Book Image

Mastering PLC Programming

By : Mason White
Book Image

Mastering PLC Programming

By: Mason White

Overview of this book

Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a new feature of PLC programming that has taken the automation world by storm. This book provides you with the necessary skills to succeed in the modern automation programming environment. The book is designed in a way to take you through advanced topics such as OOP design, SOLID programming, the software development lifecycle (SDLC), library design, HMI development, general software engineering practices, and more. To hone your programming skills, each chapter has a simulated real-world project that’ll enable you to apply the skills you’ve learned. In all, this book not only covers complex PLC programming topics, but it also removes the financial barrier that comes with most books as all examples utilize free software. This means that to follow along, you DO NOT need to purchase any PLC hardware or software. By the end of this PLC book, you will have what it takes to create long-lasting codebases for any modern automation project.
Table of Contents (25 chapters)
1
Part 1 – An Introduction to Advanced PLC Programming
6
Part 2 – Modularity and Objects
10
Part 3 – Software Engineering for PLCs
14
Part 4 – HMIs and Alarms
19
Part 5 – Final Project and Thoughts

HMIs — UIs for PLCs

Everything has a User Interface (UI) of some type nowadays. The website you used this morning, your car’s radio, and even the app you’re reading this book on if you’re reading a digital copy, your device has a UI of some type. Automation programming is no different. Everything uses a UI of some kind to either interact with the hardware or with other software.

There are two ways that your end users will interact with your PLC. They can either use some type of control panel that is built using physical hardware (for many applications, this is no longer a viable option), or they can use a Human Machine Interface (HMI). With the drop in the cost of computing power over the past 20 or so years, HMIs are now the primary way for end users to interact with a PLC program. In short, no matter what you’re doing, chances are you’re going to have an HMI for the operator to control the machine.

HMI development, in my opinion, is...