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The current development status of PLC and the future development trend
14

Oct

In the future, PLC will continue to advance in the fields of hardware, software and communications to adapt to the development of technology. The possible evolution will include the merging of some functions of PLC and Programmable Automation Controller (PAC) to realize communication from the bottom to the top of the factory.


The development trend of PLC


   With the increasing expansion of PLC application fields, PLC technology and its product structure are constantly improving, with increasingly powerful functions and higher cost performance.


   1. Smaller, faster, better


The continuous development of the electronics industry has caused today's processors, circuit boards and components to shrink continuously. These technologies are slowly acting on the PLC to make it more stable, reliable and sturdy, and bring further improvements in functions. Such as faster processor, expandable memory capacity and new characteristic communication mechanism.

In response to market demand, many features and functions are migrating from high-end to low-end PLC. For example, we can expect that small PLCs in the future will have more high-end PLC features, and mid-to-high-end PLCs will also provide smaller and more compact solutions to meet customer needs.


   At the same time, PLC also benefits from the reduction of memory cost and size. These advantages greatly enhance localized data storage capabilities, allowing PLC to be used in applications that previously required expensive data capture systems. This also brings possibilities for the realization of other functions, such as on-board storage of product information, in order to speed up troubleshooting.


   Today's PLC also benefits greatly from USB technology, making networking, programming and monitoring of the control system easier than ever. With the continuous advancement of USB technology and the emergence of smaller mini USB connectors, you can expect to see this communication option on more small PLCs.


   Another example is the non-volatile portable storage device that has rapidly penetrated the industrial market from the rapidly changing consumer electronics world. By providing a large amount of additional storage space in a small package, they bring great benefits to PLC users. These possible options include USB devices, SD cards, mini SD and Micro SD cards, etc., thereby adding up to 32GB of additional storage space for end users, machine manufacturers and system integrators.

2. Integration of PLC and PAC


  Many industrial controller suppliers are still taking the similarities and differences between PAC and PLC as their selling point, but when future automation engineers consider their systems, they may not care about the name, they will only focus on performance and actual functions. Just as the definition and characteristics of these two devices continue to evolve, PLC and PAC will merge and develop with each other.


   Based on this evolution, there will be a lot of opportunities in the low-end and high-end markets. With the advancement of hardware technology, advanced functions will enter low-end processors. This will in turn drive suppliers to incorporate more functions and options into high-end products.


   High-speed processors and more storage space will promote the application of advanced functions, such as motion control, integration of vision systems, and collaborative support of multiple communication protocols. Of course, PLC will still maintain its simple features to attract more users.


   During the fusion of PAC and PLC, we can see the continuous improvement and progress of these two products. PAC can allow users to expand in the field of industrial automation in the traditional sense, and encourage suppliers to develop new products to meet customer needs.


   These requirements challenge product designers: forcing them to find new directions, such as supporting existing components to build a new system to meet the harsh industrial environment. Future challenges will include providing connectivity, storage expansion capabilities, and controller processing capabilities to cope with increasingly complex applications, while maintaining or even reducing the cost of the final product.

Ladder language: don't say goodbye


  50 years ago, hard-wired relay logic was replaced by ladder language. This language brought convenience to technicians and engineers who are familiar with relay logic, but it also has its limitations, especially in process control and data processing applications.


  IEC61131-3 provides another programming language for industrial controllers, but the ladder language still has its own advantages and has always shown its unique charm. Although there are continuous function diagrams for process control, structured text is also good for data processing, and other IEC languages also have their own advantages. But the ladder language will still be the leader of PLC programming languages.


  Suppliers and their customers purchase PLCs with built-in ladder language logic programming, and use such PLCs to control a large number of basic equipment. There are also a large number of engineers, technicians, electrical engineers and maintenance workers who prefer the simple programming technique of ladder language. No matter how the hardware develops, this language will continue to be the industry standard for PLCs for a long time.


   Although ladder logic language can be used as the cornerstone of simple machine control, function block programming technology can reduce the number of codes, especially when it is necessary to integrate PLC code into a unified programming environment.

 3, trapezoidal language: don't say goodbye


  50 years ago, hard-wired relay logic was replaced by ladder language. This language brought convenience to technicians and engineers who are familiar with relay logic, but it also has its limitations, especially in process control and data processing applications.


  IEC61131-3 provides another programming language for industrial controllers, but the ladder language still has its own advantages and has always shown its unique charm. Although there are continuous function diagrams for process control, structured text is also good for data processing, and other IEC languages also have their own advantages. But the ladder language will still be the leader of PLC programming languages.


  Suppliers and their customers purchase PLCs with built-in ladder language logic programming, and use such PLCs to control a large number of basic equipment. There are also a large number of engineers, technicians, electrical engineers and maintenance workers who prefer the simple programming technique of ladder language. No matter how the hardware develops, this language will continue to be the industry standard for PLCs for a long time.


   Although ladder logic language can be used as the cornerstone of simple machine control, function block programming technology can reduce the number of codes, especially when it is necessary to integrate PLC code into a unified programming environment.

4. Unified programming environment


   Combining PLC, motion control and human-machine interface (HMI) programming into a unified environment is a trend in the next few years. Integrating PLC and HMI on the same rack may be the next trend, regardless of whether the display is included in a component or as an external option. Regardless of the same processor or the HMI module integrated into the PLC I/O rack, the current technology can support these two ways of configuration.


   There is a unique programming environment that is ideal for most users, as long as it is not too complicated. The benefits of combining these modules include reduced learning cycles and development time. However, if this programming environment is not designed properly, it will become cumbersome and difficult to operate.


   An important step in having a unified programming environment is to ensure that the same tag name database can be shared between devices. The tag name is an important connection between the program and the process. Building a database is a time-consuming project, and reducing these repetitive tasks will shorten the overall development time and reduce the chance of error.

5. Meet the wireless era


  In the past few decades, especially in the early 1990s, a large number of different communication networks and protocols have appeared in the field of industrial applications. Over time, these different choices gradually left a few leaders. Like consumer electronics PCs and their peripherals, this trend will continue, and the future will focus on plug-and-play solutions that can be self-configurable.


   In fact, there is no need to pay attention to whether these communication technologies can achieve true real-time, because the original speed of Ethernet and many other industrial control networks is much faster than the needs of most applications.

Regarding the general interface of local storage devices and other devices, USB is available, but has its limitations. USB is plug-and-play, but integrating hardware and software with USB requires additional investment from equipment vendors. Because of this, industrial hardware suppliers are slowly changing. Hardware suppliers such as barcode recognizers and electronic scales will still use RS232 interfaces in the short term.


   At present, the communication interface of high-end PLC can adapt to multiple protocols (Figure 2). It is expected that with the standardization of user needs in the future, this situation is expected to be changed, perhaps only in the form of Ethernet and wireless, or coupled with a possible option Industrial Bluetooth.


   This is a wireless era, but before we see the great convergence of commercial and industrial wireless communication protocols, industrial applications do require robust wireless technology in a wider range and ensure data integrity.


In this field, we have also seen progress: from the latest Wi-Fi (802.11n), ZigBee (802.15.4) protocols to point-to-point connections, mesh connections and the rise of Bluetooth and near field communication, but these are not Become a suitable solution for the bottom of the factory that performs critical tasks. In the future, remote terminal equipment (RTU) suitable for wireless applications, or some non-critical monitoring applications (not requiring real-time control), or wireless technology will be more widely adopted.

 6, fully integrated factory


   The most noticeable change in the future of PLC should be the integration of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems or other high-level systems with the factory level. In the past, the main integration task was to extract machine and process data and upload it to those high-level systems. In the future, the use of new technologies such as hooks and functions will simplify this integration.


  In view of this, controller manufacturers need to consider user needs more when designing PLC solutions. This solution is not only used for control, but can also achieve seamless operation and provide data to users who need it. This may include providing access to data through a browser or mobile app, or including tools to access databases.

Enhanced communication, increased processing speed and larger storage capacity give PLC the ability to manage the data it generates. This is the natural development trend of PLC.


  Although the form, use and performance will have drastic changes, in the future, the term PLC will continue to be the name of many industrial automation controllers. The size of the PLC will continue to decrease, and the development of hardware will also bring new features and functions to the PLC. The improvement of software and communication capabilities will give the long name of PLC a brand-new positioning-industrial automation platform.

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