Topic: DMD0438
Module Configuration for BX-APAD Active Pad Module
The BX-APAD module is used as a place holder for a BRX I/O module. Because the BRX PLC System does not have physical slots, the need exists for a place holder module that can be used to account for I/O modules that will be added at a later time.
When the BX-APAD is left unconfigured, it acts as a filler module that consumes a slot number in the system but appears as an "empty slot" to the CPU. The classic example of a system that takes advantage of this is where a single PLC project is written to operate with systems that can have different I/O layouts. In this situation, when the PLC is powered on, it determines which I/O modules are present in the system and configure itself to run with the detected layout. To successfully operate in this type of situation the number of I/O slots need to remain consistent even though some slots are populated with I/O modules and unused slots appear empty in the various I/O layouts.
The BX-APAD can also be configured to emulate any BRX I/O module for the purpose of allowing DmDesigner to allocate any required discrete and analog I/O, and to add any Devices required by the module to the project without the emulated module being physically present in the system.