Product category:
Plant- and Machine-Wide Communications
News Release from: Rockwell Automation | Subject: SOE input module for Allen-Bradley ControlLogix
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 23 August 2004
Input module pinpoints crucial events
The ability to accurately pinpoint and record faults is critical for utility companies, as witnessed by the fallout from last year's power failures across the East Coast of the USA.
The ability to accurately pinpoint and record faults is critical for utility companies, as witnessed by the fallout from last year's power failures across the East Coast of the USA To address this type of problem, Rockwell Automation has released the Allen-Bradley Sequence of Events (SOE) input module for the Allen-Bradley ControlLogix control platform
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 20 Feb 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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The SOE module can timestamp to an I/O-point level and discriminate between events that occur within 100us of each other, providing functionality that is unachievable with standard input modules.
Combined with new Allen-Bradley DC power supplies and a global positioning satellite (GPS) module from Rockwell Automation Encompass partner Hiprom, the SOE module is an ideal solution for a variety of power applications including utility and substation automation, emergency shutdown systems, energy management and load shedding.
"These products allow utility companies to employ the power and performance of the ControlLogix platform", said Richard Sturt, Marketing Manager, Rockwell Automation.
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"And because the SOE module is integrated with the controller, and not a separate add-on like most related products, it provides the benefit of seamless data flow throughout the system".
SOE modules operate in two modes - co-ordinated system time (CST) per point and first-in/first-out (FIFO).
In CST-per-point mode, a module provides two timestamps per input point, one for on/off transitions and the other for off/on.
As a result, the module can capture timestamps for events on rising- and/or falling-edge transitions, which is essential when determining the order of a sequence of events.
A module in FIFO mode can timestamp multiple transitions of any of its input points and store this data in an onboard buffer.
Given that engineers can record every transition of every input in this mode, it is ideal for monitoring, analysing, optimising and troubleshooting the sequencing of any process.
Rockwell Automation has also launched two power supplies - 48 and 125V DC - to accompany the SOE module.
These supplies provide power to a ControlLogix system using any appropriate DC source (eg battery backup systems) as their input to allow the system to continue operating and recording data in a blackout.
In addition, the SOE-driven solution can give an absolute real-time reference for all time-stamped data in the controller by adding the 1756HP GPS module from Hiprom.
The GPS module helps users determine the exact order of events in their system and correlate those events to a real-time clock with microsecond accuracy.
It also lets companies apply a common time base for control components scattered across a wide geographic area.
With one GPS module in each remote system, multiple installations can operate and timestamp on the same real-time reference.
This capability is tailor-made for utility and substation applications that may need to determine the cause of a power failure or grid collapse.
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