Sick Flexi Serial

6 min

Review the following information for setting up and configuring the Sick Flexi Serial driver.

Litmus Edge Compatible Series

Compatibility parameter	Compatible items
Driver type	Serial
Validated devices/series	Sick Flexi FX3-CPU1

To set up and configure this device in Litmus Edge, you will need to do the following:

Step 1: Set up and Configure the PLC Device

Step 2: Set up the PLC Device in Litmus Edge DeviceHub

Step 3: Configure the List of Registers

Step 1: Set up and Configure the PLC Device

Record the serial communication parameters for the device. Otherwise, follow the steps below.

To configure your device:

Record the following information and refer to it when needed.

Device: Sick Flexi FX3-CPU1

Communication I/F: RS232. Refer to the following figure.

Reference image of device

Launch the Flexi Soft Designer v2.01.0 software and click Com Settings.

Edit the connection profile.

Check COM auto-detection.

Test the connection.

Click Connect.

Step 2: Set up the PLC Device in Litmus Edge DeviceHub

Configure the following parameters when you Connect a Device with this driver. Update default values to the specific setup of your device.

Parameter	Value
Type	Sick Flexi
Driver	Sick Flexi Serial
Data Bits	8
Baud Rate	115200
Parity	Even, Odd, None
Stop Bits	1
Station	1
Communication Port	Local Serial connection file path

Step 3: Configure the List of Registers

When you Add a Tag to the connected device, refer to the following register table and tag parameters.

See the following additional resources if necessary:

Organize Device and Tag Data by Using Metadata

Tag Formula Variables

Register Table

Name	Value Type	Address Format	Max Address	Description
I	bit	DDo	127	Input
Q	bit	DDo	127	Output
Logic result	bit	DDo	197	Logic Result
RS232 to Flexi soft_Bit	bit	Do	37
Flexi soft to RS-232_Bit	bit	DDo	997
Module Status Bit Array_Bit	bit	DDo	597
Operating Data Block_bit	word	Do	97
Configuration CRCs_Bit	bit	DDo	197
CPU Module Type Key_Bit	bit	DDo	177
Extension Modules Type_Bit	bit	DDDo	3377
Extension Modules Type	word	DDD	336
CPU Module Type Key	word	DD	16
Configuration CRCs	word	DD	18
Operating Data Block	word	D	8
Module Status Bit Array	word	DD	58
Flexi soft to RS-232	word	DD	98
RS-232 to Flexi soft	word	O	2

Tag Parameters

Name: Select a register name from the drop-down list. The available options depend on the names in the register table.

Value Type: Select a data type from the drop-down list. The available options depend on the register name selected.

Polling Interval: Enter a value in seconds. This determines how often the tag should poll the register for data.

Tag Name: Enter a name for the tag.

Description (Optional): Enter a description for the tag.

Address: Enter a tag address. The value must in the decimal format, within the allowed min/max range. Omit the leading zeros. The device might use the decimal (D), hexadecimal (H), or octal (O) address format. See the Register Table at the bottom of the dialog box. For Bit tags, append the bit address without the bit separator. The lowercase letters in the address format indicate how many digits you should enter in the Bit address.

Tag Formula: Enter a formula for the tag to process the generated data. Two variables are permitted: value (current tag value) and timestamp (current tag UNIX time in milliseconds). The following math functions are available:

sqrt

power: power(x) performs the operation 10^x.

log: log(x) is the natural logarithm (the logarithm is in base e).

exp: exp(x) performs the operation e^x.

Only Publish on Change of Value: Select the checkbox to only publish NATS messages when the value parameter changes to a new value. Change of Value only applies to boolean, numeric (such as int or float), and simple string data types. It does not apply to complex types, such as JSON or array. Poll-once topics will not be affected by Change of Value settings. These topics will still only see a single message.

Meta Data: Metadata summarizes basic information about data. This feature allows you to define key-value pair data for the device output payload later on. Metadata can then be used to find, use, and reuse particular instances of data.

Note: If you use special characters in meta data key names, the special characters are replaced with underscore characters in the payload. This can cause two key names to be combined into one. For example, configuring the key names a**b and a&&b will cause only one key name to be created (a__b).