The Machine Simulator (MS) is part of the EasyPLC software suite. It has many built-in machines that can be programmed. A simple conveyor is one of these machines. This is usually the starting point for learning about the machine simulator. This conveyor example will use two digital inputs and two digital outputs. A pallet will move back and forth on the conveyor. When the pallet is detected on each end it will stop and reverse direction. If both motors are started at the same time, the motors will burn up. This will be demonstrated. The machine simulator will allow you as the programmer to make mistakes before trying your program in the physical world.
The Click PLC will be used to program this virtual machine. Using the Click Plus PLC, we will connect the simulator to the simple conveyor machine. This will be done using Modbus TCP (Ethernet) for communications. Using the five steps for program development we will show how this is programmed. Let’s get started.
