Creating a Project in Control Expert
Original instructions
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Introduction
This topic shows you how to create a new Control Expert project, and add to the new project the following components:
NOTE: The following example uses Unity Pro version 7.0, or higher.
NOTE: Unity Pro is the former name of Control Expert for version 13.1 or earlier.
Creating and Saving a New Project
Use Control Expert to create a new project. The following steps describe the creation of a project for the sample network:
Step
Action
1
Open Control Expert.
2
In the main menu, select File → New....
The New Project window opens displaying a list of Schneider-Electric controller types.
3
In the New Project window, expand the Modicon M340 node to select a CPU.
In this example, select the BMX P34 20302 Ethernet CANopen2 controller.
NOTE: By selecting the BMX P34 20302 Ethernet CANopen2 controller, you can later select the BMX NOC 0401.2 Ethernet communication module.
4
Click OK. The Project Browser, below, opens.
5
To save the project, select File → Save. The Save As dialog opens.
6
In the Save As dialog, type in a File name—which will be the name of your project—then click Save. Control Expert saves your project to the specified path location.
NOTE: You can change the default location Control Expert uses to store project files. Before saving your project:
1 Select Tools → Options. The Options Management window opens. 2 In the left pane, navigate to Options → General → Paths. 3 In the right pane, type in a new path location for the Project path. You can also edit the:
  • Import/Export file path
  • XVM path
  • Project settings templates path
4 Click OK close the window and save your path edits.
Adding a Power Supply to the New Project
When you added the CPU to the project, above, Control Expert may also have added a power supply to the project. If not, the next step is to manually add a power supply to your project:
Step
Action
7
In the Project Browser, double click 0 : PLC bus to display both the:
  • Local Bus window with the selected CPU in the second position, and
  • Hardware catalog displaying the Local Bus tab, below:
8
In the Hardware catalog, under the Supply node, use your mouse to select then drag a BMX CPS 2000 power supply to the first position in the rack.
9
In the File menu, select Save, to save your edits.
NOTE: Schneider-Electric recommends that you periodically save your changes as you make edits.
Adding an Ethernet Communication Module to the New Project
Next, add an Ethernet communication module to your project:
Step
Action
10
Returning to the Hardware catalog, under the Communication node, use your mouse to select then drag a BMX NOC 0401.2 Ethernet communication module to an open slot in the rack—in this example, slot 2.
NOTE: You can select the BMX NOC 0401.2 only after:
  • selecting the BMX P34 20302 CPU for the project, and
  • upgrading the BMX NOC 0401 module firmware to version 2.0 or higher
When you drop the communication module into the rack, Control Expert opens the communication module Properties window.
11
In the General page of the module properties window, type in an alias name for the communication module: NOC01:
When you change the alias name, Control Expert changes the base input and output type and variable names to match the edited alias name.
NOTE: Schneider Electric recommends that you assign a unique alias name to each communication module.This practice helps you distinguish between modules of the same type.
12
In the File menu, select Save, to save your edits.
13
Click OK to close the Properties window. The Local Bus now displays the three modules you have added:
14
The next step is to configure the located memory space in the CPU for the communication module’s inputs and outputs.