ACC Automation: PLC & Industrial Control Learning
Practical Tips and Techniques
We will apply the five steps to PLC program development to a pick and place robot example. The example will use a BRX PLC communicating to Factory IO (3D Software Simulator). Developing the PLC program is a process that can be clearly defined. In our series on the five steps to PLC program development, we … Read more
We will now look at monitoring and testing our BRX Do-More program in our controller. Our first program for the BRX Do-More PLC involved a start-stop jog circuit. We will now use the Do-More Designer Software to monitor, test, and modify this program. As a system integrator, this ability can prove very useful to you … Read more
We will now look at writing our first program for the BRX Do-More PLC. The Do-More Series allows us to write programs online or offline with the PLC controller. The series will also allow us to do online editing. We can change program information and download the new program between scans of our controller. As … Read more
We will look at numbering systems in our BRX Do-More controller. This will include physical IO, casting, and indirect addressing. The BRX Do-More PLC like all of the PLCs in the Do-More Series use strong data typing. This means that there are fixed memory structures to work within your program. Errors will be displayed if … Read more
We will now use the Do-More Designer software to establish communication with the BRX Do-More PLC. This is the same software that we used in the Learn PLC Programming Fee Video Series. Using the Do-More Designer software, we will communicate via USB, RS485, and Ethernet. These three methods will allow us to communicate to our … Read more
Previously we used VB6 (Visual Basic 6) to implement the Omron Host Link Protocol to communicate to our programmable logic controller. (PLC) In part 2 we used Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to accomplish our host link serial communication. We will now look at using VB.Net to establish and retrieve information in and out of … Read more
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
Understanding how the PLC will scan and update your program is critical in programming and troubleshooting your system. Typically a PLC will solve your logic from left to right, top to bottom. The status of the memory from the previous rung, are available for the next rung to use. We will look at a few … Read more
Deploying an AdvancedHMI project on the industrial floor sounds like an easy task, but there are a few things that you should consider. The HMI (Human Machine Interface) user interface will run on a computer. The industrial environment is one in which temperature, dust, electrical noise, etc. are always present. This can also be combined … Read more
Using Visual Basic 2015, we will log three holding registers from the PLC, along with the time and date, into a Microsoft Access Database. We will log every minute to the database, including the information we collect from the PLC via Modbus TCP (Ethernet). All code will be done and shown so you can implement … Read more