Omega LCIC-WIM-BEN - Manual

4 Appendices A. I/O & the LED Display A.1 General Notes about the I/O A.2 Connecting External Devices to the Inputs A.3 LCIC-WIM I/O & Analog Out A.4 The LED Display B. Scaling the Load Cell Input C. Load Cell Connections D. USB, RS232 & RS485 D.1 Communication Parameters D.2 Baud Rate D...

6 1. Introduction 1.1 General Description The model LCIC-WIM is a very High Speed, Intelligent Load CellInterface Card with USB/RS232/RS485. Besides its basic mode – namedbelow as the general mode – the board includes an integral Fill Mode supplying an independent filling control. The board is intel...

7 2. Installing the board in the PC (The following description refers to Windows XP. Obviously, onanother operating system it might be different.) 1. Make sure that all installation files have been copied to yourhard disk to a new folder, say, LCIC-WIM. 2. Connect the LCIC-WIM board to your PC. 3. T...

11 3.2 The Calibration Utility 3.2.1 General The calibration utility (LCIC-WIM-CALIBRATION) enables to calibratethe LCIC-WIM board adjusting it to your own system.The utility is straightforward and is in the form of a Windows wizard. Itincludes three main stages carried out in five steps. The three ...

12 The five calibration steps are: Step 1 – Show DataThis step introduces both the parameters and the current readings , as received from the board. The step is passive in the sense that it only shows data passed by the board, but it does not make any change in the board. Some additional parameters ...

14 Step 3 – Pseudo Calibration / ZeroThis step enables to redefine the ‘zero’ level. Click ‘Skip’ if you aresatisfied with the previous definition of the ‘zero’ level. Otherwise, whenthe scale is empty and stable (see note), click ‘Zero’ to sample another‘zero’ level. Once you clicked ‘Zero’, you ma...

17 3.2.2 The Calibrations Library Each calibration that the user applies may be saved in the ‘Calibrations Library’. Later on, the user may use that library as a short cut in order to restore a previous calibration quickly and reliably. The procedure is very simple: Save Unless the ‘Save to Library’...

18 3.2.3 Parameters T T T h h h i i i s s s s s s e e e c c c t t t i i i o o o n n n d d d e e e s s s c c c r r r i i i b b b e e e s s s t t t h h h e e e p p p a a a r r r a a a m m m e e e t t t e e e r r r s s s t t t o o o b b b e e e f f f i i i l l l l l l e e e d d d d d d u u u r r r i i ...

20 3.3 The Settings Utility The LCIC-WIM-SETTINGS utility gives control to card’s filters, analog output, fill mode parameters and more. The utility has three items: • The Menu Bar • Current Weight Display • Parameters The ‘Current Weight Display’ is rather obvious – it continuously shows the actual...

22 3.3.1.2 Tools / Baud Rate for SCI port Click ‘Tools’ / ‘Baud Rate for SCI port’ to see the current baud rate for theRS232/RS485 serial port. It may be changed to some values between 19,200and 115,200. (The baud rate for the USB need not be defined – usually it is921,600.) The change will take eff...

23 3.3.1.3 Tools / General Setpoints The LCIC-WIM board has four digital outputs. Each of them may be defined– through the Tools / General Setpoints – either as a manual output, or as a general setpoint output: • A manual output is controlled by a user’s command sent from the PC (or another computer...

24 3.3.2 Parameters The following sections describe the various parameters. After changingparameter(s), click the ‘Save to Board’ button and wait a while until thenew value(s) are accepted by the board. 3.3.2.1 Communication The Communication box refers to card’s communication port – eitherserial or...

27 3.3.2.3 Start Fill-mode 3.3.2.3.1 Fill-mode starts automatically upon card reset When this option is activated (checked), the card startsautomatically the Fill-mode upon reset. Otherwise (the option isunchecked), the cards ‘awakes’ in the upper level, referred to in thisdocument as the ‘general m...

29 4. Programming your Application The control of the board is by commands and parameters , described below. You may either use them directly (see alsosection D.3), or call an ActiveX (see section 4.3) that does thework. 4.1 Commands _ <c/r> signifies a carriage return. Note about High Speed C...

30 c. Get a single reading of: weight, A/D or temperature: . Get weight (after Filter2, not rounded to resolution). ? Get weight (after Filter2, rounded to resolution). > Get A/D reading after Filter1. < Get A/D reading after Filter2. T Get temperature d. Analog output: Read & write voltag...

31 h. RS485: Address selection, setting & reading (for more details and examples refer to section D.5; except ‘ N x <c/r> ’, these commands are available also in the fill mode): : x <c/r> Activate the board addressed x . x is between 1 and 64. Notes1. Wait 10 ms after sending the col...

32 i. Misc.: z (lower case z) Manually zero the gross weight. The effect of this functionis temporary — it expires upon card reset.Response (versions 1.12, 3.09, 6.01, 7.00 and up):‘z’<c/r>. Z (Upper case Z) (versions 1.12, 3.09, 6.01, 7.00 and up) Cancel the manual zero operation (the lower c...

38 4.3.2 Variables The system has variables with which the user may adjust the system to his needs and communicate with the I/O. Actually these variables consistof parameters, inputs and outputs. A variable may be read and sometimesalso may be written. The table below lists the variables, describes ...

39 Variables Table Category Variable Name Description Get Set Calibration_Name Name of calibration V Calibration_Date Calibration date (MMDDYY). V Calibration_Time Calibration time (HHMM, e.g., 1545). V Unit Weighing unit: ton, kg, g, lb or oz. V Resolution Weighing resolution: 0.0001, 0.0002, 0.000...

43 4.3.3 Filters Set_Filtering( Filter1 , Filter2 , Decimator ) Filter1 (Integer): 2 – 256 or 0. Filter2 (Integer): 2 – 256 or 0. Decimator (long): 1 – 1000 or 0. (Refer to the ‘Filtering’ square in the variables table above.) Set_Filtering supplies a faster way to change the filtering parameters wh...

45 The mechanism to receive the data uses events and methods as described below: The transmission sends blocks of information. Stage 1 Except the last one, each block generates the event DataArrivalInFastMode . When the event occurs, run the method Get_CurrentBlock to read the current block. The blo...

46 How to work with the Fast Mode in VB using the ActiveX During the Fast Mode process the board transmits mass data to the PC.Therefore, in order to avoid data loss, all the actions on your PC shouldbe minimized. 1. Define string Array Dim Fast_mode_Data(1 to SizeOfArray) as String Dim fmCounter as...

52 A.4 The LED Display Upon board restart , the two following messages are shown on the LED display – each for a while:LCIC x.xx x.xx is board’s DSP version. Sb yyy yyy is current board’s Serial baud-rate (refer to sections 3.3.1.2 & D.2). Then the display shows the current data. Notes 1. The we...

53 Appendix B: Scaling the Load Cell Input The full scale of the input coming from the load cell may be adjusted bythe LK4 jumper (which is next to load cell connector): • Across the two leftmost pins (default): Load cell output is 1-2mV/V. • Across the two rightmost pins: Load cell output is 3mV/V.

55 Appendix D: USB, RS232 & RS485 In addition to USB, The LCIC has an option for both full-duplex RS232and half-duplex RS485 interfaces. These are brought out on CONN3, a 9way ‘D’ type connector. The pin-out is as follows: CONN3 PIN FUNCTION 1 RS485- 2 RS232 TX (out) 3 RS232 RX (in) 4 NC 5 SIGNA...

5 6 D.2 Baud Rate For the USB , the maximal baud rate is 921,600. The board responds well without a need to pre-define the used b/r.For serial communication , the required b/r should be pre-defined by the user via the Settings utility (section 3.3). The available baud rates arebetween 19,200 and 115...

61 c. Read the RS485 address of the active board: n Board’s response:’# x <c/r>’, where x is the address of the active board. x =0 means that the board has been configured as a non-RS485 device. Other value (between 1 & 64) specifies the RS485 address of the activeboard. Notes 1. After sen...

63 Examples Suppose there are 3 boards in the system, addressed 1, 2 & 3.(The blue text is the PC side, the red text is the response from the board(s), and the black text is our comments) Example #1: Everything goes fine :999 *1*2*3 n (no response as no board is active) :1 A1 Board #1 becomes ac...

64 So far everything was smooth; however, the quality of the communicationdepends – besides the board and the PC – also on the environment. Hence,there might be irregular situations that the user should know to handle –this is what the following two examples (#2 and #3) explain. Example #2: No respo...

65 Example #3: No response from the old board n #1 :2 A2 Board #2 becomes active But the ‘^2’ response, telling that board #1 became inactive,did not arrive! Where is the disorder? Maybe board #1 did receive the command and is indeed inactive, just the ‘^2’ response was lost, andeverything is OK (ca...

66 Board selection by the supplied utilities The three supplied utilities – LCIC-WIM-CALIBRATION, LCIC-WIM-SETTINGS & LCIC-WIM-MONITOR – enable easy selection of therequired board: • Upon program start, all detected addresses are reported. Verify thatthe total number of boards detected (reported...

67 Appendix E: Fill Mode E.1 Introduction The LCIC-WIM supplies a Fill Mode in which it may control a filling operation, using the hardware inputs (section E.2) and hardware outputs (section E.3). The character of the filling operation is determined by parameters (section E.4) set via the Settings u...

68 E.2 Hardware Inputs Input #1 Input #2 Input #3 Input #4 OFF = Manual ON = Turn output #1 on ON = Turn output #2 on N/A When in error status: ON = Terminate an Error Status ON = Auto ON = Start When not in error status and not during filling: Long ON = Special Mode ( * ) ON = Emergency Stop * The ...

70 E.4 Filling Parameters Notes 1. There is a set of three setpoints. Once they are specified (using the Settings utility), the user may switch to another setpoint without needing a PC . This gives more flexibility when several setpoints are needed. For details about the switchingprocedure refer to ...

72 E.4.1.3 Valid Results Limits The resulting filling weight should normally be inside a userpre-defined ‘valid range’. In case the weight exceeds that range,an error situation will occur. Specify ‘Valid Limits (±)’= 0 if you don’tneed this check. Start from filling # … Specifies the first filling t...

73 E.4.1.4 Stabilization Criterion (Tare & Stop) At the beginning and at the end of a filling cycle the board waits for thescale to stabilize in order to read its weight. Hence, some stability criterion is required. The board requires that all readings within ‘Delta Time’ will beinside a range w...

74 E.4.2 Filling By = Time E.4.2.1 Filling by Time Parameters Setpoint # x The required total filling time when the user selects setpoint # x ( x = 1, 2 or 3). Slow Amount The required slow filling time, in % of the current Setpoint(a tip shows the value of Slow Amount in ms). Specify ‘0’ when only ...

75 E.4.4 The Filling Configurations Library There is a ‘Filling Configurations Library’ in which you may save sets offilling configuration parameters. This is useful in case you have morethan one type of filling, letting you switch easily and reliably from oneconfiguration to another.(Note: This lib...

76 E.5 LED Display Notations In Fill-mode , the LED display shows the current sub-mode: m Fill Manual Fill-mode (input #1 is off) AutoFill Auto Fill-mode (input #1 is on) Likewise, the value shown on the LED display is prefixed by one or twoletters: C Current weight F Weight during a filling cycle A...

80 Appendix F: Specifications F.1 Load Cell Input • 5 Volt excitation for upto 10 load cells (350 Ohm) • Compatible with 1, 2 & 3 mV/V load cells• Low noise wide bandwidth amplifier & 24 bit ADC F.2 A/D • Very high speed A/D: upto 52,000 samples per second• 24 Bit A/D with ± 8 million counts...

81 Appendix G: Trouble-shooting G.1 Card does not respond after PC power-on Q. Everything was OK, but after PC restart the card suddenly stopped responding. A. As specified in section D.4, after PC power on or off the serial communication (RS232/RS485) is likely to drop. A card reset is neededin thi...

82 Appendix H: Zero & Tare There are two functions which are similar, yet actually different: Zero &Tare: • The Zero function supplies both manual and automatic ways to clear the gross weight . • The Auto-Tare function supplies a way to define the meaning of the setpoint parameter . H.1 The ...

83 H.2 The Auto-Tare function This function supplies a way to define the meaning of the setpoint parameter: * When the ‘AutoTare’ option is not activated, the setpoint defines the requested final gross weight . That is, if the setpoint is 100 kg and the starting gross weight is 90 kg, the filling am...

WARRANTY/ DISCLAIMER OMEGA ENGINEERING, INC. warrants this unit to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 13 months from date of purchase. OMEGA’s WARRANTY adds an additional one (1) month grace period to the normal one (1) year product warranty to cover handling and shippin...

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