information. I set up the barcode reader as keyence suggested and tried with Non procedural setting and with new setting. With non procedural I gen an error from the Barcode reader and in the settings for the barcode reader I cannot find anywhere something about non procedural.

[kaare_t]

1. I quickly searched the N-410 and it's not a barcode reader itself, it's a communication interface unit for connecting multiple barcode readers into it (and then send data to the PLC from "all" barcode readers in a sequence
2. Are you sure you have got the correct equipment?
3. It sounds very strange that it does not support a "built-in" Keyence protocol. It's probably not named "non-procedural" protocol in the Keyence since it's a "named" protocol for them. The reason it's called non-procedural protocol in the Mitsu PLC is simply because you can write your own protocol in the PLC code. What I mean is that "non-procedural" is simply a term used to indicate that you do not use any built-in protocols in the PLC: You are using a self-developed code. Further, on the Keyence side, you will want to use their "default" protocol (which is probably named in their software).
4. If you absolutely want to use MC protocol (I would not recommend this since it involves more modifications in the general code in your PLC) this should indeed be possible if the barcode communication unit supports it. What software are you using for this project?

[Andrei Blagaila]

I'm using GX Works 2. I have attached the POU of this particular part. I can understand how it works but cannot figure out what I should change to make it work with MC protocol. Can you give me a suggestion? I cannot find settings in the Keyence Software to make it work for non Procedural.

POU033.gxw

[Andrei Blagaila]

Here are the keyence settings windows.

[kaare_t]

My guess is that you should select "PLC setting = Disable" in picture 3. My guess is that this will enable you to select settings in "General-protocol mode". This is probably a Keyence protocol that "anyone" can plug into and read data (like computers, microcontrollers and of course PLC's with custom written programs).

Are there any similar settings for the  in the old unit?

[Andrei Blagaila]

Also the old unit uses these settings. I think I found a solution. I suspect that the words have been shifted around in the N 410. Either I set N400 in the keyence settings or I change the words to the new values I found in the documentation. I'm going to try it out tonight.

[kaare_t]

Great! Let us know how it works out.

[Andrei Blagaila]

So I found the solution. First of all if you are running a N410 unit in the keyence software you need to add bellow it the readers. It will not work without that even if you set them in the slave section of the setting. After that, you can use N400 register assignment if your SW was written for a N400 originally. After doing this it worked. N410 has different register assignments and different triggers. Now everything works. Thank you for your suggestions. MC protocol change in Mitsubishi did not affect me in any way because that is just under the "hood" of the PLC to communicate with the N410.

[kaare_t]

Great to hear!