Please Review - DirectSOFT5 Program

Hey Guys,

I have a very small program I wrote for work, I was wondering if I could get some input.

The program has manual controls:

Vacuum ON/OFF
Tumble ON/OFF
Tumbler Raise/LWR

And an auto program as well.

Their are 4 adjustable timers, all to control the vacuum. The tumbler runs FWD the entire program and the the tumbler position is set manually before the auto program is started.

The vacuum is off for the first timer, on for the second, off for the third and on for the fourth.

Any input is welcome, just know that I am new to auto directs PLC's I also have an auto direct HMI screen that I designed the program for as well.

Thanks and lets keep adapting.

I see you a lot of repeating stuff, like auto, just use it as one input, if not auto then it is manual.
use some markers for results, like auto tumbler and manualtumbler
if any is on then run tumbler.
like line 3 i see auto start input and autostart memory only one is needed the whole ladder is checked all the time.

I agree with shooter on the redundant logic. For example, you already wrote the logic for Auto Start (rung 8), so there's no need to repeat it in rung 3. Just use the C3 contact.

It appears that you can use the manual pushbuttons while in auto. For example, notice that if you push the REV button while in auto, the REV output will turn on. Do you want this?

I would probably put one-shots on the UP, DWN, FWD, and REV inputs, and use the one-shots to drive the logic. Just in case an input gets stuck ON for some reason. You might also want to use normally-closed contacts on the two STOP inputs, and invert the logic for them. A broken wire will render those buttons useless.

Otherwise, it looks fine to me. Easy enough to follow, but your text description told me ahead of time how it should function. You need to add rung comments to put that explanation in the program. You might also want to differentiate the input and output labels. For example, X4 and Y2 have the same name, so you have to look to see if it's an X or a Y to know if what it's referring to.



-Eric

Thanks guys, thats the exact type of feedback I need. I appreciate your time. Thank you.

take a look at the drum instruction!

Drum Instruction bce123?

Drum Instruction bce123?

Click to expand...

Yes its one of the nice features of the AD plcs

Even better, use a counter as a sequencer.

iadapt said:

Drum Instruction bce123?

Click to expand...

bce123 is referring to the EDRUM instruction:

http://www.automationdirect.com/static/manuals/d006userm/ch6.pdf

I never use it, but it has its applications.



-Eric

Are you referring to the TMRA I used at in the last rung? I am trying to send a timers info to my HMI. I am trying to show a countdown clock on my AD HMI. What might be the best way to do that?

I am going to have to take some time to read about the EDRUM, chat later.

Attached is a quick example of using a counter as a sequencer.

Much easier than any other way of programming that I have found for a machine with sequential operations.

Ignore the first few rungs - they are definitely important, but not required for the purpose of this example. I just grabbed a blank program with all of the documentation filled in for a DL350.

Any questions, please ask. Hope this helps.

What might be the best way to do that?

Click to expand...

refrence the v memory for the tmr I would also use v-memory for the presets so you could change them on the fly from the hmi
Current Value: Timer current values are accessed by referencing the associated V or T memory location*. For example, the timer current value for T3 physically resides in V-memory location V3.

Keep in mind that the accumulated value (CTAx) increases. If you want a countdown for display, you'll have do something like subtract the accumulated value from the preset to get a decrementing number.

Also realize that you can use a V-memory location as the preset if you want to be able to change the preset via the HMI. And since you're new to the DL05, remember that data is retentive only if it resides in the retentive area. See page 3-10 in the manual.

EDIT: I see bce123 already mentioned the V-memory presets...



-Eric

Guys can I use an iBox to add the timers together to stor in a V memory for the HMI?