ACC Automation: PLC & Industrial Control Learning
Practical Tips and Techniques
Normally open (NO) contacts or inputs in the PLC ladder logic program do not mean the same as a wired normally open switch. NO contacts on the ladder logic provide the logic condition for the rung to turn on the output. We will be looking at three things about the normally open (NO) contact on … Read more
The newest Do-More Designer Programming Software (2.9) version includes a Modbus I/O Scanner. This Modbus scanner will simplify Modbus RTU serial communications to any device. Communications are done independent of the PLC scan time and will have little or no ladder logic for the program. We will be communicating to a Solo process temperature controller … Read more
All Solo Standard Process Temperature Controllers that support RS-485 serial communications can use the SL-SOFT configuration and monitoring software. This free package will communicate to monitor multiple SOLO controllers using Modbus RTU or Modbus ASCII protocols. We will be installing the SL-SOFT configuration and monitoring software package on our Windows 10 PC. Communicating through our … Read more
You can add a remote PLC slave rack of productivity 1000 series modules using a P1-RX. Up to 4 remote I/O base controllers can be added to the P1000 system. We will update our P1-540 CPU unit to a P1-550 CPU to take advantage of remote IO. A P1-RX remote IO-based controller will be added … Read more
The element browser in the Do-More Designer software will display valid memory locations, add documentation, and show how to cast from one memory type to another. We will be discussing the element browser and how to take advantage of this in your Do-More program. Let’s get started.
The C-More can create a drop-down menu. This applies to all models of the HMI controller. A drop-down is a menu that offers a list of options. The currently selected item in the list is always displayed. When the visible item is selected (touched), other items from the list “drop-down” into view, and the operator … Read more
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
An LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is a great way to display information in our Arduino Uno controller. We will be wiring and programming an alphanumeric, two rows with 16 characters on each row. The display has an LED (Light Emitting Diode) backlight with adjustable contrast. This white and blue LCD will display “Hello World!” on … Read more
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
The IR (Infrared) remote control is a great way to incorporate wireless control of your project. Infrared receiver modules are simple and easy to use. In this post, we will be connecting the IR receiver to the UNO, and then use a Library that was designed for this particular sensor. In our sketch we will … Read more