TILI Automation

 This article is about communication between WinCC and TIA portal using simple programming examples and screenshots. Wincc and Tia Portal Step 1: Open TIA PORTAL. Create a new project. Configure the devices and open programming environment. Step 2: The same way, create a new project in HMI. I already created an article on it. Read the article before proceed here. Step 3: From the above two steps, we created new projects in Tia Portal and WinCC. After creating new projects, let’s move to establish communication between them. As shown in the below window click on option “HMI” and expand it. Double click on “device configuration”. Step 4: Click on “network view”. Here, you can see PLC is added to the network as we already have configured while creating a new project. Make sure that you select CPU and HMI have which contains the same port for communication. Here, I have select HMI and CPU which have the same PROFINET port in common. Step 6: Now to check communication established proper...

 Siemens S7-300 CPUs suffix explanation  If you are in a new project and want to use Siemens S7-300 CPUs you are going to see a wide variety of CPUs under the name of CPU s7-300. The first step is to open the SIMATIC manager software and choose a new project and go to Hardware configuration you will see the following table: Siemens S7-300 CPU In the previous table, there is a fixed pattern of CPU title CPU XXXY-Z Where 1. XXX is the number of CPU. The greater the number the more capability the CPU is. Like the CPU scan cycle, memory size and number of IOs can be connected in the PLC. 2. Y is defining the type of CPU and it can be: None: in this case the CPU is an ordinary modular PLC. C: which stands for Compact, i.e. the CPU has a built in number of input output modules in addition to the modules that can be added to the CPU if we need to. IFM: which stands for Integrated Function Module, it’s like the compact CPU but it has internal function module of high speed counters. F:...

 In Siemens S7 300 CPUs, there is a series of LED lights with different colors which shows us the modes, status, and errors of the PLC. S7 300 LED Errors SF System fault: it indicates there is an error in the system, this error could be software error like an error in programming or hardware error like a power loss of one of the input modules Color: Steady Red BF Bus Fault: it indicates that there is an error in the system network, like a bad contact in one of the communication connectors, or there is an overlap between the addresses in the network Color: Steady Red MAINT Maintenance: where ever this indicator energized this means that the CPU is not working anymore and needs a service, but this is rarely happening. Color: Steady yellow DC5V This led indicates that there is a 24 Volt DC provided to the CPU. Color: Steady Green FRCE Force: it indicates that at least one of the PLC inputs or outputs is forced to on or off. Color: Steady yellow Run Run mode is on whenever the CPU is w...

 OPC (Object Linking and Embedding for process control) was released in 1996 by the OPC Foundation and was soon adopted for the interoperability of industrial systems. The name was later changed to Open Platform Communications in 2011 to broadening variations beyond Microsoft’s pioneer OPC. As a mechanism for interoperability, it is used by OPC Servers to provide data to PLC applications like HMI and Historian via OPC Clients. OPC in PLC Systems OPC Basics (Source: Novotek) Which OPC is Commonly Used in Old PLC Systems? Among the first OPC, versions to be introduced include OPC Data Access (OPC DA) in 1996, OPC Alarms & Events (OPC AE) in 1999, and OPC Historical Data Access (OPC HDA) in 2001. These three were designated as classic OPC after the introduction of OPC UA. While all three are highly compatible and preferred for old PLC systems, OPC DA stands out as the most commonly used. Classic OPC Clients and Servers send commands, requests, and data using Microsoft’s COM (Compo...

 This article is about communication between Siemens TIA PORTAL and Factory IO. You can use actual PLC to check your logic. You can also create an animation as per your actual layout and test the logic. Here, I don’t have actual PLC so, I will use Siemens simulator to test the logic. Factory IO and Siemens Tia Portal I will explain communication with a simple example that contains START, STOP switches as inputs, and conveyor as OUTPUT which is to be controlled from inputs. I will also light the lamp to indicate the START and STOP status of the conveyor, lamps are OUTPUTs here. So, I will use two INPUTs and three OUTPUTs in my example. Let’s begin with communication. Step 1: First, open the TIA portal. Enter into the Programming environment. First, I will create a symbol table to define Input and Output tags as shown in the below window. Step 2: Now write the PLC program shown below to turn ON the conveyor motor. Step 3: Now, load this program in a simulator and put it in to run mod...

 Will PLCs become obsolete, or phase out few years down the line? Recently you must be hearing a lot about Industry 4.0. The use of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning, IoT, etc. is massively trending these days. Some engineers in the Industrial automation field say or predict that the above-mentioned technologies might replace PLCs in the near future. Therefore I want to share my take on this with you folks. I will explain my opinion with a simple example. Suppose I want to turn on any motor. To make motor ON, I need some physical switch so that I can energize the control coil of contactor which will ultimately make motor ON. And here PLC comes into the picture. It acts as a switch (in simple terms) and passes power to the control coil of contactor whenever we want. In a broader sense PLC is a collection of multiple switches (memory switches, or physical switches in the form of digital outputs) and it has a number of additional features such as computing...

 What is Scan Time? Every control system will take some time to execute its operation. Likewise, PLCs also takes time to perform a task. In simple terms, PLCs mainly has 3 parts which are input modules, output modules, and processor (CPU). The input modules will read the status of switches, transmitters, and gives the data to the processor. The processor will execute the logic as per the user program. The processor will give the command to the output modules. The output modules are connected with final control elements like control valves, motor control feeders, etc. The inputs and outputs may be in the form of NO, NC, 4-20mA, or a Bit/Pulse. So, the above all mentioned steps require some time in PLC which means for reading inputs, solve the logic, and write output, each step required some time which is nothing but the PLC scan time. Definition of PLC Scan Time Time taken by the PLC to read the inputs, solve the Logic, and to write the output is called a PLC Scan Time. These functi...