IronHorse ACN & ACG VFD EtherNet/IP Setup Tutorial | Productivity PLC Explicit & Implicit Messaging

Today we’re controlling two IronHorse VFDs via EtherNet/IP with a Productivity PLC—one ACN using Explicit Messaging, and one ACG using Implicit Messaging. I’ll show the exact parameters, the EDS setup, and the ladder so you can replicate this fast. I won’t cover module installation, as it's already covered in the Modbus TCP video linked above and in the description. But I will note that those instructions for the ACN-ETH card show switch 1 up for Modbus TCP – for Ethernet/IP, this switch needs to be down. Often, either Implicit or Explicit Messages are used for EtherNet/IP communication with devices such as drives. Explicit Messages are generally part of ladder logic and can be easily controlled and monitored. Implicit Messages can occur outside normal logic programming and are very rapid, often considered real-time. All the addressing is covered in Appendix B in the ACG manual and Appendix C of the ACN manual. We’ll look at that when we get into the programming. We’ll assume your motor parameters are set. Now let’s put the drives on the network. On the keypad, set DRV = 4 for Fieldbus control and FRQ = 8 for Fieldbus reference. Then configure the network: IP in CM10–CM13, Subnet in CM14–CM17, and Gateway in CM18–CM21. The ACG stays at 192.168.1.101, the ACN gets 192.168.1.31. Defaults remain for mask and gateway. For the ACG, set CM29 to 1 for Input Instance 71 and CM49 to 1 for Output Instance 21. For the ACN, these are CM23 and CM24, but we’re using Explicit Messaging, so no change is needed. To save Ethernet settings through a power cycle, set CM94 to 1. We’re starting with the ACN Explicit Message sample programs from our site - we provide example programs for every drive and PLC we sell. And we have a bunch of videos on using EtherNet/IP and other communication protocols with all our PLCs. Just go to our video page linked above. https://www.automationdirect.com/videos/home?t=link&q=ethernet%2Fip In Hardware Config, we just have a generic device, assigned an IP address, and applied a tag structure. The Explicit Message program triggers messages every 50 ms using a timer and a counter. There are six GetData and six SetData instructions. You can think of these as read and write operations to the drive. Here’s the first GetData. We use service14 to read Class 41, Instance 1, Attribute 6—this returns the drive state. The remaining Gets read forward run, reverse run, drive ready, at reference, and output frequency. Independent Set messages use service 16 to write into Class 41 and 42: frequency reference, forward run, reverse run, fault reset, and accel/decel times. We don’t see much besides 'drive ready'; let's give a speed and run-forward command. The drive responds as expected, and we receive the expected feedback. Let's dive right into the Implicit Message programming. This is based on the sample program. I’ll add it to this program so both drives run in a single program. Under hardware config, add the ACG and assign the IP address and tag names. Then add an IO message for Assembly 71, which has all the elements we want, and an output message to Assembly 21 and another array. The ladder is really just enabling the message and some logic to make the input and output arrays more user-friendly, which I’ve pasted in from the sample program. You could use these input and output arrays as is, but this makes the logic easier to follow. So, let's send the run forward and the speed in RPM. Note that we are using RPM here based on the output assembly we’re using. If we needed to use frequency, we could have set up our implicit messaging to use instance 100 or 101. Let’s send Run Forward and an RPM speed reference. RPM is based on the assembly selection. If you prefer frequency, use Instance 100 or 101. With both drives online, the ACN responds to Explicit reads and writes, and the ACG streams Implicit I/O. Commands go out, feedback comes back. Everything operates as expected. And that’s it—two IronHorse VFDs on EtherNet/IP with a Productivity PLC: ACN using Explicit, ACG using Implicit. For sample programs, manuals, and more videos, check the links in the description. For more drive videos, look here. To buy drives for your applications, click here and subscribe to be notified of new products and solutions.