PLC Training Series – Tutorial for Everyone

PLC Training Series - Tutorial for Everyone

Invented in 1968 by Dick Morley, the programmable logic controller (PLC) is a simple rugged industrial computer. This free plc training series is designed for everyone to learn about these controllers. PLCs are constantly evolving and continue to be the best option for a variety of industrial automation applications. Even though the PLC is changing, … Read more

Raspberry Pi Serial Port Programming

Raspberry Pi Serial Port Programming

Node-RED will be used on the Raspberry Pi 4 to communicate serial Modbus RTU to a Solo process temperature controller and Click PLC using twisted pair RS485. This will be done on the same serial network so the devices will be daisy-chained together on the two wires. We will be reading the PV (present value) … Read more

Node-RED Modbus TCP Handling Errors

Node-RED Modbus TCP Handling Communication Errors

Node-RED Modbus TCP can recover from communication errors automatically. Options are available to you the programmer to continue the Node-RED flow upon detection of these errors. Broken Ethernet cable, Modbus Server power, and Node-RED Client offline are just a few of the errors that can occur on the industrial plant floor. Our Node-RED program must … Read more

Simple Click Data Logging – Node-RED

Simple Click Data Logging

We will now be looking at simple data logging using a Click PLC with an Ethernet port. Node-RED will be used to communicate to the controller via Modbus TCP protocol. Information collected will be then stored in an SQLite SQL database. A Raspberry Pi 4 single-board computer will be used for the Node-RED collecting and … Read more

Waveshare USB to Serial PC Installation

Waveshare WS USB RS485 PC Installation

We will be installing an industrial USB to RS485 converter on our computer. The Waveshare USB to serial port is a 2-wire USB to RS-485 serial communication adapter for RS485 use. It does not require an external power supply or complicated configuration. It has a Type A (plug) USB connector for the computer side and … Read more

CH340 CH341 USB to Serial PC Installation

CH340 CH341 USB to Serial PC Installation

If you want to install a USB to RS485 adapter on your computer, you’ve come to the right place. We will use the CH340/341 USB to Serial port, an adapter that translates USB data into RS-485 communication. There is no need for an external power source or a head-scratching setup. It’s as easy as insertion, … Read more