Omron FINS
Wiki > The Backend System > Specific Device IOC > PLCs > Omron FINS
Most of the work done by the IOCs for the various FINS PLCs at ISIS consists of reading and writing to various places in the memory of that particular PLC. Some IOCs also perform some internal logic.
The Omron FINS is a PLC controlled via a driver first written at Diamond, see here. The IOC works by loading an instrument specific FINS_01.cmd in configurations/fins, which will load an instrument specific db from ioc/master/FINS/db. The dbs in here are usually created from a number of templates matching specific memory addresses to PVs. This is the case because PLCs used for different applications have different things stored in their memory, and to read/write various pieces of data the IOC needs to know the exact memory address for that data. Each individual PLC has its own memory map, which shows what memory address stores what thing, and each specific IOC is based on that.
Currently the following specific FINS PLC installations are supported in IBEX:
- IMAT FINS PLC
- LARMOR air PLC
- SANS2D vacuum PLC
- WISH vacuum PLC
- ZOOM vacuum PLC
- Helium Recovery PLC - stores information needed for the Helium Level Monitoring project
The FINS protocol is an applications layer communications protocol designed for industrial applications and made by Omron. FINS stands for Factory Interface Network Service.
Throughout this guide, when I mention a manual, it can be found on the shares drive in Manuals/OMRON_FINS_PLCs .
FINS communications can be done over a serial connection or over a network. For serial connections, it uses the Host Link protocol on the Data Link layer of the OSI model. If used over a network, FINS can be used over a wide variety of Data Link layer protocols, including Controller Link and Ethernet. At ISIS, FINS PLC communication is done via Ethernet. FINS PLCs also supports another protocol instead of FINS, called C-mode, which is specialised for Host Link, but we do not use that. For more information, see Section 1 of the Comms Reference manual.
When using FINS over Ethernet, it can work with both TCP and UDP. FINS over TCP though is only supported on the CS1W-ETN21 and CJ1W-ETN21 models. The default UDP/TCP port number is 9600.
The fins PLC communication is set up with the following:
finsUDPInit(<port Name>, <address>, <protocol>, <simulate>)
where:
- port name: ASYN port name (usually PLC)
- address: ip address of the PLC
- protocol: which protocol to use
- "TCP": use TCP communication
- "TCPNOHEAD": use TCP comms, but without FINS-TCP header. This is required (and should only be used for) the devsim IOC tests
- anything else: use UDP protocol
- simulate: whether to simulate calls
- 0: Do not simulate (real device or devsim)
- 1: Simulate (don't send commands), this is required for recsim as it lets device initialisation complete successfully with no device
In order to run this IOC and talk to the real PLC, you need to have the correct instrument specific FINS_01.cmd in configurations/fins. See below an example:
#Init and connect
finsUDPInit("PLC", "$(PLC_IP)", "UDP", 0, "$(PLC_NODE=)")
## Load our record instances
dbLoadRecords("${TOP}/db/he-recovery.db","P=$(MYPVPREFIX),Q=EXAMPLE:)
In the IBEX GUI, make sure to set the two macros for the FINS IOC, PLC_IP and PLC_NODE. PLC_IP refers to the IP address of the PLC, and the node is a FINS protocol application layer specific address that differentiates between nodes (such as PLCs or host computers). By default, it corresponds to the last byte of the IP address, but for some FINS PLCs this is not the case.
For running the IOC for testing, see below.
In contrast to the normal operation of a FINS PLC, the instrument specific FINS_01.cmd file that should be used for the IOC Tests for a FINS PLC should be placed in an instrument specific folder in ioc\master\FINS\exampleSettings. This cmd file should have the appropriate finsUDPInit calls for devsim or recsim, as detailed below, and also the usual dbLoadRecords call to load the instrument specific db.
If you want to test the IOC for a FINS PLC in devsim mode, you need to add to the FINS_01.cmd file used by that specific FINS IOC the line:
$(IFDEVSIM) finsUDPInit("PLC", "$(PLCIP):$(EMULATOR_PORT=)", "TCPNOHEAD", 0, "$(PLCNODE=)")
At the same time, the file should either not have any other finsUDPInit call for talking with the real PLC, or have $(IFNOTDEVSIM) $(IFNOTRECSIM) before that call.
If you want to test the IOC for a FINS PLC in recsim mode, you need to add to the FINS_01.cmd file used by that specific FINS IOC the line:
$(IFRECSIM) finsUDPInit("PLC", "$(PLCIP):$(EMULATOR_PORT=)", "TCPNOHEAD", 1, "$(PLCNODE=)")
At the same time, the file should either not have any other finsUDPInit call for talking with the real PLC, or have $(IFNOTDEVSIM) $(IFNOTRECSIM) before that call.