ACC Automation: PLC & Industrial Control Learning
Practical Tips and Techniques
The Arduino UNO is one of the best board to learn about electronics and coding. This robust board is the most used and documented board of the whole Arduino family. This series will be looking at the Elegoo Arduino UNO R3 Super Starter Kit. Opening up this great learning tool and discussing the Uno board … Read more
We will now be looking at using digital inputs (pushbuttons) to turn LEDs on and off. This will be programmed using our Arduino Uno R3 from our Super Starter Kit. Pushbuttons will allow actions to be performed that our Arduino program sketch will interpret and take action. We will be wiring two pushbutton switches. A … Read more
We will now look at the BRX Do-More PLC Web Server. Ethernet equipped BRX CPUs and the Do-More Designer Simulator can now have a web server. This can be accessed by any web browser using the IP address of the BRX Do-More CPU. A web server is server software or hardware dedicated to running this … Read more
Accelerate Learning … Accelerate Machines… Accelerate Knowledge… ACC Automation What a difference a year makes! Social distancing, mask-wearing, hygiene, social circles, etc are just a few of the terms we hear every day in this Covid-19 world. Video conferencing with Zoom, Teams, and Google Meet are the norm in business today. Information is knowledge, and … Read more
We will now look at P1AM Arduino Modbus TCP communication to the C-More EA9 Series HMI. This will be communicating Ethernet Modbus TCP protocol. The P1AM will be the server (slave) and the EA9-RHMI the client (master). We will explain how to connect a headless C-more HMI to our P1AM-ETH Industrial Arduino Ethernet Shield. The … Read more
The click plc has a real-time clock that will allow us to control outputs based on a date or time of day. This real-time clock (RTC) can be set from the click programming software or through the program of the controller. Our programs in the click can use the following calendar and clock values: SD19 … Read more
The productivity suite software now contains a plc simulator. The software is a free download and is available from automation direct. This software will now allow you to test or troubleshoot your program without the physical hardware present. The entire family of controllers can use the simulator. P1000, P2000, and P3000 emulation can happen on … Read more
A Proportional-Integral-Derivative algorithm is a generic Control Loop feedback formula widely used in industrial control systems. A PID algorithm attempts to correct the error between a measured process variable and the desired setpoint by calculating and then outputting a corrective action that can adjust the process accordingly and rapidly, to keep the Error to a … Read more
Arduino consists of a family of single programmable circuit boards and the IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that uses a streamlined version of C++ to write and upload code to the boards. Many pre-configured circuit boards, called “shields”, are available to expand the functionality of the Arduino controller. These shields can provide Ethernet, WiFi, GPS, LCD … Read more
A watchdog is a piece of code that will time out when an error occurs in our program. It will usually cause the CPU (program/sketch) to stop or reset. We will now look at the instructions for the watchdog timer in productivity blocks. This includes the Configure Watchdog, Start Watchdog, Stop Watchdog, and Pet Watchdog. … Read more