Makers Blog

I would like to describe two different ways to remote debug a .Net Core 3.0 application with VS Code on a PLCnext target. In this post I'm using Debian 9 on my development machine and an AXC F 2152 with version: PLCnext Linux 2020.0.

1. Start and debug your remote application (Press "F5" and debug)
2. Attaching to remote processes

Before we could start to remote debug at our target, we have to prepare two different things. The first one is to set up the remote debugger and the second one is to enable an SSH key based authentication to the controller. The tutorial is based of two posts in the Makers Blog.

The following post shows a workflow how to develop a .Net Core application for a PLCnext target.
It is containing two steps:

1. Create a Hello World application with VS Code.
2. Publish the application to the controller.

In this example I'm using Debian 9 on my development machine and an AXC F 2152 with version: PLCnext Linux 2019.9.

IXON developed Cloud Access so you can easily access your machine's HTTP(S) server without requiring a VPN connection. This enables you to access your machine's servers on any mobile and desktop device with an internet connection.

Access and control the PLCnext webserver directly and securely from your browser. No additional software needed. Because it runs via IXON's worldwide VPN network, a speedy and seamless connection is guaranteed.

Written by: Damian Bombeeck
Date: 10 januari 2020

Summary

In this tutorial I will show you how to connect to- and use a cloud-based database while on your PLCnext AXCF 2152 controller. We will use Microsoft Azure as the cloud-service provider and perform queries using HTTP requests. These requests will be performed in a thread so they won’t affect the real-time system. I’ll go through the different steps to take and explain why these steps are needed, furthermore I’ll include all used code and the side-notes concerning the use of Azure with PLCnext and HTTP requests in general. The tutorial is mainly focused on C++, IEC61131-3, JSON and SQL and will not include languages as C#, python or Java.

Receive warnings about important machine events to reduce downtime or predict maintenance updates. The alarms & notification feature from IXON Cloud lets you send a push message or emails without any coding. Use it to monitor events and trigger alarms, in the factory or remote location, by using the collected data of the PLCnext device.

based on Node.js® Azure SDK  https://github.com/azure/azure-sdk-for-js

Contribution and the complete source code at https://github.com/plcnextusa/PLCnext_AWS_AZURE

This is a work from our PLCnext team from the Phoenix Contact USA headquarters. Please reach out to us if you have any additional questions. Special thanks to the members of this project, Daniel Clark, Jake Kustan, Grant Vandebrake and Kaitlyn Maass.

The data logging feature from IXON Cloud lets you log data securely from the PLCnext device to the IXON Cloud. It collects, prepares, transmits and stores data using a secure MQTT connecting automatically from the PLCnext device to the IXON Cloud platform. Just define the parameters you want to log and the interval when (log on interval, log on change, or log on trigger).

The gathered data can be used for further analysis and optimisation of your system or processes. Use it to send alarms (like when an emergency button is pressed or production line stops) or compose your data dashboards. These additional features are available in your IXON Cloud portal.