Practical Tips and Techniques
We will now look at logging data with time and date in the Click PLC. The Click PLC can perform indirect addressing. This means that I can ask for information to be moved to and from locations in the PLC using a pointer that will indicate the address. Stephen Covey in The 7 Habits of … Read more
A PID (Proportional, Integral, and Derivative) control is possible with the Click PLC. The Click Programming Software version 2.50 now includes PID. This features 8 full-featured control loops with an easy graphical user interface (GUI). PID will run on all of the Ethernet-enabled Click PLCs. We will be using this PID along with a Factory … Read more
A dusk to dawn sensor usually is discrete on/off of the lighting control. If we want to vary the lights to mimic more of the sunset and rise, we would use an analog output to control the lights. I was recently asked about such a program. Every day they wanted the lights to go off … Read more
We will now look at the programming and wiring of a rotary encoder to the Click PLC input. Rotary encoders are modern digital devices that have taken over from the potentiometer in stereos and many other applications. This is because of their fine digital control, and they can fully rotate without end stops. We can … Read more
Firmware is usually PLC operating system code that is written into a read only memory. The BIOS (Basic Input Output System) of a PC (personal computer) is a good example of firmware. It provides the low level interface between the hardware and software. The Click PLC firmware comes with the programming software. https://support.automationdirect.com/products/clickplcs.html We will … Read more
We will now use Modbus RTU to connect a Click Master to a BRX Do-More Slave controller. Recently I was asked to demonstrate communication between a Click PLC and BRX Do-More PLC using Modbus RTU. Both PLCs are available from automation direct com. Modbus serial communication (Modbus RTU) is a standard protocol used in many … Read more