You need a smart camera or a camera that is connected to a vision controller. Companies like Cognex, keyence and omron make those types of cameras that can communicate to a PLC directly. The common protocols are Ethernet/IP and DeviceNet. If you want to use a basler camera with a PLC it must connect to some hardware that processes the image and can communicate to the PLC. The way I have done that is to connect the camera over ethernet to a windows computer. The computer is a small industrial PC. It is running Labview vision development software, or Vision Builder for Automated Inspections (VBAI). The software does all the vision acquisition and Inspections. It connects to the PLC using Modbus, Ethernet/IP or you can make your own communication protocol. If you make your own protocol it can be transmitted over serial port or ethernet.
These are some things to look at, although I'm not sure I have the answer. Try connecting the camera directly to the computer, or with a POE switch as the only thing between. Jumbo frames should be turned on in your network card settings, 8000 or higher. Is your firewall off? Windows has 3 levels of firewall. Try turning off the domain firewall which is in advanced settings window. Does your network card subnet mask match the camera's subnet mask? Wireshark is helpful when diagnosing these problems. I've found that the gigE vision protocol is recognized in Wireshark. You can see the computer broadcasting to any camera to report if it exists. And the 'handshake' back. You can see what ports the communication is happening on, and make sure they aren't blocked in the network.
@@LowtechLLC I think I discovered what was the issue. My camera is basler blaze 101, a 3D camera, and as far as I understood, pylon viewer does not support these types of camera, so I installed blaze viewer instead, but now I am wondering if blaze viewer gives the same functionality as pylon viewer, which I think it does not.
What should I do if I want to communicate the camera with the PLC
You need a smart camera or a camera that is connected to a vision controller. Companies like Cognex, keyence and omron make those types of cameras that can communicate to a PLC directly. The common protocols are Ethernet/IP and DeviceNet. If you want to use a basler camera with a PLC it must connect to some hardware that processes the image and can communicate to the PLC. The way I have done that is to connect the camera over ethernet to a windows computer. The computer is a small industrial PC. It is running Labview vision development software, or Vision Builder for Automated Inspections (VBAI). The software does all the vision acquisition and Inspections. It connects to the PLC using Modbus, Ethernet/IP or you can make your own communication protocol. If you make your own protocol it can be transmitted over serial port or ethernet.
Mmmmm....
What might be the reason for pylon Viewer to not see my camera in the Device pan even if the IP configuration was successful and the status is "OK"
These are some things to look at, although I'm not sure I have the answer.
Try connecting the camera directly to the computer, or with a POE switch as the only thing between.
Jumbo frames should be turned on in your network card settings, 8000 or higher.
Is your firewall off? Windows has 3 levels of firewall. Try turning off the domain firewall which is in advanced settings window.
Does your network card subnet mask match the camera's subnet mask?
Wireshark is helpful when diagnosing these problems. I've found that the gigE vision protocol is recognized in Wireshark. You can see the computer broadcasting to any camera to report if it exists. And the 'handshake' back. You can see what ports the communication is happening on, and make sure they aren't blocked in the network.
@@LowtechLLC I think I discovered what was the issue. My camera is basler blaze 101, a 3D camera, and as far as I understood, pylon viewer does not support these types of camera, so I installed blaze viewer instead, but now I am wondering if blaze viewer gives the same functionality as pylon viewer, which I think it does not.