Access Levels
Everything the control can be asked to do sits behind a level. Reading is free; running the machine, changing the numbers a job depends on, and changing the machine itself each need a level above the last.
A machine leaves the factory reachable by anyone, on purpose. Closing that is a commissioning step, and it is the one most easily forgotten.
The levels
Section titled “The levels”| Level | May |
|---|---|
RUN | read anything: positions, programs, offsets, parameters, alarms |
OPERATOR | run the machine: change mode, jog, home, MDI, load a program, single block, block search |
SETTER | change what the job uses: tool and work offsets, part zero, applying a probe result, saving and deleting programs, dry run, machine lock, the parts counter |
MAINTENANCE | change the machine’s parameters, and reach the PLC’s own signals |
OEM | the machine builder’s own level, above maintenance |
NEV | opened by a signed challenge rather than a password |
Each level includes everything below it. An operation nobody has classified is treated as maintenance work rather than as an operator button. The control errs upward.
The keyswitch stops at SETTER
Section titled “The keyswitch stops at SETTER”The keyswitch grants a level without typing anything, and the highest it can reach is
SETTER. Maintenance and OEM always cost a password, key or no key.
This is worth knowing before someone concludes the key is faulty: turning it further does not open the parameter screen, and it is not meant to.
The passwords a machine ships with
Section titled “The passwords a machine ships with”OPERATOR, SETTER, MAINTENANCE and OEM all ship with the same factory password:
0000They exist so a new machine is reachable at all, and they are meant to be replaced. A machine that goes to a shop floor with them unchanged lets anyone edit machine parameters.
The control does not let that pass quietly: every level still on its factory password is named in the log each time the machine boots.
A password can only be changed from a session already at that level or above, so change
them from the top down and do not lock yourself out of OEM by changing it first from a
session that has no way back.
After several wrong attempts a level locks for a short time. The lockout is per level, so it does not shut the whole machine out while someone guesses at one password.
What levels do not do
Section titled “What levels do not do”- They are not machine safety. Guards, interlocks and the emergency stop are the PLC and the hardwired circuit. See Diagnostics for what happens when the PLC is not running. A level decides who may change a number, not what the machine will do when a door opens.
- They do not protect a running program. A level gates the action, not the outcome: an operator who may load a program may load the wrong one.
Where to go next
Section titled “Where to go next”- Tool & Work Offsets: the setter’s work, and the level it needs.
- Reserved Parameters: what sits behind the maintenance level.