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I've been working with PLCs, HMIs, and SCADA systems for 5 years now, any other goons work with any of the previous systems? I work at a systems integrator near all the steel mills in the NW Indiana area I work 99% on Rockwell Automation/Allen Bradley systems, from ancient rear end PLC2s to modern L8x series controllogix PLCs and all of the PLCs in-between. I design cabinets, program both PLCs and HMIs and go out on troubleshooting calls basically anywhere there's a PLC or HMI. Tell me your preferred PLC and preferred programming structure. I do nothing but ladder logic because it is a requirement for a majority of the projects I am on. Also tell me you're most hated communication protocol. Mine is Controlnet because if one of your com cards decides it doesn't want to work anymore, you lose all your devices!
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Jun 15, 2021 19:12
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 21:28 |
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I've heard good things about ignition, too bad I do 99% RA FactoryTalk View ME & SE. I mean the software isn't bad, but I would like to try new things that aren't IFIX.
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Jun 26, 2021 03:59
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For the most part, all GE is trash in my opinion. IFIX, Rx3i, Rxi. All junk. Proficy is a garbage program made by morons. I've used Schneider electric screens and they're ok to work with an AB PLC, gotta do PLC5 mapping to get the tags to work. I do mostly PLC and HMI work, little SCADA and I like using maple systems/weintek HMIs, they'll talk to drat near anything, cheap, and the latest programming software is free. It's not hard to program. Automation Direct C-More screens are pretty good too. Little more expensive, but the newest software is free too. It's not hard to use either. I do like Factorytalk ME because you don't have to put it on a panelview! It'll work on a regular pc! Then you can do custom sizes! I did work for a dredge company and their application was 11520 x 1080 (6 monitors!) across!
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Jun 27, 2021 05:48
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wipe up or ship out posted:Hi everyone! I am an automation engineer, in eastern europe, and have the great job of reviving all the garbage that western europe sends our way. I’m talking about machines with step5, eberle pls, pilz pssu 3k and other ancient hardware that nobody wants anymore. I was lucky enough to work with new machines that run on Twincat 3 and all I learned is that this beautiful world of control engineering is nothing but garbage. Everything new is either overly complicated and needs 20 different licenses to do one thing and all the old stuff has 0 support. Man, I hear nothing but good things about Beckhoff! At least on PLC forums, but honestly a lot of them are filled with guys that want to be programmers. Sorry you deal with all the western european junk, I do trouble calls and get to deal with junk too. About the licenses, it's loving nuts at this point. I sometimes have to figure out what an end user needs software wise and it's a nightmare with Rockwell. Like holy poo poo awful because they're trying to move to a subscription like licensing it makes me want to die.
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Jun 27, 2021 23:43
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I love going into a project with everything already bought and going "this won't work, this won't work, etc etc." Because they didn't have a controls guy looking over the part sheet first. Or yeah it'll work, but add $10,000 for protocol converters and gateways.
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Jun 28, 2021 14:43
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I like ladder for most. I'll do STL or FB for math. My first Siemens project is getting shipped to the customer on Monday. Of course I'll be on vacation when they want to install it, but that's not my problem. We still have DOS computers for talking to old AB PLC 2s, 3s, and SLC 150s. I love that everything is moving toward ethernet, it gives me hope.
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Jul 15, 2021 18:34
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My buddy does electronics recycling and I just found an old siemens LOGO! PLC in a plastic enclosure! SCORE, still powers up!
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Jul 16, 2021 05:44
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Bar Ran Dun posted:Hi thread. I’m a marine engineer that graduated from one of the Service Academies. Dunno, I have done PLCs on ocean going dredges before. It's always fun when the Coast Guard checks your work
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Jul 17, 2021 07:38
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shame on an IGA posted:Those are pretty limited in what they can do but shamefully underappreciated at the same time. For small projects you would think about implementing with hardware relays and timers they can't be beat at the price and the version 8 models with ethernet, solid state outputs and 2 analog input channels are just great Sadly I don't have the ethernet version. I'm still going to mess around with it at the office, maybe give the office intern something to work on.
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Jul 17, 2021 07:39
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Minus Pants posted:Is there any sort of marine controls standard, like ABYC for electrical? Or is that part of the ABYC electrical standard? (I'm in IT but dabble with PLCs a bit, and have some some boat wiring Honestly, I don't know. I haven't seen any! When I did program for the dredges, I wasn't told about any standards. Just make sure the program worked and didn't nuke the engine!
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Jul 19, 2021 15:24
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If you hate naming conventions, you'll hate siemens, their part numbers make me want to scream! I do 99% ladder because I'm not the only one looking at the code and for the most part it's easier to troubleshoot when I come to an unfilmiar PLC. I haven't worked with indusoft, I've messed with advancedHMI a little and I own a Maple Systems/Weintek HMI to play around with.
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Jul 22, 2021 02:54
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dxt posted:Siemens is the biggest PLC I haven't played with. Not used often in the midwest. Yeah, I'm in the midwest and I have only 1 Siemens project. Everything else is AB, but of course I've seen all sorts of other brands IO and drives. Newer versions of maple screens are better, still not great, but I like that they can talk to about drat near everything!
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Jul 22, 2021 17:29
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dxt posted:The thing to do when coding using ST is having well commented code that someone with experience should be able to follow along with having a robust HMI that can give maintenance/techs all the information/functions they need to troubleshoot the machine. Sadly i do not find robust HMIs in most places I go. So I probably am a tech/engineer because i do go out and troubleshoot machines and also engineer new machines. I like being on installs that i engineered and programmed, I know the code the best and can more easily answer questions.
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Jul 22, 2021 22:38
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I'm at a food plant right now and one of the ab kinetix 6000 servo drives (2006 man. date) blows its 480 breaker. Ok, they have a reman replacement. Power that sucker up and the drive light flickers then faults (also 2006 man. date). Call tech support, drive junk. Yay
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Aug 3, 2021 17:38
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wipe up or ship out posted:We just received these brand new 2020 case-packers that are so incredibly over-engineered its amazing! I complain a lot about the old stuff but at least they kept it somewhat simple, now you need a PhD or something to diagnose these goddamn things. I literally can't even imagine where you would add another servo-motor inside of these, there's like 40 of them in a machine that just makes a box and puts a bunch of pouches in it. I can't wait for the slightest mechanical issue to completely grind the machine to a halt and be really annoying to diagnose. Same food plant as the one I mentioned in my last post has a older case packaging line, I think 3 servos, but it packs food product boxes either 3 or 4 high, then fires a relay that moves an actuator to push them into a case box and then the box travels on a belt with arms that close the box and tapes it shut, very simple to understand and troubleshoot, also very easy to reconfig for different product. Are the casepackers all AB? The HMI there is a panelview 7 plus 1500 brandless (roughly $5000, yes $5000) If they used all AB, probably compactlogix 5480 and kinetix 5500 or 5700 drives with AB servo motors. You might find better, but you won't find anything more expensive than Allen Bradley.
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Aug 3, 2021 19:37
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SpeedFreek posted:This is just a fact in the power industry. What's wrong with data highway, data highway +, rs232, rs 485, dh485, profibus, profinet, controlnet, BACnet, ethercat, devicenet, ethernet IP, Modbus TCP, canbus, directnet, optomux, melsecnet, componet, mechatrolink, rapienet, and Modbus RTU? Edit: I typed this list out and now I want to drink enough to forget all these protocols
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Aug 19, 2021 04:46
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SpeedFreek posted:Most things are modbus RTU if they are still using modbus, its old and annoying but it works across brands and different hardware types. Not like some vendors that re-orders the data points in their own but just different enough to be difficult to interpret comm format after every firmware update. Ah, but you forget that sometimes vendors change around the RTU registers from firmware to firmware! Had a huge Trane cooler that running feedback was on a different read coil than the previous firmware. Those fuckers didn't have the new manual on their website, we had a Trane guy on site (who was an rear end in a top hat for the most part) that finally gave me the updated manual
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Aug 25, 2021 19:07
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wipe up or ship out posted:Great now I'm stuck with a machine with an IPC, I/O modules and Servo-drives that not only communicate on Can Open but also are very old! So I need to find a replacement for the Parker servo-drives from 20 years ago that have a lot of programming inside of them and also need to consider that they need to communicate over Canbus. Everything is terrible! Some days I'd like to write code from scratch, I'm working on a cake cutting machine full of spaghetti logic and I'm trying to add a couple new cut methods. I've luckily only seen one CANBUS application, an angle measuring device used to calculate a crane boom position on a dredge.
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Aug 25, 2021 19:10
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dxt posted:lol, job security I guess. God tell me about it, most of my trouble calls have been things not communicating anymore. My favorite is a crane with an AB PLC5 in it talking to another PLC5 on the ground through serial that's carried on a 120VAC line between the ground and the crane.
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Sep 3, 2021 03:39
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SpeedFreek posted:Power line carrier? There are some very stable solutions out there for that, unless you mean that some hack put a copper data line in with power. I read that and started sweating.
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Sep 5, 2021 02:21
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My company sends me all over the place, beginning of the month I had the chemical plant install for a week, went on vacation, then got sent to a firm that is automating their CNC machines that cut cast iron parts for toyota for half a week, and now I'm spending a month up at a place that makes machines that cut food items. I'm working on a 3 axis cutter with an pneumatic cutting blade!
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Sep 5, 2021 02:24
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I finally am doing something that's not the steel mills. I've spent the last month and a half at a company that makes food cutting machines. Machines that cut cakes, pizzas, cheese and stuff like that. All Allen Bradley with AB servos. Lots of fun, got a flying shear pastry cutter running, working on a 1, 2, or 4 sheet cake cutter right now.
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Sep 28, 2021 02:47
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 21:28 |
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Starting in January I get the joy of learning the Yokogawa DCS. It's all function block compared to the ladder logic I've been doing, but I'll live.
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Dec 17, 2021 16:29
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