Omron automation electronics

Omron manufactures a range of automation electronics (sensors, relays, controllers, etc.), which frequently can be remotely controlled using Modbus protocol. In addition to the generic Modbus control, pylablib implements E5_C (e.g., E5GC) temperature controller in a bit more detail. The code has been tested with E5GC-QX1A6M-015 controller and generic USB to RS485 converter.

The main device classes are pylablib.devices.Omron.OmronE5xCController.

Software requirements

Basic Omron devices implement Modbus protocol over RS485 physical layer. If one uses a dedicated USB to RS485 controller or a USB to RS232 controller with RS232 to RS485 adapter, then it shows up as a serial port in the OS, and no additional software is required.

Connection

Generally, you would need to know a serial port of the RS485 controller, the serial connection parameters (by default it’s 9600 baud, 8 data bits, even parity bit, one stop bit) and the controller Modbus address (1 by default). For details, see Modbus protocol description.

Operation

E5_C

There are two sets of methods implemented. The first are the generic methods for getting and setting values of internal registers: OmronE5xCController.get_reg() and OmronE5xCController.set_reg(). These allow full control over the device. The description of the registers is given in the controller communication manual (Communications Data for Modbus section).

The second set of methods provides the basic temperature readout, as well as the setpoint control. Currently only the most basic methods for getting the current temperature (OmronE5xCController.get_measurementi()) and controlling the setpoint (OmronE5xCController.get_setpointi() and OmronE5xCController.set_setpointi()) are implemented