Hi everyone,
I have a task at work that I'm hoping someone will be able to help me find a solution for. Here is the background info: I have a laptop that is connected to a weld controller (Rexroth) and the sole purpose of this laptop is to collect weld graphs and store them on an external HD for future use. However, if the laptop is accidentally powered down, then the graphs are not collected. My task is to figure out a way to generate an alarm on the PLC (S7-300) if the laptop is powered down. I know a heartbeat is used for this purpose, but how can I set one up from a laptop then send it to the PLC? My first idea was to set up an OPC server on the laptop (kepware is my facility standard), but that seems like over kill for such a "simple" problem. Is there an easier way to do this? Has anyone done something similar to this? Any thoughts/ideas are appreciated.
Thanks!
I have a task at work that I'm hoping someone will be able to help me find a solution for. Here is the background info: I have a laptop that is connected to a weld controller (Rexroth) and the sole purpose of this laptop is to collect weld graphs and store them on an external HD for future use. However, if the laptop is accidentally powered down, then the graphs are not collected. My task is to figure out a way to generate an alarm on the PLC (S7-300) if the laptop is powered down. I know a heartbeat is used for this purpose, but how can I set one up from a laptop then send it to the PLC? My first idea was to set up an OPC server on the laptop (kepware is my facility standard), but that seems like over kill for such a "simple" problem. Is there an easier way to do this? Has anyone done something similar to this? Any thoughts/ideas are appreciated.
Thanks!