CLOSER LOOK: Red Lion FlexEdge DA50D

If you have heard of Red Lion’s Data Station, then you would know it’s been around for long time, since 2004 to be exact. It’s proven to be extremely popular because of its easy interface and ability to communicate with hundreds of industrial brands. This series is akin to both the Data Station and Modular Controller which allows for expandable IO modules but with added Cloud connectivity. However, this is not a Data Station, it is part of Red Lion’s new FlexEdge range. The two models in this range, both the DA50D and DA70D feature interchangeable communication sleds to customise for any application. In this road test we look at the smaller DA50D.

First Impressions

Unboxing the DA50D we find it’s very light weight, built from a high temperature thermoplastic housing. Surprisingly, the DA50D tolerates temperatures up to +75°C degrees, and it’s super thin with a width of just 50mm (Din Rail) - much smaller than the Data Station prior. Mounting the DA50D, you’ll find a tool-less thumb sized lever to help secure onto Din Rail. Looking at the physical unit, you’ll notice there’s a blank rectangle sled covering the front, with dual Ethernet and serial ports. There is also this cool looking LED bezel that runs all the way around the front edge, that lights up blue, red or green depending on system status.

Setting Up

Setting up we insert an ordinary SIM card into the 4G modem, an SD card and connect the programming USB and Ethernet to see the web page. Once powered, we immediately see the LED surround flash bright blue as it boots, then turns a very happy green to let me know it’s healthy and running. Nice. Now it’s time to download Red Lion’s Crimson 3.1 software.

Software and Configuration

The DA50D utilises Red Lion’s free Crimson 3 software which can be downloaded off the web for configuration and provides 300 different protocols. If you have never seen this software before, it’s very intuitive, complete with helpful popups as you hover over things. It certainly makes configuring the DA50D extremely easy. An example of this was when we connected an ABB VSD directly to an Emerson PLC which is normally very time consuming... however not with the DA50D. The process was this; Select both the Emerson and Modbus protocols from the list, define the Emerson registers, then drag-and-drop the Modbus Registers to create a graphical table of data passing bidirectionally. Simple! No function blocks, poll cycle coding, error buffer considerations or setting up ports required.

Creating a web server to remotely see a dashboard or webpage was just as easy. Tick the box to enable web server function then drag-anddrop graphical elements and tags to make SCADA like displays. Easy drag-and-drop feature for Data logging and alarm events too.

For our test bench configuration in Crimson, we also enabled OPC UA, Azure Cloud Connector to pass MQTT data and finally the mail manager to setup SMS and email alarms.

Main Features

Our test configuration polled the PLC and VSD automatically, with the Ethernet and RS485 serial LED flashing and flowing data as soon as we turned it on. Using the IP address of the DA50D we could see the web server in action, watching the VSD speed change instantly as we ramped up the motor. Once above our setpoint speed value of 1000 rpm we received a SMS and email alerting us about the condition reached. Furthermore, the CSV Data Log was attached to the email alarm so we had instant access to review what happened, or we could download the data log from the web page remotely. Finally, we opened the Azure cloud dashboard to find the VSD speed also trending nicely in the dashboard.

FINAL VERDICT

In terms of the hardware, the DA50D sled carriage allows for one flexible connectivity option such as 4G, WiFi or adding serial por ts. With technology changing at such a fast pace and 5G not too far away, it’s nice to know it’s somewhat future-proofed. If one sled carriage is not enough, the bigger DA70D has three slots which will accommodate the most connected situations.

At its core the DA50D is a protocol converter with access to over 300 protocols. But there’s something special about the FlexEdge range. Brand-agnostic protocol conversion, real-time viewing, and historical log access is easy, plus with the option for Cloud connectivity using MQTT protocol, you don’t need an engineering degree to do it.

Red Lion DA50D