Checking the MERLIC State (I/O Camera)

While working with the process integration MERLIC can be used in machine vision systems that are integrated in a manufacturing machine. The machine controller, e.g., a programmable logic controller (PLC), must be able to control an integrated vision system, to monitor the execution, and to query the results. Therefore, MERLIC provides a process integration mode to enable the communication with a machine controller. The process integration mode can be started with the application "MERLIC RTE" that is provided with the MERLIC installation. mode of MERLIC (MERLIC RTE), you might want to check the current state of MERLIC to trigger the signals at the correct time, for example, to query the results of an iteration after MERLIC finished a single execution.

Available MERLIC States for I/O Cameras

If you are using a camera device with digital I/O channels for the process integration, only a limited set of MERLIC states and commands can be transmitted and used, respectively.

The graphic below shows the overview of all internal states of MERLIC and its transitions when using MERLIC process integration with I/O cameras. All MERLIC states that are available are highlighted in blue. Currently, only the states "Ready" and "Error" can be transmitted. All other MERLIC states that are not available for I/O cameras are grayed out. The same applies for transitions. All transitions and commands that are not available are grayed out in the graphic. Transitions that are displayed in orange represent transitions that are triggered automatically by MERLIC due to internal conditions.

The information as to whether a state is active can be obtained from the respective signals that are transmitted via the respective digital output channels.

Checking the Current MERLIC State

To check the current MERLIC state, you need to know how the output channels of your device are configured. To be precise, you have to know, which output channel is selected for the respective signal of the MERLIC state. With this knowledge, you can recognize if a signal for a specific state is activated.

  1. If you are not sure how your I/O device is configured, look up the current configuration for the output channels:
    1. Open the MERLIC RTE Setup and go to the "I/O" tab.
    2. Select the I/O device and check the values of the following keys in the device configuration:
      • "Ready": This value represents the output channel for the "Ready" state of MERLIC.
      • "Error": This value represents the output channel for the "Error" state of MERLIC.
  2. Now, you can check if one of these digital outputs is currently active at your device. For example, if the respective pins are connected to LEDs or lamps, you can easily monitor if the light is switched on.

    Signal

    Description

    Ready

    If this signal is "true", MERLIC is in the "Ready" state. Thus, MERLIC is ready for the execution. The mapped digital output is set accordingly.

    Error

    If this signal is "true", MERLIC is in the "Error" state. The mapped digital output is set accordingly.