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

Common IT protocols

Electrical devices inherently do not understand any form of language that we humans can speak. All a device such as a computer or PLC understands is whether a particular pin is energized at a given time or not. Specific languages known as protocols have to be used so that one device knows what the other device is saying. There are many different protocols out there. Some are very common and are used everywhere, while some are proprietary and are only used with specific devices. The following section is going to be dedicated to exploring two common, everyday protocols that can be used with PLCs and other automation devices. These protocols can be used directly or as an underlying system for more specific protocols. As such, the first protocol stack that we will explore is TCP/IP.

TCP/IP

Arguably the most common form of computer communication is called the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). TCP is one of, if not the most commonly used communication protocols...