Entries for the 'Siemens PLC' Category

As of TIA Portal V14, the built-in remote access utility called WinCC Sm@rtServer is now available to Basic Panels and no longer requires a separate license for Comfort Panels. This means that if you have a Comfort Panel-running device (version 14.0.0 or later), you can remotely access your panel from a PC, tablet, or smartphone without the need for an additional license. All you have to do is set up the Sm@rtServer on the panel and use Internet Explorer or the Sm@rtClient app to contr...

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DMC worked on a project where we wanted to log data to a local Microsoft SQL server to be able to save and display it using Microsoft Report Designer. However, the standard format of Siemens’ data log did not match up with the schema we wanted to use in our SQL table. Not all projects require a full PC Station, there is also the option of using a Comfort Panel and logging data as a CSV file to the onboard USB drive or SD card slot. For a walkthrough of that method, visit my colle...

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Automation and control come in a lot of different varieties and flavors. On the surface, Arduinos, PLCs, and embedded controls all appear to do the same function. So how do you determine which is best for your application? In this post, I’ll detail some of the pros and cons, as well as the typical applications of Arduino microcontrollers, PLCs and custom embedded projects. What's the Difference? Arduino is a common brand of microcontroller with built-in digital and analog, inp...

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Modern industrial communication is often performed over Ethernet protocols, especially within the Siemens product ecosystem. However, some external devices (especially non-Siemens devices) communicate using serial protocols. Luckily, Siemens provides communication modules and a library of communication functions to facilitate communication. All that said, smooth implementation requires a stable driver which predictably handles requests, responses, and edge cases. I recently implemented such a...

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Don’t you hate it when your coworker inadvertently wires up a 24V PLC to wall power and lets out the magic smoke? Just such a mishap happened in our lab a while back and the broken PLC was sitting around in the junk bin for a while. Figuring there wasn't anything to lose, I decided to try my luck and see if it could be revived.  Fortunately, the Siemens S7-1200 series PLCs are quite easy to disassemble, and I was able to replace the damaged components and restore it t...

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I was recently on site with a client to commission a Siemens G120 VFD. This particular VFD was being used to drive a blower motor and inflate an airbag. The client required hard-wired manual control of the motor, in addition to controlling it from the main 1500 PLC. Manual mode control would simply turn the motor on and off at a specified setpoint. Before arriving onsite, DMC decided to use control data set 0 for Profinet control, and data set 1 for hard-wired control. This required some pa...

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DMC has found that more of our customers have the need for their PLCs in remote locations to be able to not only report data to a central server but also be capable of accepting commands from the central server. If this sounds a lot like the Internet of Things, that’s because it is. Only instead of the more common “things” such as light bulbs or thermostats, DMC is connecting large industrial equipment. The PLC library only requires a few blocks to get up and runni...

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Similar parts in production can be processed with small changes by a machine using part data to define variables for each part or set of parts. For example, a machine may need to produce 30 widgets at 90º angle, 20 mm length then 20 widgets at a 45° angle, 15 mm length and so on. The part data can be used to create a list of these operations which the controller will reference to execute the correct instructions to make these resulting parts. Often the controls syste...

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Working at a client site alongside Andrew Neill, we came across an unusual integration scenario. The machine we were providing commissioning support for was equipped with a Siemens 1518 safety controller and had numerous Siemens and Beckhoff components. The hardware setup for one portion of the machine included several Sick IO-Link sensors. These sensors were used to measure the location of mechanical arms on the machine and move them accordingly for different machine setups. Before divi...

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Version 3.0 has just been released for the Siemens Open Library. This is by far the largest update since the initial release of the library and includes changes for TIA Portal V14 SP1. COMING SOON: A TIA Portal V15 version of the Siemens Open Library that includes full simulation for all devices! Major Updates Get the Siemens Open Library updates. Twenty-nine newly supported blocks! Including brand new blocks such as Digital Output, Siwarex Load Cell Modules, Hydraulic Valve...

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WinCC Advanced provides a way to monitor the heartbeat of the HMI through an area pointer called coordination word. PLC can monitor this life bit and find out when the HMI gets disconnected. This blog shows you how to monitor the HMI life bit on a Siemens PLC. Create a data block variable of type Word called wCoordinationWord and open HMI connections in Portal. After you select the HMI connection that is linked to your PLC, select the area pointer tab. Enable the Coordination area point...

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Siemens' S7-PLCSIM Advanced allows simulation of functions while configuring and engineering without a physical connection. Overall, PLCSIM Advanced implements many improvements over PLCSIM including simulation for the web server, OPC UA, distributed IO, and many more. Below are a couple tips and tricks I’ve used to get started with PLCSIM Advanced. Tip One: Downloading To PLCSIM Advanced Downloading to PLCSIM Advanced is a little different for a developer accustomed...

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DMC is excited to present two presentations at the PCC Okterberfest: Tap Into Technology event taking place on Thursday, September 27th, 2018 at the Washington County Fair Park & Conference Center in West Bend, WI. Expect a day of seminars, workshops, a technology automation fair, hands-on product stations, and one-on-one discussions with experts.  Be sure to stop by the DMC booth and check out our DrinkBot demo! Also, don't miss out on presentations from DMC'...

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Siemen’s TIA Portal provides quite a few useful features that make it very easy to update and maintain code. Updating projects from one version to the next is as easy as opening the project in the newer version of Portal. However, there are times when you want to revert a project to an older version of TIA Portal, something that Portal cannot do. That’s where TIA Portal Openness can help. For those looking to revert projects from V15 to V14, this post will outline the pr...

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I recently worked on a project that required the use of data logging. However, the formatting of Siemen's data logging was not ideal for this implementation. So, I made my own version of data logging using Visual Basic scripts on my Comfort Panel that create and append to a CSV file. One of the first things to think about is where you want to store these logs. For Comfort Panels, you can access the onboard USB drive and the SD card slot via VBScript. You can also access a networ...

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Each post in the Siemens HMI Toolbox series highlights a native HMI object in the Siemens WinCC Comfort, Advanced, or Professional environments. It is our goal to help users become more familiar with HMI development by sharing some of our best practices and useful tools we have learned. This post focuses on the HTML Browser object. Overview: The HTML Browser object allows you to view simple HTML pages in your HMI runtime application. DMC has used this HMI element to serve many different...

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Each post in the Siemens HMI Toolbox series highlights a native HMI object in the Siemens WinCC Comfort, Advanced, or Professional environments. It is our goal to help users become more familiar with HMI development by sharing some of our best practices and the useful tools we have learned. This post focuses on the PDF view control object. Overview: The PDF view object allows you to display PDF documents in your HMI runtime application. This can be an incredibly powerful tool in applica...

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SIMATIC S7 Graph is used for programming sequence logic in a graphical, flow chart representation. For those of us who have been programming sequences in ladder logic or SCL, Graph presents an alternative method that includes some built-in functionality. For those that haven’t used Graph (and maybe those who have!), I’ve put together some tips and tricks to help you develop quickly and efficiently. Pre/Post Instructions Pre and post-instructions run cyclically, before and after...

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The 2018 Siemens Automation Summit was held last month at the JW Marriott Beach Resort on Marco Island, Florida. Twelve DMC representatives from around the country met to attend the annual conference from June 25-28. Fresh off of the excitement of ten more of our engineers passing the Siemens Technical Certification exam, we arrived in Florida with an extra spring in our step. The team enjoyed a week full of excellent presentations (including some from our own enginee...

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DMC recently took a break from day-to-day tasks to participate in one of our favorite company traditions, FedEx Day. Routine work on hold, our offices still brimmed with life and projects while everyone worked on whatever they wanted.  FedEx Day is always an opportunity for fun, learning, and collaboration, with only two catches: the project must in some way help to improve the company, and it must be deliverable by the end of the day. This year, our employees took on everything ...

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