ACC Automation: PLC & Industrial Control Learning
Practical Tips and Techniques
We will now communicate Modbus Serial RS485 from the Horner Master controller to the Solo process temperature controller. The Horner APG XL4 all in one controller has several different ports for communications. We have both serial and Ethernet-type ports that can be used for many different protocols. These protocols can be downloaded from the Horner … Read more
The Omron C20K, C28K, C40K, and C60K shoebox programmable logic controllers have been discontinued since March of 2002. These Omron ‘K’ series PLCs were popular controllers and have been in installations for over 25 years. We will take a look at this Omron PLC and review some troubleshooting techniques. Planning for the eventual fatal failure … Read more
We will now look at the Horner XL4 user interface. The HMI (Human Machine Interface) part of the XL4 all in one controller will be what the operator views. We will look at the features of the display and learn how our program will control what the display will show.
We will now look at the parts of a PLC system. When I was in school PLCs were just in their infancy. We were taught that the PLC consisted of the central processing unit (CPU), analog and digital inputs, and outputs. Everything was programmed with dedicated handheld devices and/or software devices on specialized hardware. We … Read more
Receive and Send instructions will allow you to send and receive serial data to an external device. The communication method that you setup can be ASCII or Modbus. ASCII (American Standard Communication for Information Interchange) can be used to send to devices such as a printer. Receiving ASCII can be used for connecting barcode scanners … Read more
Drum instructions are great tools when you have a simple sequence of events that need to occur at a set time interval or as a result of an event. They mimic an electromechanical drum sequencer. The Click PLC has a drum in the instruction set. We will discuss the drum instruction and look at an … Read more
We will look at a PLC programming example of delaying the start of 7 motors. Each motor will be on a switch that the operator can select at any time. The motor outputs should have a 5-second delay between the outputs coming on. This question originally came from PLCTalk.net. An original solution to the problem … Read more
Continuing our series, we will now look at timers and counters and how they are used in the Click PLC. Previously we have discussed: System Hardware – Video Installing the Software – Video Establish Communication – Video Numbering System and Addressing – Video The programming software and manuals can be downloaded from the Automation Direct website … Read more
So far in this series, we have discussed the Click PLC System Hardware (Video) and Installed the Software (Video). Today we will be establishing PC to PLC communications. This will allow us to program, edit or alter the way in which our Click PLC will function.
We will be creating an HMI (human machine interface) login screen for the cylinder program that we developed previously. BUILDING A PLC PROGRAM THAT YOU CAN BE PROUD OF – PART 6 Our program had a Run, Jog and Teach mode for the cylinders. Our user will login with a user name and password. Based … Read more