Hands On Training Equipment
This post is both an update on the status of “My Little Factory” and an article on some new fun trainers that I am working on. As you can see in the above picture, all of the hardware for the …
Category: Software & Programming
Software and programming issues
Ladder Logic 403: Message Scrolling and Multiple Faults
Today’s post is in answer to a question from Bruno on my last post on Faults and Messages. Bruno asks “If two faults happen at the same time, will this procedure work?” This is a more complex question than it …
Ladder Logic 403: Message Scrolling and Multiple Faults Read more »
Ladder Logic 209: Faults and Messages
This post is another in my series on Ladder Logic. As with the other posts in this series, I am using generic logic and addressing so that it can apply to various PLCs. In previous posts in this series I …
Ladder Logic 208: System Routine 2
Today’s post is a continuation of the series on PLC Ladder Logic I started several years ago; for more of these post click on the PLC tab at the top of the site. In particular this continues my discussion of …
Ladder Logic 305: ASCII and Strings
Today’s post covers ASCII, string manipulation and how to deal with readable text in a PLC. The picture above is from a ControlLogix program (Allen-Bradley, RSLogix5000 v.16) I wrote back in 2006. The program communicated with a PC-based Cognex machine …
Automation Simulation
In my quest to produce online training classes I have been investigating some of the different types of industrial automation and PLC simulators available. My intent here is to find two different things: 1. A PLC programming simulator that is …
Advantages of Re-Usable Code
Recently I’ve seen some good discussions on PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers) vs. PACs (Programmable Automation Controllers), and it got me thinking about what really differentiates the two. Some have said that it is having a more powerful processor, or more …
PLCopen
Industrial automation has changed drastically over the past century. From the Charlie Chaplin style factories, where companies were reliant on people to manage the factory floor, to today, where factories are highly automated with only a few people present on …
Tag Structures and Dotfields
Today’s post is in response to an e-mail I received asking for my thoughts on Tag Structure. In part, George Steel wrote: Great site, thanks for all your efforts. I am working on positioning my org to move from RS500 …
PLC Memory
As I have mentioned previously, I have been working on a generic PLC course that I hope to release in some kind of online software format soon. I was able to test a prototype a few weeks ago with a …