1.11 Online Mode¶
Simplifier Manager comes with an Online Mode debugging tool that listens to the system and displays information about communication, I/O, memories, voltage, temperature, and internal signals, for debugging and monitoring systems.
Online Mode can be used via USB directly to a Simplifier, or via radio using Simplifier Monitor. When using USB, only information that the connected unit can hear directly is displayed. When using radio with Simplifier Monitor, only information from units that are in range of the Simplifier Monitor is displayed.
To start Online Mode, first compile and download the current configuration, then click the Start online button in the toolbar. A dialog is displayed (see Figure 1.49), where the user can select which device type to use (via USB or via radio with Simplifier Monitor). If a Simplifier Monitor is connected to the PC, radio is automatically used.
During Online Mode, the project overview document shows the Online overview. It gives an overview of the radio communication between the nodes in the system, including the signal strength and statistics for each link.
To see the state of the internal signals in a node, open the logic document of that node (by double-clicking on the node in the project overview). The states of all signals are visualized by red (false / 0 / low / off) and green (true / 1 / high / on).
Figure 1.49: The dialog where the online device can be selected. This is only shown if a Simplifier Monitor is not connected to the PC.
Figure 1.50: Online mode on an E Stop in ON-state, and a push button in OFF-state. The green line indicates that the signal is 1 (HIGH), and the red line indicates that the signal is 0 (LOW). The terminal in the block displays which signal is currently being received on the pin.
1.11.1 Troubleshooting online mode¶
If Online Mode fails to start, make sure that the system is running, and that the program has been downloaded to all the units in the system. Also check that node 1 is running and has a connection to the other nodes in the system. If connection still fails, try downloading the configuration to the system again.
1.11.2 Limitations¶
The following sections discuss some limitations with Online Mode via radio/USB.
1.11.2.1 Status signal update frequency¶
The status information from nodes in a system is sent periodically, and the update frequency depends on how many nodes there are in a system. A system with two nodes will therefore have a much faster update speed of the status information than a system with 16 nodes. This will result in the debug signals of larger systems updating more slowly than in smaller systems, and in systems of 16 nodes a delay of a couple of seconds can be observed.
Signals (internally in the unit) that change faster than the update speed of the status information over radio/USB cannot be seen by Simplifier Manager and will be lost (due to the sampling theorem). This occurs at a bigger scale in larger systems, due to the longer update time. For example, a quick press of a push button might not be seen in Online Mode, even though the signal was registered internally in the unit.
1.11.2.2 Half-updated blocks¶
Internal logic signals are not all updated at the same time. This can in some cases result in some function blocks looking like they are not behaving correctly. For example, an AND block could for a short while have all inputs green = 1, and the output red = 0, before all the signals have been updated.
Poor radio connection between the PC and the node can increase the risk of this happening. To limit this effect, be close to the systems/nodes that are being monitored.
1.11.2.3 Global memories and internal signals¶
When using Global Memories in the logic, a similar effect to the one explained in 1.11.2.2 Half-updated blocks above can be seen. The Global memory signals are updated much more often than the internal signals (since the global memories are always sent in each packet, which has a much higher update frequency). When a Global memory changes its value, there could be some time before the internal signals are updated, making the function look like it is not behaving as it should.
1.11.2.4 CAN networks¶
Online Mode information is sent via CAN from all nodes in the CAN network. However, since this information is not repeated, the information from CAN-only nodes (nodes without radio module) can only be seen when running Online Mode via USB on those nodes, or via a node that is connected to the same CAN network.