Balluff COBALT-01 User Manual

ESCORT MEMORY SYSTEMS

COBALT HF

RFID CONTROLLERS

High Frequency Passive Radio Frequency Identification Controllers

For the Cobalt HF Series of RFID Controllers:

x HF-CNTL-232-01

x HF-CNTL-422-01

x HF-CNTL-485-01

x HF-CNTL-USB-01

x HF-CNTL-IND-01

OPERATOR’S MANUAL

How to Install, Configure and Operate

Escort Memory Systems’

Cobalt HF RFID Controllers

scort Memory Systems reserves the right to make modifications and improvements
to its products and/or documentation without prior notification. Escort Memory
Systems shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained

E

herein, nor for incidental or consequential damages resulting from the use of this
material.

The text and graphic content contained herein may be used, printed and distributed only
when all of the following conditions are met:

x Permission is first obtained from Escort Memory Systems.

x The content is used for non-commercial purposes only.

x Copyright information is clearly displayed (Copyright © 2006, Escort Memory

Systems, All Rights Reserved).

x The content is not modified.

The following are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Escort Memory Systems, a
Datalogic Group Company: Escort Memory Systems®, and the Escort Memory Systems
logo, Subnet16™, Cobalt HF™, RFID AT WORK™, C-Macro™, C-MacroBuilder™,
CBx™ and RFID Dashboard™.

Third party product names mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only and
may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies: Philips,
Rockwell Automation (ControlLogix, RSLogix 500) Texas Instruments, Infineon, Modicon,
Belden, Microsoft and the Open DeviceNet Vendor Association (ODVA).

Cobalt HF RFID Controllers - Operator’s Manual

P/N: 17-1320 REV 01 (03-06)

Copyright © 2006 Escort Memory Systems, all rights reserved, published in USA.

COBALT HF RFID CONTROLLERS OPERATOR’S MANUAL

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FCC & CE COMPLIANCE NOTICE

FCC & CE COMPLIANCE NOTICE

FCC PART 15.105

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital
device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide
reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This
equipment uses, generates, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed
and used in accordance with these instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio
communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a
particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or
television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the
user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following
measures:

x Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

x Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

x Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the

receiver is connected.

x Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

ART 15.21

FCC

Users are cautioned that changes or modifications to the unit not expressly approved by
Escort Memory Systems may void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.

This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following
two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device
must accept any interference that may cause undesired operation.

This product complies with CFR Title 21 Part 15.225.

CE

This product is compliant to CE requirements and has been tested and complies with EN­300-330, EN-300-683, EN 60950, IEC 68-2-1, IEC 68-2-6, IEC 68-2-27 and IEC 68-2-28.

TELEC

This product has been certified under:
Regulations for Enforcement of the Radio Law Article 6, section 1, No. 1

Certification #: PENDING

P

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FCC & CE COMPLIANCE NOTICE................................................... 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................... 5

LIST OF TABLES........................................................................... 9

LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................... 10

CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED ............................................... 11

1.1 INTRODUCTION............................................................... 11

1.1.1 Company Background ............................................................... 11

1.1.2 About this Manual .................................................................... 11

1.2 FEATURES OF THE C OBALT C ONTROLLER ............................. 12

1.3 C

OBALT C ONTROLLER M ODELS.......................................... 13

1.3.1 Connections & Communication Interface Options .........................13

1.3.2 Cobalt Controllers - Interface Connectors ................................... 14

1.4 CONTROLLER D IMENSIONS................................................ 15

1.4.1 Dimensions for HF-CNTL-232/422-01 Models ..............................15

1.4.2 Dimensions for HF-CNTL-485-01 Model ...................................... 16

1.4.3 Dimensions for HF-CNTL-USB/IND-01 Models ............................. 17

1.5 COBALT HF ANTENNAS .................................................... 18

1.5.1 Cobalt HF Antennas – Models and Sizes..................................... 18

1.5.2 Antenna to Tag Ranges.............................................................19

1.5.3 Connecting the Antenna to the Controller....................................21

1.6 COBALT HF ANTENNA D IMENSIONS..................................... 22

1.6.1 HF-ANT-1010-01 Antenna Dimensions ........................................ 22

1.6.2 HF-ANT-2020-01 Antenna Dimensions ........................................ 23

1.6.3 HF-ANT-3030-01 Antenna Dimensions ........................................ 24

1.6.4 HF-ANT-0750-01 Antenna Dimensions ........................................ 25

1.7 RFID OVERVIEW ............................................................ 26

1.8 S

UBNET16™ MULTIDROP P ROTOCOL................................... 28

CHAPTER 2: COBALT INSTALLATION ........................................ 29

2.1 UNPACK &INSPECT THE C ONTROLLER ................................ 29

2.1.1 Package Contents ....................................................................29

2.1.2 Providing the Power .................................................................30

2.2 INSTALLATION P RECAUTIONS ............................................ 31

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

2.2.1 Installation Guidelines .............................................................. 31

2.2.2 Minimum Distance between Antennas ......................................... 31

2.3 INSTALLING THE HF-CNTL-232-01..................................... 32

2.3.1 HF-CNTL-232-01 Installation .....................................................32

2.3.2 HF-CNTL-232-01 Cabling Information ......................................... 32

2.4 INSTALLING THE HF-CNTL-422-01..................................... 35

2.4.1 HF-CNTL-422-01 Installation .....................................................35

2.4.2 HF-CNTL-422-01 Cabling Information ......................................... 35

2.5 INSTALLING THE HF-CNTL-485-01..................................... 38

2.5.1 HF-CNTL-485-01 Installation .....................................................38

2.5.2 HF-CNTL-485-01 Cabling Information ......................................... 39

2.6 INSTALLING THE HF-CNTL-USB-01.................................... 40

2.6.1 HF-CNTL-USB-01 Installation ....................................................40

2.6.2 HF-CNTL-USB-01 Cabling Information ........................................ 40

2.7 INSTALLING THE HF-CNTL-IND-01..................................... 42

2.7.1 HF-CNTL-IND-01 Installation ..................................................... 42

2.7.2 HF-CNTL-IND-01 Cabling Information.........................................43

CHAPTER 3: CONTROLLER CONFIGURATION ............................ 44

3.1 CONFIGURING THE C OBALT VIA RFID DASHBOARD ................. 44

3.2 C

ONFIGURING T HE C OBALT VIA CONFIGURATION T AG ............. 45

3.2.1 Restoring Factory Default Settings.............................................46

3.2.2 Manually Assigning Node ID (-485 Only)..................................... 47

3.2.3 Automatic Node Assignment - Subnet16™ Gateway (-485 Only) ... 48

3.2.4 Automatic Node Assignment - Subnet16™ Hub (-485 Only)..........48

CHAPTER 4: LED STATUS ......................................................... 49

4.1 LED DESCRIPTIONS ........................................................ 49

4.2 E

RROR C ONDITIONS ........................................................ 50

CHAPTER 5: RFID TAGS........................................................... 51

5.1 RFID STANDARDS .......................................................... 51

5.1.1 ISO 14443A/B ..........................................................................51

5.1.2 ISO 15693 ...............................................................................52

5.1.3 ISO 18000-3.1 .........................................................................52

5.2 RFID TAG C OMPATIBILITY ................................................ 53

5.2.1 HMS Series RFID Tags ............................................................. 53

5.2.2 LRP Series RFID Tags..............................................................54

5.3 RFID TAG P ERFORMANCE ................................................ 55

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

5.4 RFID TAG E MBODIMENTS ................................................. 55

5.4.1 RFID Labels ............................................................................55

5.4.2 Printed Circuit Board RFID Tags ................................................ 56

5.4.3 Molded RFID Tags....................................................................56

5.5 TAG M EMORY ................................................................ 57

5.5.1 Mapping Tag Memory................................................................57

5.5.2 Tag Memory Optimization.......................................................... 58

CHAPTER 6: COMMAND PROTOCOLS........................................ 60

6.1 COMMAND P ROTOCOL O VERVIEW ....................................... 60

6.2 AB

6.2.1 ABx Fast - Command / Response Procedure ...............................60

6.2.2 ABx Fast - Command Packet Structure .......................................61

6.2.3 ABx Fast - Response Packet Structure .......................................62

6.2.4 ABx Fast - Command Packet Parameters ....................................63

X F AST C OMMAND P ROTOCOL........................................ 60

6.3 CBX C OMMAND P ROTOCOL ............................................... 66

6.3.1 CBx – Command Procedure .......................................................66

6.3.2 CBx – Response Procedure ....................................................... 66

6.3.3 CBx - Command Packet Structure ..............................................67

6.3.4 CBx - Response Packet Structure ..............................................68

6.3.5 CBx - Command Example .......................................................... 69

6.3.6 CBx - Response Example .......................................................... 69

CHAPTER 7: RFID COMMANDS .................................................. 70

7.1 RFID COMMANDS T ABLE .................................................. 70

COMMAND 04: FILL TAG ....................................................................71

COMMAND 05: READ DATA ................................................................ 74

COMMAND 06: WRITE DATA ............................................................... 77

COMMAND 07: READ TAG ID ..............................................................80

COMMAND 08: TAG SEARCH ..............................................................84

COMMAND 0D: START/STOP CONTINUOUS READ ............................... 88

COMMAND 35: RESET CONTROLLER ..................................................95

COMMAND 38: GET CONTROLLER INFO..............................................97

CHAPTER 8: ERROR CODES.................................................... 101

8.1 ERROR C ODE T ABLE ......................................................101

8.2 AB

8.3 CB

X F AST:ERROR R ESPONSE P ACKET S TRUCTURE .............103

X P ROTOCOL:ERROR R ESPONSE P ACKET S TRUCTURE ....... 104

APPENDIX A: COBALT HF SPECIFICATIONS............................. 106

APPENDIX B: MODELS & ACCESSORIES .................................. 107

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

C OBALT HF RFID CONTROLLER MODELS .................................... 107

OBALT HF ANTENNA M ODELS ................................................. 107

C

S

UBNET16 GATEWAYS ............................................................107

UBNET16 HUBS ...................................................................107

S

P

OWER S UPPLIES .................................................................. 108

OBALT HF SOFTWARE A PPLICATIONS....................................... 108

C

C

OBALT C ABLES &CONNECTORS..............................................109

RFID T

AGS ..........................................................................110

APPENDIX C: NETWORK DIAGRAMS ........................................ 111

APPENDIX D: ASCII CHART...................................................... 114

WARRANTY .............................................................................. 116

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LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1-1: Connections & Communication Interface Options ______________________________________13
Table 1-2: Cobalt Controllers - Interface Connectors ____________________________________________14
Table 1-3: Cobalt HF Antennas – Models and Sizes______________________________________________18
Table 1-4: Antenna to Tag Ranges ___________________________________________________________19
Table 1-5: EMS Tag IC and Memory Capacity__________________________________________________20
Table 2-1: Cobalt Controller - Package Contents________________________________________________29
Table 2-2: Minimum Distance between Antennas ________________________________________________31
Table 2-3: HF-CNTL-232-01 Connector Pin Descriptions_________________________________________33
Table 2-4: HF-CNTL-232-01 Default COM Port Settings _________________________________________34
Table 2-5: HF-CNTL-422-01 Connector Pin Descriptions_________________________________________36
Table 2-6: HF-CNTL-422-01 COM Port Default Settings _________________________________________37
Table 2-7: HF-CNTL-485-01 Connector Pin Descriptions_________________________________________39
Table 2-8: HF-CNTL-USB-01 – 5-Pin Female RK Connector: Pin Descriptions _______________________41
Table 2-9: HF-CNTL-USB-01 – 5-Pin Male Connector: Pin Descriptions ____________________________41
Table 2-10: HF-CNTL-IND-01 - 4-Pin Connector: Pin Descriptions ________________________________43
Table 2-11: HF-CNTL-IND-01 - 5-Pin Connector: Pin Descriptions ________________________________43
Table 4-1: Node ID LED Indicator Definitions__________________________________________________49
Table 5-1: Tag Memory Map Example ________________________________________________________58
Table 6-1: ABx Fast - Command Packet Structure _______________________________________________61
Table 6-2: ABx Fast - Response Packet Structure________________________________________________62
Table 6-3: CBx - Command Packet Structure ___________________________________________________67
Table 6-4: CBx - Response Packet Structure ___________________________________________________68
Table 7-1: RFID Commands Table ___________________________________________________________70
Table 7-2: Continuous Read Mode - LED Behavior ______________________________________________89
Table 8-1: Error Code Table_______________________________________________________________102
Table 8-2: ABx Fast - Error Response Structure _______________________________________________103
Table 8-3: CBx Error Response Structure_____________________________________________________104

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LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1-1: HF-CNTL-232/422-01 Dimensions _________________________________________________15
Figure 1-2: HF-CNTL-485-01 Dimensions_____________________________________________________16
Figure 1-3: HF-CNTL-USB/IND-01Dimensions_________________________________________________17
Figure 1-4: Controllers with HF-ANT-1010-01, HF-ANT-2020-01 and HF-ANT-3030-01 Antennas _______18
Figure 1-5: HF-ANT-1010-01 Antenna Dimensions______________________________________________22
Figure 1-6: HF-ANT-2020-01 Antenna Dimensions______________________________________________23
Figure 1-7: HF-ANT-3030-01 Antenna Dimensions______________________________________________24
Figure 1-8: HF-ANT-0750-01 Antenna Dimensions______________________________________________25
Figure 1-9: Industrial Ethernet Subnet16™ Gateway and Hub _____________________________________28
Figure 2-1: HF-CNTL-232-01 – 8-Pin Male M12 Connector_______________________________________32
Figure 2-2: RS232 Interface Cable Schematic __________________________________________________33
Figure 2-3: HF-CNTL-422-01 - 8-Pin Male M12 Connector _______________________________________35
Figure 2-4: RS422 Interface Cable Schematic __________________________________________________36
Figure 2-5: HF-CNTL-485-01 – 5-Pin Male M12 Connector_______________________________________39
Figure 2-6: HF-CNTL-USB-01 - 5-Pin Female M12 Reverse Keyed & 5-Pin Male M12 Connectors________40
Figure 2-7: HF-CNTL-IND-01 - 4-Pin Female M12 D-Code & 5-Pin Male M12 Connectors _____________43
Figure 3-1: RFID Dashboard Utility _________________________________________________________44
Figure 3-2: Cobalt Controller Set to Node ID 01 ________________________________________________47
Figure 5-1: HMS125HT and HMS150HT RFID Tags ____________________________________________53
Figure 5-2: LRP125 and LRP250 RFID Tags___________________________________________________54

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CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED

CHAPTER 1:
GETTING STARTED

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Cobalt HF RFID Controllers - Operator’s Manual. This manual will
assist you in the installation, configuration and operation of the Cobalt HF RFID
Controllers.

The Cobalt HF family is a complete line of feature-rich, passive high frequency read/write
Radio-Frequency Identification devices that provide RFID data collection and control
solutions to shop floor, item-level tracking and material handling applications. They are
designed to be compact, rugged and reliable, in order to meet and exceed the
requirements of the industrial automation industry.

1.1.1 Company Background

Escort Memory Systems has long been an industry leader in providing Radio Frequency
Identification devices and has built a solid reputation by consistently delivering an
extended selection of quality, durable industrial grade RFID products.

1.1.2 About this Manual

This manual provides guidelines and instructions for installing and operating the Cobalt
HF RFID Controller. Included are descriptions of the RFID command set and examples
demonstrating how to issue commands to the Cobalt HF RFID Controller.

Numbers expressed in Hexadecimal notation, are prefaced with “0x”. For example, the
number
containing Hex values up to 0x7F, their corresponding ASCII characters and decimal
integer equivalents.

in decimal is expressed as

ten

in hexadecimal. See

0x0A

Appendix D

for a chart

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CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED

1.2 FEATURES OF THE C OBALT C ONTROLLER

x High performance, industrial, multi-protocol RFID controller

x Supports communication interface protocols: Subnet16™, Commercial TCP/IP,

Ethernet/IP™ and Modbus® TCP

x Interface Options: RS232, RS422, RS485, USB and Ethernet

x Reads/Writes ISO 14443A, ISO 15693 and Philips® I•CODE® 1 tag ICs and

compliant RFID tags

x Compatible with HMS-Series and LRP-Series RFID tags from Escort Memory

Systems

x Supports Escort Memory Systems’ ABx Fast & CBx™ command protocols

x Internationally recognized ISM frequency of 13.56 MHz.

x Rugged IP66 rated housing

x 8 LED status indicators for power, COM Activity, RF Activity, Subnet16 Node ID,

system diagnostics and error codes

x Flash memory for software upgrades

x Auto configurable and software programmable

x Unique serial ID number on every controller

x FCC/CE/TELEC agency compliance certification

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CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED

1.3 COBALT C ONTROLLER M ODELS

There are five models of the Cobalt HF RFID Controller. Each model is designed to
support a specific communication interface option. The table below lists the five controller
models, their respective connection types and communication interfaces.

1.3.1 Connections & Communication Interface Options

COBALT
CONTROLLER
MODEL

HF-CNTL-232-01

HF-CNTL-422-01

HF-CNTL-485-01

HF-CNTL-USB-01

HF-CNTL-IND-01

Table 1-1: Connections & Communication Interface Options

CONNECTION
TYPE

RS232

RS422

RS485

USB

Ethernet

COMMUNICATION
INTERFACE

Point-to-Point,
Host/Controller

Point-to-Point,
Host/Controller

Multidrop (Subnet16) Bus
Architecture

Point-to-Point,
Host/Controller

TCP/IP, Ethernet/IP,
Modbus TCP

MAX
CABLE
LENGTH

15m

300m

300m

3m

100m

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CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED

1.3.2 Cobalt Controllers - Interface Connectors

CONTROLLER MODEL INTERFACE CONNECTOR(S)

HF-CNTL-232-01

HF-CNTL-422-01

HF-CNTL-485-01

HF-CNTL-USB-01

(2 connectors)

HF-CNTL-IND-01

(2 connectors)

Table 1-2: Cobalt Controllers - Interface Connectors

8-pin Male M12 connector for power and data

8-pin Male M12 connector for power and data

5-pin Male M12 connector for power and data

5-pin Male M12 connector for power

5-pin Female M12 reverse keyed connector for
data

5-pin Male M12 connector for power

4-pin Female M12 D-Code connector for data

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CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED

1.4 CONTROLLER D IMENSIONS

1.4.1 Dimensions for HF-CNTL-232/422-01 Models

Figure 1-1: HF-CNTL-232/422-01 Dimensions

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