BridgeMode/en

Bridge Mode

What is bridge mode?

It is the possibility of using a supervision system external to the kibox, through the modbus RTU-RS485 protocol, all without ceasing to use the advantages offered by the kiconex system.

Bridge mode wiring diagram.

How does bridge mode work?

In the Modbus protocol can exists only one master, so this functionality allows two masters to be connected to the same network.

One of the kiBox ports is used as a bridge. This port, when configured in bridge mode, will function as a slave, providing data from the equipment connected to the kiBox to the second supervision system (BMS, Scada, etc.), which in turn works as a master. requesting data from the connected machines/equipment.

The example in the image above, a series of Modbus RTU devices have been connected to RS485 ports 1 and 2 of the kibox. An external monitoring system is connected to the last port of the kibox, configured in bridge mode, which can consult the machines' data at the same time as the kibox.

This way there is always a master on the network. In the example of the previous image, you can differentiate:

• RS485 port 1 acting as master of that bus, in which there are several slave machines.
• RS485 port 2 acting as master of that bus, in which there are several slave machines.
• RS485 "N" port, acting as a slave of a Modbus network in which the master is the supervision system external to kiconex.
• The kibox acts as a bridge between the Modbus network of port N and the other networks where it acts as a master.

On which devices can bridge mode be used?

It can be used in kiBoxes that have more than one RS-485 connection, these devices are the kiBox 2, 4 and 8 models.

Connection required for bridge mode

They must be connected to each other by modbus RTU RS-485 through a two-wire shielded cable, it must be connected from one of the kiBox ports, configured in bridge mode, to the external system.

What is needed to configure bridge mode on the platform?

• Have a platform user.

• Editing permissions on the facility.
• Have kibox2, kibox4 or kibox8 hardware.

What is needed to view the data of the machines or equipment connected to the kiBox is your external system?

In order to view the data, you must request the modbus mapping from the manufacturer of each machine or equipment; with it you can manage the data request by consulting the kibox directly.

How is bridge mode configured on the platform?

By default, the kibox ports are configured as masters. In this case, there is the function Modbus RTU – Bridge.

The configuration is done from the platform my.kiconex.com

The steps to follow to configure the facility on the platform are:

1. Edit the facility.

Edit the facility in mykiconex

2. Seleccionar la pestaña hardware (1), seguido del puerto serie (2), seleccionar la pestaña de función (3) donde se desplegarán las opciones en las que se puede configurar el puerto, las opciones son Deshabilitado, Maestro o Puente (bridge), seleccionar modo puente (4).

Configuración del puerto en modo puente

3. A continuación, saldrá la configuración modbus (5), se debe comprobar la velocidad con la que trabaja la máquina y tener en cuenta que debe estar configurado de la misma forma tanto en la máquina como en la plataforma. Por último seleccionar el botón de guardar (6).

Configuración de velocidad de trabajo en modo puente

Realizados estos pasos queda comprobar el flujo de datos a través de su sistema externo. Para ello debe tener el mapeado modbus de los dispositivos que se están monitorizando, estos mapeados los podrá conseguir consultando al fabricante ya que cada máquina tiene su propio mapeado modbus.