Configure PUTTY to Test ASCII over Ethernet Socket Communications

PUTTY can be used to establish a TELNET socket connection between a Gocator and a controlling PC for the sending and receiving of ASCII over Ethernet commands and responses. This is similar to opening a TCP socket. Most PLCs and IPCs are able to do this, and may need a proof of concept for the integration. This is where PUTTY can help. 

Gocator Configuration

First, you have to configure the Gocator to communicate over the ASCII over Ethernet protocol. 

Power on a sensor at the defaul IP address (192.168.1.10), and log into the web GUI from any web browser by typing the IP address into the URL bar.

Go to the Output page of the sensor and select the Ethernet output type. 

On the Ethernet output tab, select ASCII from the Protocol dropdown.

For initial configuration, leave the ASCII settings at their default

Then save these settings in a new job file. 

Configure PUTTY

Download PUTTY here: https://www.putty.org/

Once installed, run PUTTY and configure the settings as shown below for a Gocator at the default IP address and ASCII ports:

Click Open to start the connection with the sensor. 

Once the connection is established, a console window will popup with no error messages. 

Sending Commands to the Sensor from PUTTY

You can perform the following commands using the ASCII over Ethernet protocol:

Start

Stop

Trigger

Load Job

Stamp

Clear Alignment 

Moving Alignment

Stationary Alignment

Set Runtime Variables

Get Runtime Variables

When sending a command, the ASCII string must be sent exactly as shown in the manual and is case-sensitive. 

To Start a sensor, type the string "Start" without quotations into the open terminal. A response of OK means the sensor received the command and will execute shortly. Typically this takes less than 1 second. 

The sensor will respond by putting the sensor in the Run state as shown below. 

To Stop a sensor, the the string "Stop" without quotations into the terminal. 

The sensor will respond by putting the sensor in a Stopped state as shown below.

The other functions can be used in a similar manner. Their respective responses can be found in the Gocator sensor manual under Integrations->Protocols->ASCII

Receiving Measurement Results from the Sensor

To receive Measurement Values and/or Decisions, the information can be explicitly polled using the "Result", "Value", or "Decision" strings or sent asynchronously from the sensor as soon as they are ready. 

To poll a Measurement Value or Decision whenever you want, simply transmit the correct string including the IDs of the measurements desired as arguments as shown below:

To receive Measurement Values and/or Decisions as soon as the scanned images are finished processing, set the Gocator up for Asynchronous transmission. 

Then check the box next to all the Measurements that you want to output the decision and value for to the PC. 

Then start your image acuqisition process. The results will automatically be transmitted and then displayed in the terminal as soon as they are available with no polling commands required. 

Other Notes and Clarifications

Formatting

The style of the response can be tailored to your needs. In the Standard response for asynchronous data transmission, the enabled measurements are displayed in sequence, comma delimited, with the order set as Measurement, then Value, the Decision as shown below. 

The Standard with Stamp response is shown below. 

The Custom response default is shown below. 

Differences between Polling and Asynchronous Transmission

Polling - a specific command must be sent to request some kind of data. The specific format of each request is detailed in the sensor manual

Asynchronous - data is transmitted in the predefined format from the sensor to the established controlling device as soon as an image is generated and processed. No specific command/request must be sent from the controller to the sensor for this data to be sent. 

More information about ASCII communication here.