EtherNet/IP: Implicit Adapter Setup - LS Electric XGB PLC from AutomationDirect

If our XGB PLC has an EIPT module installed, we can set up an Implicit EtherNet/IP connection. The EIPT module is capable of being an Implicit Scanner that initiates a connection, or an Implicit Adapter that is available to be connected to. To set up the PLC as an Implicit Adapter, we first must configure the EIPT module and the peer-to-peer connection. These are both covered in a separate video. It is important to note that the LS software and documentation may refer to the scanner as a client and the adapter as a server. Once we have the EIPT IP settings and the peer-to-peer connection configured, we can make the PLC available as an Implicit Adapter. To do this, we go to the project window on the left side of the screen and maximize the “P2P 03” subheading and double-click on EIP Channel. This opens the “Channel Setting” pop-up window. We will use channel 0 and select “Implicit Target” for the operation mode. “Implicit Target” for LS is the same as an Implicit Adapter. The Port Number and IP address sections are left alone. We can then click “OK.” We are now ready to create a tag that will be accessible by an Implicit Scanner. We go to the Global/Direct Variable screen and insert a row. We can then create an array of elements 0 to 3 of data type “byte” and we will name it “EIP_ADAPTER_DATA.” This will be a global variable, and we will check the EIP/OPC UA box to make the array available for use with the EtherNet/IP communications. Now that we have our array created, we can add this array to our Implicit Adapter by double-clicking on “EIP Block” in the project window. This opens the “LSPLC – EIP 03” window. We will set the channel to 0. We have already set up channel 0 as an Implicit Target, so it adds that to the operation mode. The only remaining field to be configured is the Local Tag field. If we double-click here, it will open a new pop-up window showing us all available variables that have had the EIP/OPC UA box checked. In our case, it is just the array we created. When we select it, the software adds it to the local tag location. We can now access this information from an Implicit Scanner. We offer an EDS file on our website for the EIPT module. This will configure the scanner with the connection information. The data size, however, will be specific to the application that we program, as we can have any number of variables assigned to this channel 0 target connection. The index number will correspond to the instance. If we want the Implicit Scanner to use the array as input information, we will use Instance 100 plus the index number. Ours will be at 100 because the index number is at 0. If we had mapped information to index 4, and wanted to access it, it would be available at input data Instance 104. To access the same information as output data, we would use instance 150 plus the index number. The data size for the scanner will correspond to the data type and data count columns. If our data type is 8-bit, and the data count is 4, we will have an input and output message size of 4 bytes. If, however, we are using a 16-bit type and a count of 8, for instance, the input and output message sizes will be 16 bytes. In this way, we can access up to 32 different variable arrays for input or output data with the LS PLC acting as an Implicit Adapter.