When integrating large systems that span multiple controllers, it often is necessary to configure communication between different types of PLCs. With some PLCs, this can be challenging because they only communicate with their "native" protocol. For example, Allen-Bradley PLCs only support Ethernet/IP communication. This is not an issue with Siemens S7 or Beckhoff TwinCAT
Programmatical safety and traditional hardwired safety are two different approaches to ensuring safety in control systems. Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the choice between them depends on the specific requirements and constraints of the system in question. Let's compare these two approaches:Programmatical SafetyProgrammatical safety utilizes safety PLCs along with robust ethernet-based
Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 XAE is based on Microsoft Visual studio and is seems pretty simple at first glance, but there are many little features that can help make programming more efficient and enjoyable. Here are a few of my favorites. Tall Cursor Hold Alt and drag to make the cursor tall and type
Siemens Totally Integrated Automation Portal Siemens TIA Portal is an extremely powerful programming platform. Siemens has truly achieved a "totally integrated automation" solution as all of their current generation PLCs, HMIs, and SCADA platforms are programmed using the TIA Portal from budget to high-end. The TIA Portal also contains many cool shortcuts which help
Every plant should have a robust SCADA (supervisory control and data aquisition system) to capture and store data about the manufacturing process to maximize output. The data from the process can be used in a many ways to improve the process and even implement Industry 4.0 features such as machine learning. Here are some
Beckhoff just released the latest version of TwinCAT - 3.1.4024. Typically, a major revision of TwinCAT is released every year. This time however Beckhoff took two years to add some pretty major new features to TwinCAT. This two year schedule will continue to be the trend going forward. After reading through the new features
Not all PLC code is created equal. Too often every bit of code is developed from scratch for a specific machine. Each device on the machine has custom code to control it. Each device on the machine has an custom alarm built and tested specifically for that output. Each device has a custom set of
Maskine recently worked on a project with 100+ Allen-Bradley Kinetix 5700 drives. Over the course of commissioning these drives the same faults came up over and over again. These faults where typically caused by incorrect wiring or configuration. Often the faults displayed in Rockwell Studio5000 can be somewhat cryptic and don't make the problem
Now that Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 is installed, the next step is to create a new project for the PLC. To begin, Visual Studio creates an empty project which is the framework on which the PLCs, code, motion axis, licenses, libraries, and more are built upon. Under the Beckhoff folder in the start menu, open TwinCAT
TwinCAT 3 XAE (Extended Automation Engineering) takes advantage of the highly polished Microsoft Visual Studio as the programming environment. This is an extremely powerful piece of software typically used for creating custom .NET software, but Beckhoff has utilized it to program their PLCs. This provides very good tools for quickly creating, debugging, and dissecting
