Omron PLC memory over FINS right in the chat
Connect Omron PLCs over FINS to the AI agent: DM, CIO and work bits through an on-site gateway. The agent sums up a shift by the hour and counts cycles.
How the agent works with Omron FINS
Data is read by the gateway: a program installed as a service on a computer or server on the site network that reaches the PLC over FINS/TCP or FINS/UDP, port 9600. The connection takes the PLC address with a tcp:// or udp:// scheme and a tag map: one line per tag with a path, a CX-Programmer address and a type, such as D100 real or CIO10.03 bool. The gateway sends data out over outbound connections only.
Over TCP the gateway and the PLC agree on FINS nodes with a handshake; over UDP the connection fields name them. Tags of one area standing at most 8 words apart are read in one request, up to 253 words: below the limit of every PLC found and below the point where a CP1L splits its answer into two frames and waits 200 ms. Omron keeps wide values low word first and a string's first character in a word's high byte; one line of the map can override the order.
The driver only reads: of the FINS commands it sends one, the memory area read. The protocol itself has no read-only mode: the FINS port accepts memory writes and CPU stop from anyone who reaches it, so reading through the gateway does not close the port. A tag whose range the PLC refused is marked bad with the end code while the others keep reading.
The current EM bank is not read: its meaning moves with the program, so the bank is named explicitly, such as E0_100. A timer or counter is read two ways: its completion flag as bool and its present value in the coding the PLC sets. If the link to the cloud drops, data piles up on the gateway's disk and arrives once it is back.
Integration scenarios
What is on the line now
The agent finds tags by path, such as line1/oven, and shows current values from DM, CIO and work areas with their timestamp and whether they are fresh.
Shift summary
The agent takes the temperature or pressure history for a shift and shows the minimum, maximum, average and last value per hour.
Cycles and downtime
The agent takes a week of raw samples of a run bit, such as CIO10.03, and counts the cycles, running time and downtime.
A task on a threshold
The agent sets up a task that fires when a tag goes past a threshold and stays there for a set time, not on every sample past it.
Tags the PLC refuses
The agent names tags the PLC refused with the FINS end code, such as 1103 (address past the end of the area) or 1101 (no such area).
Gaps in the data
The agent shows history intervals without samples and says whether the site gateway is online right now.
Omron FINS examples
412 циклов, работа 61 ч, простой 23 ч.
- Меньше всего циклов в четверг: 38 против 60 в среднем
- Самый длинный простой: 4 ч 20 мин в ночь на пятницу
Считаю по биту работы CIO10.03 из ПЛК, каждый фронт включения как один цикл.
How to connect
Before you connect
- An Omron CS, CJ, CP, NJ or NX PLC with Ethernet and FINS on
- Port 9600 over TCP or UDP open between the PLC and the gateway computer
- For UDP: the FINS node numbers of the gateway and the PLC
- For NJ/NX: variables placed in CJ memory with an AT specification
- A computer on the site network for the gateway service
- Tag addresses from CX-Programmer or Sysmac Studio
- Server admits listed addresses only? Allow connections from 158.160.205.91 and 87.228.27.163.
- 1
Give NJ/NX variables an AT address
NJ/NX variables are not reachable over FINS. In Sysmac Studio place each one in CJ memory with an AT specification, such as %W0.00, and read that address.
- 2
Turn FINS on for NX in Sysmac Studio
If FINS is set to do not use or a Packet Filter is on, the PLC does not answer at all and the gateway sees only a timeout. NX1P2 answers over UDP only.
- 3
For UDP write down the FINS nodes
The PLC node is required, the gateway node is usually the last octet of its address. If the PLC answers only its FINS port (static node table), set local port 9600.
- 4
Allow the gateway in IP protection
If IP address protection is on in the Ethernet unit, add the gateway computer's address. Otherwise the FINS/TCP handshake is refused with error 0x22.
- 5
Let port 9600 through to the gateway
FINS runs over TCP or UDP on port 9600. The network between the gateway computer and the PLC has to let the chosen transport through.
FAQ
Add a gateway on the Gateways tab and install it as a service on a computer on the site network. In the connection enter the PLC address, such as tcp://10.0.12.5:9600, and a tag map: one line per tag with a path, a CX-Programmer address and a type. For udp:// also set the gateway and PLC FINS nodes. Assign the connection to the gateway and it starts polling.
The tags of the map: CIO, work, holding, auxiliary and DM areas, EM banks, timers and counters. For each tag the agent reads the current value with its timestamp, the history in intervals and raw samples.
No. Of the FINS commands the driver sends only the memory area read; it has no write and no CPU mode control. Keep in mind that the FINS port itself does not forbid writes: only the gateway does not send them.
Over TCP the nodes are assigned by a handshake and the gateway node can be left empty. UDP is needed when the PLC does not take TCP, such as an NX1P2: then the PLC and gateway nodes are required, and with a static node table also local port 9600. If the TCP handshake is refused, the gateway names the code and what to check: connections in use, a repeated node or IP protection.