Beckhoff vs. Allen Bradley... who is better?

Beckhoff isn't even a PLC

Beckhoff is a Windows 10 run time. It's a toy. A significant percent of the time I 'logged on with online changes' (Beckhoff-speak for online editing), it locked up. Completely unacceptable. TwinCat has huge bugs. In addition, you can't have multiple people editing online simultaneously. Or have multiple HMI's. The byte-based I/O is also ludicrous. (try integrating a Cognex camera, or an IAI linear actuator). It may be acceptable for a small stand-alone application, but for anything mission critical, it is hoplessly outclassed by either AB or Siemens.


Attempting to save money on controls hardware is generally a fools errand. The majority of the cost of a complex machine is mechanical engineering time & mechanical hardware
 
Beckhoff is a Windows 10 run time. It's a toy. A significant percent of the time I 'logged on with online changes' (Beckhoff-speak for online editing), it locked up. Completely unacceptable. TwinCat has huge bugs. In addition, you can't have multiple people editing online simultaneously. Or have multiple HMI's. The byte-based I/O is also ludicrous. (try integrating a Cognex camera, or an IAI linear actuator). It may be acceptable for a small stand-alone application, but for anything mission critical, it is hoplessly outclassed by either AB or Siemens.


Attempting to save money on controls hardware is generally a fools errand. The majority of the cost of a complex machine is mechanical engineering time & mechanical hardware

Usually sales guys know that by ****mouthing others they don't make a sell.

Having a first post in a old thread dug up and having that input is very odd...
 
Rant?

Indeed search for "Allen Bradley", finds 2,144 jobs.
Indeed search for "Beckhoff" finds 80.
Case closed.
 
Richard.

1. Dont resurrect years old threads. If you want to say something that is related to an existing thread years after it was last open, start a new thread and link to the old thread in the new thread.

2. Your argumentation is very poor. Considering that these are your first posts in this forum I would guess you are a troll.
 
Beckhoff is a Windows 10 run time. It's a toy. A significant percent of the time I 'logged on with online changes' (Beckhoff-speak for online editing), it locked up. Completely unacceptable. TwinCat has huge bugs. In addition, you can't have multiple people editing online simultaneously. Or have multiple HMI's. The byte-based I/O is also ludicrous. (try integrating a Cognex camera, or an IAI linear actuator). It may be acceptable for a small stand-alone application, but for anything mission critical, it is hoplessly outclassed by either AB or Siemens.


Attempting to save money on controls hardware is generally a fools errand. The majority of the cost of a complex machine is mechanical engineering time & mechanical hardware


I am very disappointment as I've been planning to switch to beckhoff. And save money??? You mean to tell me I'm getting screwed by my beckhoff dealer too?:mad:
 
Your Beckhoff dealer didn't mention this little detail? I find it amusing that in a thread with almost 100 posts, not a single person has mentioned this. Beckhoff is not a PLC, its a Windows 10 runtime
 
Your Beckhoff dealer didn't mention this little detail? I find it amusing that in a thread with almost 100 posts, not a single person has mentioned this. Beckhoff is not a PLC, its a Windows 10 runtime


Please allow me to demonstrate my ignorance, do you mean a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) with windows 10 runtime?

Is that a bad thing and if yes ,why?
 
If you don't want people posting to old threads, close them. Were I a troll, I'd post to an active thread. I never expected a response anyway. I was just amused that in a thread with almost 100 posts, nobody mentioned that Beckhoff isn't even a real PLC. That doesn't say a lot for the community here.



If my argument is so poor, you should have no problem rebutting it
 
Really, and now going at the community. Way to make a first impression to remember! For me looks like just a ab salesguy who is losin the sales to a Beckhoff one.



ps. PLC, all PLC's nowdays are software running on some other OS.
 
Last edited:
If you don't want people posting to old threads, close them. Were I a troll, I'd post to an active thread. I never expected a response anyway. I was just amused that in a thread with almost 100 posts, nobody mentioned that Beckhoff isn't even a real PLC. That doesn't say a lot for the community here.



If my argument is so poor, you should have no problem rebutting it


I am investing quite a bit of time and money into learning beckhoff so I'm interested in detail. How is it running on windows 10 bad?
 
I find it amusing that in a thread with almost 100 posts, not a single person has mentioned this.
It is because people are not idiots. People know what Beckhoffs products are. Beckhoff does not hide how their packaged PLCs (aka "embedded IPCs") work. They clearly state it in their specs, on the website etc.

Beckhoff is not a PLC, its a Windows 10 runtime
It is debatable what a 'PLC' is. There are other vendors of PLC runtimes that can run on Windows, Windows CE and/or Linux.

You can learn how to add to the community by studying what others have written re Beckhoff, listing up the good and the bad in an objective way.

edit: If Richard continue in this manner I suggest to use this link:
http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/profile.php?do=addlist&userlist=ignore&u=227061
 
Last edited:
I am investing quite a bit of time and money into learning beckhoff so I'm interested in detail. How is it running on windows 10 bad?

kalabdel: I do not know why it is necessarily bad for TwinCAT to be a Windows solution. TwinCAT means "The Windows Control and Automation Technology". There are superb systems based on these PLCs and there are many automation engineers who think this is a very good PLC System. The point is, if a PLC is based in Windows it must be implemented properly. Many people think this has been done properly in the case of TwinCAT. If Beckhoff system suits your needs and you have good local support I have no argument to tell you that you should not invest in this technology.
 
If my argument is so poor, you should have no problem rebutting it

What is the argument that needs to be rebutted? That Beckhoff PLCs are bad because they are based on Windows? That it is a toy, that you had problems with it in the past?

Other people would probably tell you that in their experience they are happy with the Beckhoff system, with the support, with the engineering environment. And I am not speaking for myself, because I have had to use Beckhoff in the last couple of years and it took me a while to get used to it, and now I am comfortable with the system even if I prefer something else, simply because I am more familiar with other PLC systems. But if my customer wants Beckhoff, Beckhoff I shall give her.
 

Similar Topics

Hi guys, I'm looking to design and program a robot pick and place cell. I'm in between using a Beckhoff or Allen Bradley. I like the Beckhoff...
Replies
2
Views
832
Hi, I would like to know what are the basic things we should consider before start migrate from the AB PLC to Beckhoff Controller? Is ther any...
Replies
1
Views
2,001
Hi everyone, This is my first time posting, so please forgive any omissions or mistakes. I am attempting to control the velocity of a stepper...
Replies
18
Views
744
Hello sameone have Beckhoff PLC Siemens Sinamics V90 configuration example?
Replies
0
Views
83
hello, I am using Beckhoff with TwinCAT3 and when I change or add some new hardware or for any reason, there is a mismatch in the real hardware vs...
Replies
1
Views
110
Back
Top Bottom