Sullair SUPERVISOR CONTROLLER Instruction Manual

Section 6
CONTROLLER COMMUNICATION
PROTOCOL
25
6. CONTROLLER COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL
6.1 RECOVERY TIME AND DELAYED START TIMER - OVERVIEW
Communications connections are internal features of the Supervisor II Deluxe and WS
controllers. A separate communications module is added to Supervisor Controllers for
any external communications. Most features are common to each controller, unless
specifically noted below. The communications link is a RS-485 (two wire) serial line. The
following three parameters must be set correctly to be able to communicate through this
link.
COM ID# - Unique number for each machine on the link.
BAUDRATE (Supervisor II only) - Must be the same for all machines (default is 9600).
Supervisor and WS controllers are fixed at 9600 baud.
SEQUENCE - Sequencing mode. Full descriptions of sequencing operation is provided in
preceding sections of this manual. The function of the SEQUENCE link is specified by
setting the Sequence parameter as follows :
DISABLED, REMOTE - Responds to status and parameter change queries.
HOURS, COM ID# - Broadcasts net status message about once per second,
responds to status and parameter change queries during monitor time slot. In this
manner, the controller for each machine receives the status of every other machine
in the system. Sequencing decisions are made individually by each controller
based on the status of all machines in the sequencing system. Collisions
(communication conflicts) on the serial channel are avoided by a time slice scheme
(See Section 6.4 for more information on Time Slicing).
6.2 ADVANTAGES OF BROADCAST MODE
Some advantages of using a broadcast communication configuration are listed below.
• System operation is not dependent on a single master controller.
• Because there is no master, the number of messages are decreased to half (thus
decreasing response time). In master/slave mode, a message is sent from the
master to a machine to request status, then the machine must send a status
message back to the master. In broadcast mode, each machine sends it’s status
approximately once per second to all other machines in the system.
• When a machine goes off line or on line there is no need for the controller to poll for a
new master.
• Individual machines may be taken off line or put on line with no effect on
communications.
This is useful for maintenance or when a machine is to be controlled manually.
When a machine is stopped, its controller continues to sends net status messages to
the other machines in the system. When the machine is DISABLED it will not send
net status messages but will respond to status and parameter change messages.
• Because decisions are made locally, the response of the system is very efficient; less
than one second for trimming, loading and unloading. A machine requires only one
second plus starting time to begin running.

Sullair SUPERVISOR CONTROLLER Specifications

General

Brand	Sullair
Model	SUPERVISOR CONTROLLER
Category	Controller
Language	English