Wireless transfering of program

[mkmk123]

Hay guys I currently have about 35 cnc swiss machines as well as lathe and milling. I am using rs32 cables right now to transfer programs into a data base. I was wondering if anybody could point me in the direction of a make of a wireless unit that would allow me to trasfer all programs wireless.

[rharter52]

You might want to check out CIMNET.They offer a wireless system that looks pretty slick.I have there DNC PROFESSIONALSYSTEM that uses rs232 and it runs 24/7 for the last 10 years.I believe they might have a new name,I think its called Wonderware

[gar]

071010-1951 EST USA

rharter52:

Are you using an RF link (wireless) from your computer to your machines?

Are you "drip feeding" any or all of your programs 24/7?

Does CIMNET sell anything other than software?

At what baud rates do you communicate? Over what distance? Range of file sizes? Handshake mode? Error detection? Error correction?

.

[rharter52]

Gar

I have 26 machines hooked up.I am not using wireless,its all rs232.The computer is approx 100ft from the shop floor.the baud rate is either 4800 or 9600.I am not drip feeding at all.You can set any port independent from the others,like stop bits,data bits,handshaking,baud rate,etc.Cimnet alsp sells alot of manufacturing software that I do not use but have seen demo's on.The dnc software also comes with a gcode editor similar to the old mastercam editor.We have many different controls,Mazak,Fanuc,Mitsubishi,Okuma, and siemens and the software handles them all.

[gar]

071011-0744 EST USA

rharter52:

How does your use of directly wired and directly connected RS232 communication provide any information on the problems of using a wireless system? From the CIMNET web site how would you know that they have wireless hardware?

How large are the files you transfer? All total to all machines how many files do you send per day? Do you have a separate RS232 port at the computer for each machine, or do you use switch boxes? At 9600 baud you can send about 1000 bytes per second. What are your minimum and maximum data transfer times? How often do you have to resend a file because of errors? Do you have any machines that have data transfer problems when the machine servos are on?

.

[rharter52]

Gar
We have never has a transmission problem,the software runs perfectly.We send approx 25 files a day.The biggest file we send is 50kb.
The send times are under a minute.I copied some info from their website.




Wonderware's DNC Professional Goes Wireless
Save thousands in cabling costs by using Wireless DNC to connect your CNC controls to the DNC Software. Using this true Ethernet wireless solution you can move your CNC machines and reorganize manufacturing cells without re-running cables or reconfiguring software. Eliminate wiring issues such as difficult access, electrical surges, cranes, etc. A wireless Ethernet serial adapter is located at each CNC machine and uses standard 802.11b wireless Ethernet to network each machine back to local Access Points. The Access Points then communicate into DNC Professional using Remote Request or CNC Direct. read more
To request Wonderware DNC Professional brochures or a demo CD, please see our downloads page.
http://www.cimnetinc.com/art/px_trans.gif

[gar]

071012-0934 EST USA

rharter52:

Thanks.

What happens to the wireless connection when the microwave ovens and arc welders are on.?

On your wired system why are you at such low baud rates? 4800 baud and 50 k bytes is about 100 seconds, or getting close to 2 minutes.

Other general questions. Do you use a parity check, or Xmodem? After sending a program to a machine do you send it back and do a file comparison as a means of error checking?

.

[rharter52]

gar

We do not have the wireless system so I don,t know for sure about any interference.We use parity check.After the job is run the operator sends the program back and we do a program comparison between the original program called down and the one sent back.We do alot of small batch sizes so our programs are used frequently.The baud rate was set by the installation tech so we just left it alone,it works just fine.

[Digitech]

071012-0934 EST USA

rharter52:

Thanks.

What happens to the wireless connection when the microwave ovens and arc welders are on.?

On your wired system why are you at such low baud rates? 4800 baud and 50 k bytes is about 100 seconds, or getting close to 2 minutes.

Other general questions. Do you use a parity check, or Xmodem? After sending a program to a machine do you send it back and do a file comparison as a means of error checking?

.

We use SENA make wireless product LS-100-W & Linksys wireless access point. We have installed it at many places in India. The welding environment does not affect the data.

Another way is to use multi-port Card & use SENA make SD-100 units. This also works well.

For more details, contact me on digitech.engineers@gmail.com

Deepak

[psevin]

Rather than allowing the conversation to get off track, let's go back to your original scenario.

It seems to me that you are pleased with the current software you are running and are simply looking to an alternative to the wired RS-232. IS that correct?

If so, you might want to take a look at what these companies offer -
http://www.sena.com/products/device_servers/

http://www.bb-elec.com/productcat.asp?topLevelid=3

It shouldn't be too difficult to replace your wired connection with wireless. Of course, there is the financial aspect of equipping 20+ machines with devices at a couple hundred dollars each and the cost justification for it.

The question I would ask is - why do you want to eliminate the wires? If you are having problems with data integrity or moving machines aroun frequently i could understand.

[gm3211]

Generally, the cost of wireless vs wired is 50% more in cost alone for hardware.

If you move the machines around alot, wireless is the way to go. Another option, is 1 port Ethernet to Serial Devices that connect via Cat5 cable and assigned a IP addess. This converts the data from ethernet to serial and you up and running. Same idea with wireless but you do have wireless issues.

www.digi.com is what we recommend and have used for 10 yrs with no issues. The Sena is a new player in the market and seems to have reliability issues. Same with Comtrol, Lantronix, Quatech, and Data Hunter. We have tried them all and seen the issues and even been asked to rep them because they are at a lower price. But price is not everything, reliability is the key!

At the end of the day, most DNC Software will work with any wireless hardware, but the key is the toggles of all the settings, and testing. There is a driver, that is the big factor the control the flow and data to the machine, and if its flakey, the DNC software just gives up.

Hope this help...