Object-oriented programming and the principles that govern the concept rule the modern IT world and automation programming is no different. Though modern technology is progressing rapidly in the automation realm, software development practices are not. As such, this book is meant to be a bridge between automation programmers and modern software engineer practices.
This book is for automaton programmers with a background in software engineering topics such as object-oriented programming and general software engineering knowledge. Automation engineers, software engineers, electrical engineers, PLC technicians, hobbyists, and upper-level university students with an interest in automation or robotics will also find this book useful and interesting.
To get the most out of this book, you should have a basic knowledge of PLCs, PLC programming, and modern structured text. Though not totally necessary, a rough idea about object-oriented programming would also be beneficial.
Chapter 1, Software Engineering for PLCs, establishes the basics of software engineering and why it is important for PLC programmers. The chapter also walks you through installing CODESYS and creating a sample project to ensure the setup is working.
Chapter 2, Advanced Structured Text — Programming a PLC in Easy-to-Read English, explores some of the lesser-used concepts of structured text, such as error handling and pointers. This chapter also covers the basics of state machines and proper code documentation.
Chapter 3, Debugging — Making Your Code Work, introduces troubleshooting PLC code. The chapter covers concepts such as print debugging, using built-in debugging tools, and more.
Chapter 4, Complex Variable Declaration — Using Variables to Their Fullest, is about complex variables. Topics covered include variable lists, auto-declaring variables, structs, and much more.
Chapter 5, Functions — Making Code Modular and Maintainable, introduces code modularity. To do this, the concept of functions is covered, along with arguments, return types, and more.
Chapter 6, OOP — Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling Code, introduces the power of objects and how they can be used. The chapter explores basic object-oriented programming (OOP) principles such as function blocks, methods, and getter and setter methods.
Chapter 7, OOP — The Power of Objects, is a continuation of Chapter 6 and covers more complex object-oriented principles such as the pillars of OOP, composition, access specifiers, interfaces, and more.
Chapter 8, Libraries — Write Once, Use Anywhere, explores the whole process of creating a library from scratch to consuming the library. This chapter essentially is applied OOP.
Chapter 9, The SDLC — Navigating the SDLC to Create Great Code, introduces the full software development life cycle (SDLC). The goal of this chapter is to teach you how to navigate the full SDLC process to properly build and implement PLC code.
Chapter 10, Advanced Coding — Using SOLID to Make Solid Code, shows you how to create SOLID PLC code. The goal of this chapter is to teach you how to create well-engineered code that can be adapted and will age well. In short, this chapter explains how to properly implement OOP.
Chapter 11, HMIs — UIs for PLCs, introduces the concept of Human Machine Interface (HMIs). The goal of this chapter is to introduce the core idea behind HMIs, wireframing, setting up a basic HMI project, and why HMIs are used.
Chapter 12, Industrial Controls — User Inputs and Outputs, covers some of the commonly used CODESYS HMI widgets. The goal of the chapter is to introduce the widgets, what they do, and how they work.
Chapter 13, Layouts — Making HMIs User-Friendly, explores how to make functional HMIs. In other words, the goal of this chapter is to lay down principles that can be used to create high-functioning and user-friendly HMIs in CODESYS.
Chapter 14, Alarms — Avoiding Catastrophic Issues with Alarms, covers one of the most important aspects of automation programming – alarms. This chapter introduces the concept of alarms and how to set up an alarm, its layout, and even how to trigger them.
Chapter 15, Putting It All Together — The Final Project, is the last hands-on chapter. This chapter cherry-picks concepts from the whole book and incorporates them into a final project.
Chapter 16, Distributed Control System, PLCs, and Networking, is theoretical in nature, unlike all the previous chapters. This chapter covers the basics of networking, as well as introducing the basics of common networking protocols for automation.
This book covers some advanced PLC programming topics. As such, it is recommended that you read the book from cover to cover. It is also recommended that you have some knowledge of PLC programming and at least a basic grasp of structured text.
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Software/hardware covered in the book |
Operating system requirements |
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CODESYS |
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You can download the example code files for this book from GitHub at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Mastering-PLC-programming. If there’s an update to the code, it will be updated in the GitHub repository.
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A block of code is set as follows:
//turn on motor IF turnOnMotor = FALSE THEN turnOnMotor := TRUE; END_IF
When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:
//turn on motor IF turnOnMotor = FALSE THEN turnOnMotor := TRUE; END_IF
Any command-line input or output is written as follows:
$ mkdir css $ cd css
Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For instance, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in bold. Here is an example: “Select System info from the Administration panel.”
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