Assembly Data

Introduction to an "Assembly"

Data on Ethernet/IP devices is represented in an object called an Assembly. Data is sent to or retrieved from the assemblies by using either explicit messages or implicit (Producer/Consumer) messages.

• Explicit messages are messages you set up in your program to retrieve data at specific points in time. Implicit messages are automatically set up by the program to refresh data at given intervals.

• Implicit messaging is also called the "Producer/Consumer" model, as one device produces data and another device consumes it. With implicit messaging, the camera produces output data at regular intervals. The PLC also produces data at regular intervals and updates the camera accordingly.

When you set up the Generic Ethernet Module for the VS-1 Smart Camera, you entered in specific instances of I/O assemblies as well as the data size for each. These assemblies are connected implicitly by the PLC. The camera sends updated data to the Input assembly, represented by the HE1600T:I tags, and the PLC sends updated data from the Output assembly, represented by the HE1600T:O tags.

The following sections detail the different assemblies supported by the camera.