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

Summary

As a PLC programmer, it is of absolute importance that you understand the IEC 61131-3 standard. It is also of absolute importance that PLC software is not treated as a throwaway component. The heart and soul of any PLC-based system is the software. Great diligence must be given to the software when it is first being developed. As we have seen, many languages can be used to develop a PLC program. However, for complex software, such as the software that will be explored in this book, Structured Text will be the primary language used. As such, the following chapter will be dedicated to the more advanced concept of Structured Text language.

At this point, you should have CODESYS installed and working. If everything went according to plan, you should be able to run the Hello, World! program that was explored previously. The program that was presented is by no means a significant program and its only real purpose is to test the CODESYS installation and get you familiar with logging into and running a program in the CODESYS environment. In all, the main takeaway for this chapter should be that a well-engineered PLC program will ultimately save time and money in the long run, as it will be flexible and stable enough to support any changes that may arise in the project.