ACC Automation: PLC & Industrial Control Learning
Practical Tips and Techniques
Automated car parking is a great way to learn PLC programming. It is easily understood how this system is to function and operates. The 3D graphics on the machine simulator are good for visually seeing this interaction between the PLC and the virtual machine. Using the five steps to PLC programming development, we will determine … Read more
Accelerate Learning … Accelerate Machines… Accelerate Knowledge… ACC Automation Each year we like to take a few minutes and reflect on the past, current, and future of ACC Automation. You have helped us build the site you see today through questions, comments, and suggestions. Thank you. In this Covid-19 world, we are continuing to adapt. … Read more
PLC programs scan cyclically. This means that it is repeated many times and in the same order. The primary sequence of a PLC scan is reading the inputs, executing the program, diagnostics, and communication, and updating the outputs. We will look at these scan items with particular attention to how the ladder logic program is … Read more
This tutorial is for beginners who are just starting to program PLCs. Using the EasyPLC simple conveyor, we will move a box back and forth on the conveyor. We will learn to write the PLC ladder logic program for this operation. Using the five steps to PLC programming development, we will determine what must be … Read more
The Machine Simulator (MS) is part of the EasyPLC software suite. It has many built-in machines that are used to show different programming techniques. The solder robot example is one of these machines. This will demonstrate a sequencer robot example. In this case, four rivets are welded using a robot. The logic will step through … Read more
Previously we looked at the easy PLC machine editor design simulation. We created a mixing tank simulation using the EasyPLC machine editor. The tank included a control panel and operation indication. We will now use the Do-More designer programming software to program the ladder logic for this EasyPLC mixing tank application. The built-in simulator of … Read more
You’ve had this idea for years since you were a kid. You want to be an electrical engineer, and you’re finally going to follow through on it and learn PLC programming to start your career off right! What? That’s what you thought, anyway. But then you started googling around, trying to figure out how to … Read more
Math instructions perform mathematical calculations. The Productivity 2000 Series PLC has math instructions that you can use in various applications. We will look at the Data Statistics (DATA) and the Math Editor (MATH). We will demonstrate both of these instructions using the examples in the help file. An average wind speed will be calculated using … Read more
EasyPLC comes with many prebuilt machines for you to develop the programming logic. These can be modified, or new custom machines can be programmed using the machine editor. The machine editor comes as a standard feature of the EasyPLC Software Suite. The EasyPLC Machines Simulator editor is an easy-to-use tool enabling you to create easy, … Read more
Most programmable logic controller (PLC) programs will include a counter instruction. The Productivity 2000 Series PLC has two different counter instructions for your program. These can be used in several different ways to adapt to your application. Basically, counters are used to count up or down to a specific limit. When the limit is reached, … Read more