BPF participates in PLC-PROG project
Monday, 11 July 2011
The British Plastics Federation (BPF) is now participating in a European Project entitled ‘PLC-PROG’. The project – which is part-funded by the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme – adds to the 9 projects already under management, with potential for more to be added in the autumn.
Most Modern automation installations are driven by Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs). Nowadays, the low level programming languages that have been used for decades, such as Ladder Diagrams (LD), are still being used to develop the new software. Besides, there are ‘hidden’ penalties: PLC software is ‘brand dependent’. The solution to this problem has been the adoption of new paradigms that allow for a fast and reliable software development. One of the most productive of such paradigms, which has been worldwide adopted, is the Object Oriented (OO) paradigm. The aim of the project is to develop a software tool which for developing PLC programs with the following features:
• Extensible. The design of the objects includes built-in capabilities for performing not only their specific task, but also for exchanging data with external supervision programs (SCADAs), databases (SQL), etc.
• Graphical interface
• Integration of existing tools. Every object block can be internally programmed in one of the low level language supported by the IEC 61131-3 norm.
• Library maintenance tools for an easy storage and retrieval of developed objects.
• Brand independence. A brand-specific postprocessor generates the final code ready for downloading into the target PLC.
Therefore the PLC-PROG software sets a new framework easing PLC programming. This new tool provide an easy overall view of the PLC based automation process, providing a high level automation language easy to use and to understand, reducing drastically the time devote for PLC programming and to built up the subsequent ECBs.
As the project solves a general Industrial need, the project has been conceived as a “Collective”, where industrial associations will offer the product service for PLC developments and formation.
Further details of the project can be found at http://www.plc-prog.eu/ or via [email protected]
