poll: what is your favorite plc to program

I have to agree with BobB about the Omron. The CX-One package is clean, flexible, and can be anything from simple to complex depending on how you elect program it.
 
Siemens Logo.
I can program in Linux, which makes me feel like a real programmer.
It doesn't have floating point, so you can easily turn down functionality requests. "It's just a logo, you can't do that it doesn't have any floating point arithmetic! Well I guess we can but you will have to go for a bigger processor and that's going to cost you."
I don't like that the brand name has an exclamation mark in it. I guess that was popular in Germany for a while? VW Up! I don't like it but the name of a processor doesn't effect my purchasing decisions, at least not consciously.
 
Ladder only -

Old school: Modicon 884 (Cut teeth on engine assembly line using the Drum instruction) Still today will use sequencer for many applications.

Currently: Any RSLogix system. Great interface and it's hard to beat the test edits capability when having to make modifications on running equipment.

Close Second: CX-Programmer. If it had test edits similar to AB (and .TT bits) it would be #1. The MOVD and BCNT instructions and being able to One-Shot instructions are instrumental in my programs.



Jerry
 
We use the Siemens LOGO alot for small tasks. It is cheep and can really do alot nowadays compared to earlier versions. But when it comes to math and making the display "OK" to work with it takes alot of programming. The best part is that it has an integrated display, so easy when you just want the option to edit some timers.

When we go bigger it is s7-1200, this is the first PLC I started with and I love it and the TIA portal.
 
I heard siemens is like the AB over seas. also heard it it's own animal. how steep was the learning curve?

I'll admit that the level of programming I was doing with AB isn't near to the level of programming that I'm exposed to with my new company and Siemens. With that said, the learning curve hasn't been too bad. Typical programming is fairly translatable, the biggest differences that I've noticed is how to setup the network topology and just the actual software interface of the two brands.
 
Yes - I have always been an Omron fan. The main reason is software development time - I do not do much planning - just my external I/O. Then I decide on the sections I want eg: urgent alarms, non urgent alarms, communications, fuel control, main control, BMS signals and the like - set them up as sections in the program. Then I put my head down and just write software. It flows. I also have Excel open and copy and paste tags in and out of CX-P - it is just so easy it is not funny. I work for myself and can make or lose good money writing software - the second option is not acceptable of course.
In the old days I would not even use the Omron LSS software as it was rubbish but used to use CAPS from the US.
The first decent Omron software was Syswin and it was very good and quick to use.
Then along came CX-Programmer - wonderful to use.
Over the years I have used Schneider, AB, AD, Hitachi, Square D, Siemens, April, Modicon, Telemecanique, Fuji, Eberle, and probably another dozen or so.
I am not a fan of Siemens or AD - many of the others have vanished. The latest Schneider software is a PITA for mine as well. I just want to be able to write software fast and make a quid at the end of the day. AB is OK but there are way too many memory areas.
I program using I/O numbers and Omron generally have very few memory areas - CIO (common I/O) W (memory bits if you will - internal)DM (data memories or registers - memory retentive)HR (holding relays or memory retentive bits and words)and some system areas and the like.
Most areas in CIO are allocated for special cards, communications cards and the like but I can program all of these to where I want - not an issue.
On a large job I do allocate memory to where I want so I know where it all is.
I also allocate network stuff to where I want for multiple PLCs - have had jobs with over 20 PLCs networked and then a heap of remote I/O off each PLC. Just make myself notes and an Excel spreadsheet - easy.
I find tag based stuff of any kind absolutely painful to be honest - hate it! Too slow - cannot make enough money with it. Takes too long.
It is all relative - came up with a keypad on the front of the controller, then a hand held, EPROM burners - even special printer interface modules.
Then software appeared - WOW! DOS software of course.
the pretty stuff is fine as long as there are programmable key combinations so I can use a keyboard - 74 now - no desire to get RSI dropping and dragging with a mouse - give me a keyboard any day. Still use keyboard shortcuts with Word and Excel.
GOB - grumpy old *******!
No time to fiddle - just want to get on with it.
By the way I programmed the automation of several diesel generator power stations with my theory of the software just flows - one of them was 26 PLCs with a heap of remotes - that was with the old Syswin.
Oh - and all the big ones had a Citect SCADA system as well - Excel copy, modify and paste in and out of the PLC software and the Excel add in for Citect - too easy. Citect still uses dbf files because they are much faster and more efficient than anything since.
 
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Definitely not a fan of Codesys either - just as painful as Schneider for mine. Way too slow.
 
CoDeSys 2.

Reasons:
* The ability to program so many different PLCs with the same software
* Complete set of programming languages
* OSCAT and other libraries available for no cost
 
Does not change the fact that it is painful and slow! Not that often seen in Australia anyway.
 
1st of all CoDeSys 3 is slow (but I see you know that.) I don't see the quantum leap that I expected. It's find and they've added some nice features but CoDeSys 2 with its speed and number of manufacturers who've adopted it still makes it my favorite.
 
I agree on Codesys 3 being slow. On the other hand the web visualisations are HTML5 now which is a big plus for my projects.

Due to the speed I often find myself developing some chunks in Codesys 2.3, e.g. function blocks for very specific functionality. Once I am happy with how it works, I take it to Codesys 3 from there.
 
Yes, the improvement in WebVisu is definitely a plus. I'm a Wago user and I think that the PFC hardware (and the fact that I can run MySQL on the PLC, for example) is a huge plus but this thread is about software...
 
My favorite is logix 5000 because of how intuitive it was to me. However, I really liked CX programmer and found that the documentation was really good!

Now I am stuck in CoDeSyS land (2 and 3) and it's ladder is quite terrible but the ST is fantastic.
 

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