Background
A major company in Asia has turned to Active Ethernet I/O to improve operations at a loading station. The company enjoyed a booming market which led to a significant increase in the number of trucks needed to load and unload raw materials. A guidance system at the loading station was needed to ensure that trucks were positioned correctly for accurate weighing. The guidance system would rely on an optical sensor and a warning light to instruct the driver when the truck was in position. The challenge was finding a simple, cost-effective way to integrate these two elements and the PC in the control room. It would be expensive and difficult to use a traditional PLC with an Ethernet communication module. A PLC would require development of a specialized ladder program, incurring additional costs for programming and maintenance. In addition, it is difficult to establish direct communication between a PLC Ethernet module and a PC.

Solution
MOXA's ioLogik E2210 Active Ethernet I/O server addressed each of the company's needs. The patented Click&Go Logic and built-in Active I/O messaging was designed for just this type of situation. It was easy for system integrators to use the intuitive If-Then interface to establish the control logic on their own. The company was thus able to save on the costs of third-party programming and future maintenance that would have been required if a PLC had been used. In addition, the ioLogik E2210's Active I/O messaging feature provided instant delivery of I/O data to the control room PC, using a home-made Visual Basic program.

Benefits

• Compact size saves space and allows installation in small areas
• User-friendly Click&Go?Logic eliminates need for programming
• Instant Active I/O messages allow user-defined content
• VB/VC++/BCB programming library eases development for IT environment