Book Image

PLC and HMI Development with Siemens TIA Portal

By : Liam Bee
Book Image

PLC and HMI Development with Siemens TIA Portal

By: Liam Bee

Overview of this book

With automation requirements on the rise, Siemens’ TIA Portal development environment is almost a necessity for any automation engineer. The Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) environment helps seamlessly integrate all things automation, from PLC hardware and software design to HMI development. This book helps you understand the tools available in the TIA toolbox and shows you how to write code effectively. The book begins by introducing you to the TIA environment, covering the layout and tools available. Once you’ve got to grips with the environment, you’ll find out how to create hardware to write programs against, including adding IO modules and assigning memory for input and output. Next, you'll develop logic in all of the languages that TIA Portal offers, such as Ladder, Function Block Diagram, and Structured Text (SCL) (note that Statement List is not covered as a deprecated language), as well as the newest language, Cause and Effect (CEM). You’ll also discover how to store standard code in libraries, creating a version control system that is easy to manage and aids standard design. Finally, following the PLC design chapters, you’ll learn how to develop HMI applications in TIA Portal’s latest unified hardware. By the end of the book, you'll be well equipped to use all of the features that TIA Portal V17 offers.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
1
Section 1 – The TIA Portal – Project Environment
5
Section 2 – TIA Portal – Languages, Structures, and Configurations
11
Section 3 – TIA Portal – HMI Development
16
Section 4 – TIA Portal – Deployment and Best Practices

Connection parameters

HMIs are designed to offer an interface for a machine or process, hence the name Human Machine Interface. Before the HMI can be downloaded to, a connection must be made between the PLC and the HMI. This connection is then used to pass information between the HMI and the PLC.

Note

Connections must be made before the HMI is able to access variables created in the associated PLC.

TIA Portal offers many different communication drivers for HMIs, allowing communication between all Siemens devices and even other vendors such as Allen Bradley and Mitsubishi. This enables a single HMI to talk to multiple PLCs, even if they are not of the same type.

Creating connections

Inside the project tree and within the HMI object, you will find the Connections object. By opening the Connections object, the Connections window opens. Here, connection definitions can be made, including those connections that are not Siemens devices.

A new connection can be added by...