So you've heard about Rockwell's new line of low cost Micro PLCs, and now want to get your hands on the free software to check it out?
Well it's as simple as following these steps:
Step 1) Navigate your web browser to www.ab.com, which will redirect you to ab.rockwellautomation.com:
Step 2) Then...
With so many different Allen-Bradley PanelViews available from Rockwell Automation, it can often be quite confusing for new customers to know which one is right for their application.
With that in mind, in today's article I'll run down all of Rockwell's PanelViews to hopefully make things a little clearer!
PanelView models...
As we discussed earlier today, Rockwell has announced the "end of life" dates for the PanelView Component 4", 6" and 10" models.
With that in mind, in this article we'll look at what you need to do to migrate from the PanelView Component (PVc) to the PanelView 800 (PV800.)
Part 1:...
Rockwell Automation has officially listed the 4", 6", and 10" models of the PanelView Component as "end of life."
According to Rockwell's  website, the first model to see an end of manufacturing will be the 10" unit, with a "last make" date of January 31st, 2016.
It will be followed by the...
Last week in this article I discussed how to use Rockwell's PCDC webpage to look up the compatibility of Rockwell Software packages with Microsoft Windows operating systems.
In today’s article we’ll take a look at the results for Connected Components Workbench, also known as CCW:
CCW compatibility with Windows XP:
In the above...
Last week while checking operating system compatibility of Connected Components Workbench (CCW) Version 7, I noticed Version 8 was also listed.
Curios to know if this was an indicator of it's release, I headed over to product downloads section of Rockwell's website and found that CCW version 8 was indeed available to download.
Choosing the free, standard package...
In The Automation Podcast: Episode 14, we discuss transferring projects to your Allen-Bradley HMI, including the PanelView Plus and Component, using a USB Flash Drive.
Note: You can read more about transferring projects to a PanelView Plus using a USB Flash drive in our companion blog HERE.
Listen to the Podcast:
Disliked by many who used it early on, and forgotten by most everyone else, the PanelView Component (PVc) was very much in danger of becoming the most unsuccessful Allen-Bradley HMI to bear the PanelView name.
However, two recent developments appear to be giving it a second chance.
Finding the Sweet Spot
On the hardware side, the PanelView...
When the PanelView Component (PVc) first launched back in 2008, it heralded many innovative features for an Allen-Bradley HMI.
First and foremost was cost. The product line was released at substantially lower prices than previous Rockwell HMI's, and the development software was completely free.
In fact, you didn't even need software. You could simply...
Continuing this week's theme of profiling Rockwell's free application code, today we'll take a look at their Pump Station Controller Pre-packaged Solution.
Similar to the CCBB and CCAT we previously reviewed, Rockwell's Pump Station Controller is designed around "component" level devices, specifically the MicroLogix 1400 and PanelView Component.
Similar to CCBB and CCAT,...
Like the Connected Components Building Blocks (CCBB,) Rockwell's Connected Components Accelerator Toolkit (CCAT for short) is designed around "component" level devices.
However, this "Accelerator Toolkit" is designed for the Micro800 and Connected Components Workbench, where as the "Building Blocks" are designed around the MicroLogix and RSLogix.
Initially, when you download CCAT you get the following building blocks:
...
Rockwell's Connected Components Building Blocks (or CCBB for short) is quite possibly the best kept secrete on AB.com.
In an apparent effort to answer the long standing call for sample code, Rockwell launched the CCBB initiative years ago. And in my experience, IÂ have to say they did a very good...
(Updated 11/06/2017)
On November 25th, 2013, Rockwell released a new YouTube video promoting it's "Micro800 Solution for Intermittent VFFS" (Vertical Form, Fill and Seal.)
For those of you who haven't seen it yet, I'll include it below:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoboytJxJD4
Update: Rockwell has removed their video from YouTube, however the below links to the whitepapers and...