Communication Add-on

Modbus - RTU

Addendum A

Modbus - RTU Addendum A page 2 rev 1.02

 COPYRIGHT © 2008 ARCUS, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

First edition, October 2008

ARCUS TECHNOLOGY copyrights this document. You may not

reproduce or translate into any language in any form and means any part of
this publication without the written permission from ARCUS.

ARCUS makes no representations or warranties regarding the content of this

document. We reserve the right to revise this document any time without
notice and obligation.

Revision History:
1.00 – 1st Release
1.01 – Added RSM
1.02 – Updated bookmarks

Modbus - RTU Addendum A page 3 rev 1.02

 Table of Contents
1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 5
2. Communication Settings ................................................................................................. 6
Baud Rate ........................................................................................................................ 6
Modbus Device Number ................................................................................................. 6
RS-485 Communication Mode ....................................................................................... 6
3. Sample Usage.................................................................................................................. 8
Achieving functionality via variables ............................................................................. 8
Standalone Example Program 1 ...................................................................................... 8
4. Modbus RTU Addressing ............................................................................................... 9
Data Model...................................................................................................................... 9
Holding Registers – Read/Write – 16 bits ...................................................................... 9
Dealing with the Swapped-Long Registers................................................................... 11
4. Modbus GUI ................................................................................................................. 12
Connection Configuration ............................................................................................. 13
Main Screen .................................................................................................................. 13

Modbus - RTU Addendum A page 4 rev 1.02

 1. Introduction
The Modbus-RTU protocol runs over the RS-485 communication medium. For tips
regarding setting up a RS-485 network, see the user manual specific to your controller.

The Arcus implementation of Modbus-RTU supports the holding register data type only.
Coils, Discrete Inputs and Input Registers are not supported.

Modbus - RTU Addendum A page 5 rev 1.02

 2. Communication Settings
Baud Rate
The RS-485 baud rate can be changed using the DB command.

Please note that the device baud rate must be within the range [1, 5].

Device Baud Value Baud Rate (bps)

1 9600
2 19200
3 38400
4 57600
5 115200

To write the values to the device’s flash memory, use the STORE command. After a
complete power cycle, the new baud rate will be written to memory. Note that before a
power cycle is completed, the settings will not take effect.

By default: Baud rate is set to: 1 (9600 bps)

This setting can be made either through RS-485 ASCII or USB communication
depending on your controller.

Modbus Device Number

Arcus Modbus controllers allow the user to set the Modbus device number (used for
addressing) from the range of [1-127]. In order to make this change, use the DNM
command.

To write the values to the device’s flash memory, use the STORE command. After a
complete power cycle, the new device number will be written to memory. Note that
before a power cycle is completed, the settings will not take effect.

By default: Modbus device number is set to 1

This setting can be made either through RS-485 ASCII or USB communication
depending on your controller.

RS-485 Communication Mode

Changing from RS-485 to Modbus

By default, Arcus controllers are configuring for ASCII protocol when using RS-485
communication. In order to enable Modbus-RTU communication, set RSM=1.

Modbus - RTU Addendum A page 6 rev 1.02

To write the values to the device’s flash memory, use the STORE command. After a
complete power cycle, the communication mode setting will be written to memory. Note
that before a power cycle is completed, the settings will not take effect.
This setting must be made through RS-485 ASCII.

Below is a table of the ASCII commands that are mentioned above. To see a complete
list of all ASCII commands, see the user manual specific to your controller.

Command Description Return

DB Return the current baud rate of the device 1 – 9600 bps
2 – 19200 bps
3 – 38400 bps
4 – 57600 bps
5 – 115200 bps
DB=[1,2,3,4,5] Set the baud rate of the device OK
DNM Get Modbus device number [1-127]
DNM=[1-127] Set Modbus device number OK
RSM Get RS-485 Communication mode 0 – ASCII
1 – Modbus-RTU
RSM=[0,1] Set RS-485 Communication mode OK
STORE Store settings to flash OK

Changing from Modbus to RS-485

Once your controller is in Modbus communication, it can no longer accept ASCII
commands. In order to change communication back to ASCII, you must write the value
1 into register V30. After writing to register V30, a power cycle must be performed
before the setting takes effect. Note that the setting is automatically stored to flash when
written.

See “Modbus RTU Addressing” for details on how to write the value.

Modbus - RTU Addendum A page 7 rev 1.02

 3. Sample Usage
Achieving functionality via variables
Only the general purpose variables V1-V30 of the controller are accessible via Modbus-
RTU communication. By reading/updating these variables, the desired functionality can
be achieved by referencing them within a running stand-alone program. For details
regarding stand-alone programming, see the user manual specific to your controller.

In a typical application, the controller runs a stand-alone program while the Modbus
master accesses variables over the Modbus-RTU protocol.

The following is a sample of such a stand-alone program.

Standalone Example Program 1

EO=1 ;* Enable the motor power

WHILE 1=1 ;* Forever loop

GOSUB 1 ;* Set speed settings
IF V1=1
X1000 ;* If V1 is set to 1 then go to position 1000
WAITX ;* Wait for move to complete
ELSEIF V1=2
X3000 ;* If V1 is set to 2 then go to position 3000
WAITX ;* Wait for move to complete
ELSEIF V1=3
X0 ;* If V1 is set to 3 then go to position 0
WAITX ;* Wait for move to complete
ENDIF

V2 = PX ;* Store pulse position in V2

ENDWHILE ;* Go back to WHILE statement

END

SUB 1
HSPD=V4 ;* Set the high speed to V4 pulses/sec
LSPD=V5 ;* Set the low speed to V5 pulses/sec
ACC=V6 ;* Set the acceleration to V6 msec
END SUB

Modbus - RTU Addendum A page 8 rev 1.02

 4. Modbus RTU Addressing
The Arcus implementation of Modbus-RTU supports the holding register data type only.
Coils, Discrete Inputs and Input Registers are not supported.

Data Model

Data Type Size Data Type Access Address Range

Parameter (Bits) Description
03h 16 Holding Registers Read/Write [1-60]

Holding Registers – Read/Write – 16 bits

Address Name Description

1 V1_H V1 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
2 V1_L V1 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
3 V2_H V2 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
4 V2_L V2 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
5 V3_H V3 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
6 V3_L V3 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
7 V4_H V4 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
8 V4_L V4 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
9 V5_H V5 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
10 V5_L V5 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
11 V6_H V6 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
12 V6_L V6 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
13 V7_H V7 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
14 V7_L V7 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
15 V8_H V8 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
16 V8_L V8 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
17 V9_H V9 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
18 V9_L V9 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
19 V10_H V10 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
20 V10_L V10 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
21 V11_H V11 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
22 V11_L V11 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
23 V12_H V12 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
24 V12_L V12 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
25 V13_H V13 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
26 V13_L V13 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
27 V14_H V14 Higher 16 bits [31:16]

Modbus - RTU Addendum A page 9 rev 1.02

 28 V14_L V14 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
29 V15_H V15 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
30 V15_L V15 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
31 V16_H V16 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
32 V16_L V16 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
33 V17_H V17 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
34 V17_L V17 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
35 V18_H V18 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
36 V18_L V18 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
37 V19_H V19 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
38 V19_L V19 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
39 V20_H V20 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
40 V20_L V20 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
41 V21_H V21 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
42 V21_L V21 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
43 V22_H V22 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
44 V22_L V22 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
45 V23_H V23 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
46 V23_L V23 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
47 V24_H V24 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
48 V24_L V24 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
49 V25_H V25 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
50 V25_L V25 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
51 V26_H V26 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
52 V26_L V26 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
53 V27_H V27 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
54 V27_L V27 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
55 V28_H V28 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
56 V28_L V28 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
57 V29_H V29 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
58 V29_L V29 Lower 16 bits [15:0]
†59 V30_H V30 Higher 16 bits [31:16]
†60 V30_L V30 Lower 16 bits [15:0]

†V30 is reserved for communication mode setting. In order to change from Modbus
communication to ASCII, set V30=1.

Modbus - RTU Addendum A page 10 rev 1.02

Dealing with the Swapped-Long Registers

Variables V1-V30 are 32-bit twos-complement numbers. Since standard Modbus

holding registers only hold 16 bits, the full 32-bit numbers are stored into two different
registers. The lower addressed register represents the higher 16 bits of the 32-bit number,
while higher addressed register represents the lower 16 bits of the 32-bit number. This is
known as swapped-long.

Example 1: Set V1 to: -34930493 (0xFDEB00C3)

V1 holding register is found at address 1.

Set Holding Register Address 1 [bits 16:31] to 0xFDEB

Set Holding Register Address 2 [bits 0:15] to 0x00C3

Example 2: Read V2 register

V2 holding register is found

Assuming that the values stored in these registers are:

Holding Register Address 3 [bits 16:31] = 0x0000

Holding Register Address 4 [bits 0:15] = 0x4933

When reading this value, the full 32-bit value is: +18739 (0x00004933)

Modbus - RTU Addendum A page 11 rev 1.02

 4. Modbus GUI
Arcus provides a GUI that allows Modbus communication to be achieved between a PC
and the controller. Visit our website to download this software.

www.arcus-technology.com

Before running the program, make sure to register the 3rd party Modbus master driver on
your PC. See instructions below:

a. Download and extract GUI folder onto your PC.

b. Using the command line, browse to the “mod102” directory within the GUI folder
and type “mbserver.exe /regserver” and press enter.

c. Note that if this process is not done correctly, you will receive the following error
when trying to run the program.

Modbus - RTU Addendum A page 12 rev 1.02

Connection Configuration

After the 3rd party Modbus driver has been successfully registered, start the program and
the following screen should show up.

Select the correct COM port, Baud Rate and Slave ID (Modbus Device Number).

The search function allows the user to search for a device on a COM port at a given baud
rate.

Main Screen

The main screen allows the user to read/write variables V1-V30.

Modbus - RTU Addendum A page 13 rev 1.02

 Contact Information
Arcus Technology, Inc.

3061 Independence Drive. Suite H

Livermore, CA 94551
925-373-8800

www.arcus-technology.com

Modbus - RTU Addendum A page 14 rev 1.02