EtherNet/IP stands for EtherNet Industrial Protocol and is also called EIP. The protocol is an open standard that was originally developed by the US company Allen-Bradley, which was purchased by Rockwell Automation in 1985. Today, the protocol is managed by the Open DeviceNet Vendor Association (ODVA) and is one of the most widely used fieldbuses. When used in machines and plants, EtherNet/IP-capable controllers must also be monitored via the cloud.
For the cloud connection, the software module Universal Cloud Adapter is required. The Cloud Adapter can be installed on any Windows or Linux device (x86, x64 or ARM). The setup is explained in “Getting Started“. Alternatively, you can also use the AnyViz IoT Gateway.
As the name suggests, EtherNet/IP is based on the IP protocol. Thus, one connection is created for each PLC, which is then addressed with the device IP. The Universal Cloud Adapter supports any number of connections.
FunctionalityIn addition to the IP address, a so-called CIP path must be specified for some devices. CIP stands for Common Industrial Protocol, which is part of the protocol definition. The most common path is “1,0”. That is from the Ethernet/IP card to the CPU (slot 0). If the CPU is in slot 1, the path would be “1,1”. Furthermore the type of the CPU must be defined. Currently the following CPU series are supported:
After creating the connection, the variables are entered. Only the variable name and data type have to be specified and then all the corresponding values are displayed in the configuration interface and in the cloud.
In addition to the variables defined in the PLC program, system variables or predefined IO variables can also be exchanged. In this way, data can already be read out without knowing the PLC program. In the example of a Micro820, the status of the first digital input can be read via the variable “_IO_EM_DI_00”. The cycle counter can be read via the DINT variable “__SYSVA_CYCLECNT”.
