ACC Automation: PLC & Industrial Control Learning
Practical Tips and Techniques
We will now look at monitoring and testing our Productivity Mini PLC program. The Productivity Suite Software provides powerful tools for us to monitor and test our programs. Last time, we created our first program—a simple start-stop motor circuit—and transferred it to our connected P1-M622-16DR Mini PLC. We will monitor our ladder using the ladder … Read more
We will now create our first program on the Productivity Mini PLC P1-M622-16DR. Last time we connected the Mini PLC with our computer running the Productivity Suite Software. An Ethernet (RJ45) connection was established to our programmable logic controller. We will now create our first program for our Productivity Mini PLC. Our program will be … Read more
We will connect the Productivity Mini PLC P1-M622-16DR to our computer running the Productivity Suite Software. An Ethernet (RJ45) communication link will be made to our programmable logic controller. The P1-M622 series packs six communication ports into a standalone package smaller than your hand. That’s USB-C programming, dual Ethernet ports, RS-232, RS-485, and a microSD … Read more
Here’s something that still catches people off guard: the Productivity Suite programming software is completely free. No demo limitations, no 30-day trials, no annual subscriptions eating into your budget year after year. AutomationDirect gives you the full package—every feature, every instruction, every tool—at zero cost. In an industry where software licensing fees can rival hardware … Read more
What is the most powerful PLC instruction? What instruction or concept is the most powerful when programming any manufacturer’s PLCs? Many people will guess timers, counters, or the set and reset bit instructions. These are all great instructions, but the most powerful is the indirect or pointer instruction. In PLC programming, pointers, also called indirect … Read more
We will now look at communication between the Productivity 2000 PLC (Modbus TCP Server) and Node-RED (Modbus TCP Client). Node-RED is a powerful, adaptable HMI/SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) development package that uses flow programming. Minimal coding is required; you can see the program flow visually. The best thing is that the software is … Read more
The Productivity 2000 series of PLCs has five built-in communication ports for easy connectivity to your PC or various industrial networks. Ethernet protocols like Modbus TCP can be utilized with the RJ45 port on this PLC. Modbus TCP is an open (published) protocol that uses the Server (Master) / Client (Slave) architecture. It’s a very … Read more
The Productivity 2000 series of PLCs has five built-in communication ports for easy connectivity to your PC or various industrial networks. Serial protocols like Modbus RTU can be utilized with the RS232 or RS485 ports on this PLC. Modbus RTU (Serial) is an open (published) protocol that uses the Master / Slave architecture. It’s a … Read more
The productivity series of PLCs has a built-in web server. This web server function can make a non-secure (HTTP) connection to the CPU. This is done with your browser. You can view read-only system tags and open, save, or delete files stored on the micro SD drive. Previously we stored data-logged files on the USB … Read more
The productivity series of PLCs has a built-in data logger. This accessible data logger will log up to 64 tag values on a USB (Micro SD) storage device connected to the CPU. The logs will be stored in CSV (Comma Separated Values) file format. Logging can be triggered by the rising edge transition of a … Read more