Selecting Devices

The " I/O" tab of the MERLIC RTE Setup enables you to select devices, to get more information about them, and to configure them as communication device for 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..

After clicking on "Refresh" in the I/O, you can check which devices are currently available for use in the list of devices. Select and activate the device that you want to configure and enable for the process integration via the button "Enable device". For more information about how to check and change the configuration, open the specific topic for your device in I/O.

Checking the Configuration State

The state of the device configuration is represented by the icons in the list of enabled devices.

Icon

Description

The configuration state is undefined. Click "Refresh" to check.

The configuration is valid according to the formal MERLIC requirements of how a configuration should be structured. However, this does not automatically mean that the configuration is also functional.

The configuration is valid but the device is not connected.

The configuration is not valid according to the formal MERLIC requirements.

Selecting a Device

  1. Open the MERLIC RTE Setup.
  2. Go to the " I/O" tab for the configuration area of the devices.
  3. Click on " Refresh" to get the list of all devices that are currently available for the process integration.
  4. On the left side of the screen the unique name of each device is shown as bold text. If available, the IO interface is also shown in a second line. Double-click on the device you want to configure. Alternatively select the desired device first and click on " Enable device". The respective device will be added to the list of enabled devices and the settings will be shown in the configuration area on the right. MERLIC provides a default configuration for each type of supported device. When a device is selected, the respective default configuration is shown at the right side of the MERLIC RTE Setup.
Example

If your device is not appearing in the "List of Devices", make sure that you are taking all of its requirements and restrictions into consideration.

Find out more about the respective requirements and restrictions:

Querying Available Devices Via Command Line

As an alternative way to display a list of available devices for the MERLIC process integration mode with their default configuration you can start MERLIC with the command line option "devices" from the directory where MERLIC is installed.

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merlic_rte.exe --devices

In the following example, the query returns two available devices: the plug-in for the simulated PLC that is provided by default and a Contec device. For more information about using the simulated device see Using a Simulated PLC as Virtual Device.

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Available Devices:
Name: mpiVirtualHilscherDevice
Default Configuration: plugin--mpiVirtualHilscherDevice--Device--simulatedPLC--ByteOrder--LittleEndian
----------------------------------
Name: mpiContec
Default Configuration: plugin--Contec--Device--DIO000-Interface--Contec--StartSingleJob--di0.0--Error--do_0.0--Ready--do_0.1--Result0--do_0.2--Result1--do_0.3--Result2--do_0.4--Result3--do_0.5--Result4--do_0.6--Result5--do_0.7

Available Devices:

Name: mpiVirtualHilscherDevice

Default Configuration: plugin--mpiVirtualHilscherDevice--Device--simulatedPLC--ByteOrder--LittleEndian

----------------------------------

Name: mpiContec

Default Configuration: plugin--Contec--Device--DIO000-Interface--Contec--StartSingleJob--di0.0--Error--do_0.0--Ready--do_0.1--Result0--do_0.2--Result1--do_0.3--Result2--do_0.4--Result3--do_0.5--Result4--do_0.6--Result5--do_0.7

The value pairs separated by "--" correspond to the information in the "Configuration" area of the "I/O" as shown in the example above. The name starting with "mpi" is used by MERLIC internally and is not shown in the "I/O".

You need a valid license available to start MERLIC with the command line option "devices". This instance of MERLIC will close after you close the information window.

Using Multiple Devices in Parallel

To use multiple communication devices in parallel for the process integration, you have to configure each device one after the other in the "I/O".

In some cases, some adjustments at your programmable logic controller (PLC) might be required. Especially if more than one communication device should be able to control the execution of the MERLIC Vision App, you have to check if the PLC is programmed accordingly to ensure that other devices can take control.

If you want to use the simulated PLC in parallel with other devices for the process integration, you have to make sure that only the simulated PLC can take control of the execution. The simulated PLC is not designed to be used in parallel with other devices that take control. Therefore, all other devices that are used in parallel can be used only to query the results or visualize the current state of MERLIC.

Removing Devices

You can remove devices from the list of enabled devices except those which are displayed as valid. Select the device to be removed in the list of enabled devices and click the " Remove" button in the lower right corner.