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

Selecting the best language

It is important to understand that there is no right or wrong language when it comes to programming a PLC. However, there are strengths and weaknesses between different languages. There are times when choosing a particular language over another has its advantages.

The best approach is to look at what is trying to be achieved, both now and in the future, and create a block in a language that fits those needs. A PLC project will generally fair better with mixed languages that fit the needs of the project rather than sticking with a sole language and struggling through areas that are difficult to program.

Understanding the use case

Every block in a project has a use case. This relates to the following:

  • What the block has been developed to control/manage
  • How the block fits in with other blocks
  • Who is using/maintaining the block

These simple statements help us understand the best language to implement when designing a block.

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