IO-Link is a popular communication technology that is used to connect smart sensors to industrial control systems.
ifm is a founding member of the IO-Link consortium and is a leading manufacturer of innovative IO-Link hardware that is used in many different industries.
In this article, I’ll show you how to integrate an ifm IO-Link distance sensor into a Logix 5000 control system using an ifm IO-Link master.
Allen-Bradley starter package
ifm provide a Startup Package that contains everything you need to integrate ifm IO-Link devices with Allen Bradley control systems. You can download the Starter Package using the link in the description below.
On my computer, I have downloaded and extracted the contents of the starter package. Inside, I can see that it is a set of numbered folders that brings us through the process of integrating ifm IO-Link devices to a control system.
Let’s work through these steps.
Install the EDS files and create the device
In Studio 5000 Logix Designer, I can install the EDS file for the IO-Link master by clicking on Tools and then Device Description Installation Tool.
In the Device Description Installation Tool, I follow the prompts to register a new EDS file.
On the registration page, I browse to folder 5. EDS, which is part of the Startup Package, and select the ifm_IOL_Master_AL1120.eds file, which is the IO-Link master that I am using in this demo, and click Open.
Then I continue the process to register the device.
Now that the device is registered, I can add it to the I/O Configuration of the project. To do that, I right-click on the Ethernet port of the device and select New Module
In the New Module dialog, I search for the AL1120 IO-Link master that I have just registered and click Create to add an instance to the project.
In the New Module dialog, I give the module a name and set the IP address to 192.168.1.250. This is the default IP address of the ifm IO-Link Masters.
Next, I click on Change to open the Module Definition.
In this dialog, I can configure the definition of the IO-Link master. In the name column, I verify that Exclusive Owner IO-Acyc-Diag is selected.
Then I change the size units from SINT to INT and verify that the size is correct. For a 4-port IO-Link master, which is what I’m using in this example, the input size should be 123, and the output size should be 87. For an 8-port IO-Link master, the input size should be 223, and the output size should be 151.
Now that the module is configured, I click OK to close the Module Definition dialog and select Yes in the warning dialog.
Then I click OK to close the New Module dialog, and finally, I click Close to close the Select Module Type dialog.
Now we are ready to write the logic to retrieve data from the distance sensor.
