r/PLC

I work in the lumber industry and i need to move material through a lightbarrier to load the machine.

Usually the intake is placed high up so its only accessible by the loader and not any humans.
So no safety featues is neccesary to load in the material in the machine.

But this intake is placed at ground level.

I have used muting alot while working with standardised pallets (Like EU Pallets).
But this longer format is more challenging.

We are talking lengths from 3600mm to 6000mm.

How to set this up to make it functional?
My idea is to use the standard 4 sensor setup.
But the gaps on the side while running smaller material, is that an issue?
And if so, what to do about it?

My original plan was to use two barriers where the first one is at the edge of the machine, so it gets broken by the loader when loading material. And that barrier needs to be resetted before the material can be transported in to the machine.

But customer didnt want the loader guy to exit the loader just to press a button...

Is Automation/Controls Technician a good career in Michigan?
I’m considering becoming an Automation/Controls Technician in Michigan, preferably in automotive/manufacturing. I’m looking at a short hands-on program covering Allen-Bradley PLCs, electrical troubleshooting, robotics, sensors, HMIs and VFDs. I don’t have an engineering degree.
For people actually working in this field:
Can 4–6 months of hands-on training realistically get someone into an entry-level job?
How difficult and stressful is the actual job, especially PLC/electrical troubleshooting when production is down?
How physical or dangerous is the work? How often do you deal with 480V/high voltage?
What’s a realistic starting salary in Michigan, and what can you expect after 2–5 years?
Is $100k+ eventually realistic without an engineering degree, including overtime?
Is there good long-term career growth into PLC/robotics programming or higher-level controls roles?
Is demand for controls technicians likely to remain strong, or could automation/AI eventually reduce jobs or wages?
Would you personally recommend this career today?
I’d especially appreciate answers from people working in Michigan/Detroit automotive or manufacturing.

Hi all, first of all, thanks for reading. A few years ago, using SIEMENS, I ran into a situation with hundreds of variables that changed pretty quickly due to the process involved. We had a bad programming issue; the tool my employer gave me to find it was a software called PLC ANALYZER. Years from that now. Don't remember the details, I don't have the software.

I did some research, and it looks like the software is currently on version 6 and works for rslogix.

The question: besides trending function from RSLOGIX, is there any other software to do this? That hopefully is cheaper.

Also I heard is possible to track variables from Excel, for real?

Thanks

Hi,

Guys, I am asking about the proper way of simulating and testing out your program in F-safe CPUs. As you know, forcing isn't allowed when dealing with safety programs.

I want to simulate my logic using plcsim advanced and also I am curious to know how it is realistically "in plants" done?

All love xx

I’ve just realized working with a younger engineer that these kids will never know the brilliance and helping hand of the legend himself Ken Roach. So shouts out Ken Roach. You’re the goat.

I have a Siemens s7-1200 plc and few sensors, i need to read those tags and display it to a dashboard for monitoring purposes. How to do tags mapping in tia portal using opcua server and asyncua in python code to read tags? Suggest solutions or alternatives to read tags from plc !?

Thanks in advance:)

I’m looking for a solution to collect data from legacy PLC systems, a sort of data collection gateway or protocol converter.

Requirements:
Source:
- Ethernet/IP
- FINS (optional)
- OPC UA (optional)

Destination:
- OPC UA
- MQTT

What’s there on the market that you would recommend?

Hi everyone,

I’m from Denmark and recently graduated with an AP Degree in Automation Engineering.

I’m a bit unsure about what direction I should take from here, so I wanted to hear what people with experience in the industry think.

The thing I enjoy the most, and what I really want to work with, is PLC programming. That’s definitely the part of automation I’m most interested in.

The problem is that I don’t have an electrical background. I know how to program PLCs, but when it comes to the electrical side of things, I’m not nearly as strong. Things like troubleshooting electrical faults, wiring, control cabinets, components, current/voltage, etc. are definitely my weak points.

Another thing that worries me is that after finishing my education, I don’t feel like I’m capable of handling really complex PLC programming tasks on my own yet. I know I’m a newly graduated junior, and obviously I still have a lot to learn, but I’m not sure what companies actually expect from a junior automation engineer.

I’m worried that I might apply for a junior PLC/automation position and then find out that the company expects me to be much more capable than I currently am.

So I’m kind of stuck between two options.

Option 1: Try to get a job working with PLCs/automation

This is obviously what I would prefer, since PLC programming is what I actually enjoy.

But I’m worried about whether companies will choose someone like me over an engineer who also has a strong electrical background. If two people apply for the same PLC job, I imagine the person who has both PLC knowledge and a solid electrical background would have a pretty big advantage.

At the same time, maybe the whole point of getting a junior position is that you’re not expected to know everything yet, and that you learn a lot from more experienced engineers.

Option 2: Become an electrician first

I’ve also considered going through the electrician education so I can build a proper foundation in electrical work.

The advantage would obviously be that I’d eventually have both the electrical knowledge and the PLC knowledge.

But at the same time, I’m worried that I would spend several years becoming an electrician when my actual goal is to work with PLC programming. I don’t know if it would really be worth it, or if I could just learn most of the electrical stuff through working in automation.

So I’m curious what you guys think.

If you were in my situation, would you:

• Try to get a PLC/automation job straight away and learn the electrical side along the way?
• Become an electrician first?
• Or is there another route that makes more sense?

And for those of you who work with PLCs/controls: how important is an electrical background really?

Also, what would you realistically expect from someone who has just graduated and is applying for their first junior PLC/automation job?

I’d especially like to hear from people who started out in PLC programming without being electricians or having another strong electrical background.

Thanks!

Does anyone have experience with wireless temperature transmitters?

I have a rotating drum I would like to get internal temperature.

Thanks.

QUESTION ANSWERED... 🙄👍

Some of our devices are labelled RS485+ and RS485-, while others are RS485A and RS485B.

Is RS485+ the same as RS485A and**,**

RS485- the same as RS485B?

I recently got a new 1214C AC-DC-RLY Gen 2 at work. The thing is, I cannot see it on SCADA because of the security protocols (SCADA V15). I cannot uncheck the "Only allow secured PG/PC connections" option since this would allow me to connect to versions older than V17 and as far as I've read this is not available on my firmware version (V1.0). Also, firmware update its not available for download at the siemens support page.

Any ideas on how to make it work? I'm using TIA V20.

Hey everyone, im currently looking into different suitable PLC’s for our small machine.

We are moving away from ESp32 and Arduino towards proper industrial PLC’s. 

I looked at various options such as Siemens, Beckhoff etc. (We are based in Europe), 

But the prices can go up pretty quickly especially adding insane  License costs. 

I even talked to Beckhoff directly regarding their MX System (which honestly sounds pretty damn cool except the price haha). 

So cheap as I am, I have quickly found more affordable alternatives, specifically the Leadshine MC500 series.
(https://www.leadshine.com/products/control/plc/mc500-series.html)

Now the plc looks pretty interesting and seems to be able to handle everything we need. 

Couple I/O’s, EtherCAT etc. 

Problem ? -> I can not find a single report or person that really used these PLC’s which made me hesitant.
They also dont have their Pricing public, but on jlcmc they sell them for around 200 USD (pretty good)
https://jlcmc.com/product/I10/plcs

Now here my question, have you ever heard of Leadshine PLC’s or even used them ?
Alternatively do you have recommendations of what I could use instead ? 

The whole Machine is fairly small: 

• Total I/O’s -> around 15 Inputs (most of them digital) and around 15 Outputs 
• 2 Closed Loop Steppers that move 2 axis -> here my plan was using closed loop pulse generating Stepper Drivers that connect through ethercat. 
• And 3 open loop steppers (not critical -> like they are conveyors only using start and stop so no need of real “axis” control. 
• Additionally we want to connect the PLC to our Linux PC with a bigger database and have realtime information exchange.

But thats about it.

-> ah and the Steppers, I was planning on using StepperOnline Pulse generating Stepper Drives that can just be connected through EtherCat with the PLC :) 

I’m an Italian computer engineering graduate who recently started working as a PLC programmer/commissioning engineer. Up to 50% travel.

The job involves quite a lot of travel, and I’m realizing that I really don’t enjoy commissioning or spending weeks away from home. I’m worried about getting stuck in the “PLC programmer = travel/field service” career path.

For those of you who started in PLC/commissioning/field service but managed to move into a role with little or no travel:

What role did you move into?

How many years of commissioning experience did you have before making the switch?

What skills did you develop that helped you get out of field work?

Did you move toward controls/software engineering, SCADA/MES, R&D, technical support, etc.?

Did you have to change companies to make the transition?

What would you recommend someone do early in their career to avoid getting permanently stuck in commissioning?

I’m not looking for “just accept the travel” advice. I’d specifically like to hear from people who actually managed to build a career in automation while eventually having a mostly office/remote-based job.

Thanks!

Hi All. When it comes to interviews we are often asked what languages we have programmed and this one always stumps me. Over 25 years I have programmed many PLCs, Robots, Vision Systems, SCADAs and various other industrial control components but I rarely actually know what language they actually use (other than ladder). When I look it up most say that they use a structured text style based on pascal or C. What is the best answer to give in an interview. Obviously they are all expecting to here python or something similar. IEC 61131-3 is the standard for PLCs but is anyone going to understand that in a interview setting??? Do I just say structured text or is it better to say C.

Hi I am commissioning engineer in a large Pharma Company. I have been doing automation commissioning since 3 years in this company with TIA Portal, Studio 5000 and STEP7.

I don't know if this also happens to you or it is only to me. I'm doing commissioning on a machine, customer standing right next to me, and an alarm trips. The trigger isn't described in any document, so I have to go digging through the code. We don't have a standardised code base, every developer does more or less whatever they want. There are guidelines, but I still end up spending an hour going through the wiring diagram, cross-referencing, and searching the taglist.

And when I finally find the problem, the guy who wrote it is at home having dinner and I can't reach him to go over the functional spec, so I don't even know whether my fix is the right one or whether there's something else I should be taking into account.

I've done commissioning at two companies now and it's always been the same: communication between the developer and whoever's on site is usually bad, and I end up losing time — extra weeks stuck at the plant, because the only answer I ever get is "it worked here."

Has this happened to you too? How much time do you lose to this kind of thing? And why do companies keep doing it this way instead of just sending the developer out?