Simulates a PLC and a truck scale representing a single asphalt loadout lane with up to five silos. Specifically, it emulates an Allen Bradley Micrologix 1100 PLC loaded with Command Alkon's JWS Apex Loadout program and a Cardinal Scales weigh indicator.
The latest version can be downloaded at the Github Releases page.
Before using SiloSim with JWS Apex, you must first configure the virtual Scale and PLC.
From the Apex menu, navigate to System Administrator > System Setup > Devices/Scales > Scales and open the Scales configuration application. Add a new scale for the simulated scale. Use the default settings on the General page, then go to the Interface page, and set the Scale Type to be Cardinal Model 738. Check the box for Live Interface. Set the Interface Method to Ethernet TCP/IP. Make note of the IP address of the machine where SiloSim is installed, and put the IP address into the Address field. Then for the Port, type the port that SiloSim is using for the scale. The default scale port for SiloSim is 10001, but this can be reconfigured later.
From the Apex menu, navigate to System Administrator > System Setup > Devices/Scales > Scales and open the Scales configuration application. Add a new scale with the PLC numbering scheme. PLC scales start at 10201 for the first PLC and continue with 10202, 10203, etc. Use the default settings on the General page, then go to the Interface page, and set the Scale Type to None. Set the Interface Method to Ethernet TCP/IP. Make note of the IP address of the machine where SiloSim is installed, and put the IP address into the Address field. Then for the Port, type the port that SiloSim is using for the PLC. The default PLC port for SiloSim is 11001, but this can be reconfigured later.
Creating a shortcut to SiloSim allows you to automatically load the port settings, assign a label to SiloSim, and setup the startup silos and fill rate. This is especially useful if you plan on running more than one SiloSim at a time to simulate multiple loadout lanes. First, navigate to the folder where SiloSim.exe is located. Right-click on the executable and select Send to>Desktop (create shorcut). Then go to the Desktop and right-click on the newly created shortcut and select Properties. In the properties window, in the Shortcut tab, select the text in the Target field. At the end of the Target, you can add the port number for the Scale and the port number for the PLC in addition to the label. The format is as follows:
C:\JWS\SiloSim\SiloSim.exe <ScalePort> <PLCport> <Label> <LoadoutSilo> <FillSilo> <FillRate>
An Example for Lane 2 where the scale uses port 10002 and the PLC uses port 11002 would be:
C:\JWS\SiloSim\SiloSim.exe 10002 11002 "Lane 2 Sim"
An Example for Lane 1 where the scale uses port 10001 and the PLC uses port 11001 with Silo 1 pre-selected for loadout and Silo 2 pre-selected for filling with a rate of 400 tons per hour would be:
C:\JWS\SiloSim\SiloSim.exe 10002 11002 "Lane 1" 1 2 400
This text box enables you to set the label in the title bar for the simulator
This button starts and stops the simulation server. In order to change the port that the PLC or Scale is listening on, you must stop the simulation first.
Click any of the output lights to momentarily activate the output. Click and hold to keep the output active. When the silo gates are activated, the weight on the scale will begin increasing. There is a delay in between when the output is activated and when the weight is seen on the scale just like in a real plant. There is also a delay between when an output is deactivated and when the weight on the scale stops increasing. This delay is determined by the In Air Amount. Clicking on Output 11 for the Truck Horn will sound the horn, and if the Horn Resets Scale checkbox is checked, the scale will be reset to the tare weight.
Click the input lights to toggle the input on or off. Only inputs for filling or loadout can be toggled. The Loadout Rate text box is for configuring the maximum amount loadout rate in lbs / sec.
Each silo has a text box that shows the current unsynced bin inventory. This number can be set manually by typing in a number and pressing enter.
These radio buttons allow you to choose which of the five silos to currently fill. You can only fill one at a time just like in a real plant. Click on Fill Deselect to deselect all silos for filling.
Each bin has a checkbox to indicate a low bin level. In a real plant this would come from a sensor, but in the simulator, this is a manual control.
These radio buttons allow you to choose which silo is currently selected for loadout. Only one at a time can be selected for loadout. Click on Loadout Deselect to deselect all silos for loadout.
This text box allows you to enter the fill rate for filling the silos.
Click this button to start or stop filling the silos. You should see the silo inventory increase as the weighbridge sends pulses to the silo that is selected for filling.
These radio buttons allow you to choose between two different filling methods. Input number 13 indicates which mode is currently selected. The Common Pulse method will set Input 13 to be always on, the One Per Silo method will set it to be always off.
In Common Pulse mode, as the weighbridge fills the silos, the Tons Pulse will be visible on Input 14, and the silo is selected with Inputs 15,16,17,18,19.
In One Per Silo mode, as the weighbridge fills the silos, the Tons Pulse will be visible on the individual Input channel for each silo including Inputs 15,16,17,18,19 .
This button will increment the weight on the scale by 20 lbs.
This button will decrement the weight on the scale by 20 lbs.
This button will set the scale weight to zero.
This text box allows you to set the tare weight of an imaginary truck on the scale. To set the scale to the tare weight in the box, click the TARE button. If the Horn Resets Scale checkbox is checked, when Output 11 for the horn sounds, the scale will reset to the tare weight.
This text box allows you to set the gross weight of an imaginary truck on the scale. To set the scale to the gross weight in the box, click the GROSS button.
This text box allows you to set the net weight of an imaginary truck on the scale. To set the scale to the net weight in the box, click the NET button.