I have programmed Fanuc 90-30 plcs for several years. I bought an Allen Bradley Pico and a ML1000, and have the software for them. Is this software anything like the bigger models? Could I learn these, and be able to go to a new job and get by on Allen Bradley until I really learned the new programs well?
I think our plant is closing soon. Our GE distributor says no one else around here uses Fanuc, and he gave me several leads,but all use Allen Bradley.
h
If you have programed any PLC for several years, you understand logic by now.
All you need is platform specific knowledge. Wire up some lights and switches and make them do stuff, just like the first time you used GE.
RSLOGIX is worth as much attention as the programming software. The comms in AB is the only part that ever gave me any headaches.
There are several dead ends and black holes in RSLINX.
Good news is, the SLC500 is very similar to the AB5 some differences but not like a whole new world.
RSLOGIX is a whole new world but it looks very similar.
The good good news is AB is so well documented you should have very little trouble.
Get the instruction list for SLC500. (online at AB.com) Its rather large so dont hit print. Has every instruction fully explained with examples. I used to just read through it and try to image how some of these instructions could be used.
The basics are the same in all PLCs.
The memory addressing is easy and straight forward in AB. No manual data typing.
You can drag and drop and copy paste most things.
I would suggest you take something you understand how to do in GE and do it with the AB.
There is also a PLC sim for under 50 dollars , that looks and works alot like AB.
http://www.thelearningpit.com/
and it has a 15 day free trial.
One thing you will find different is the AB habit of locking the in/out addresses to the physical location of the hardware in / out. Something I like very much. As I recall in GE you can make an output any address and you have to define the address range of each card in the HW config.
I see where this might be useful once or twice, but I never understood how it was needed. I see where you could remove a card or use a different sized rack to run the same program by altering the address range of the cards , but how often do you do that?
I always enjoyed being able to go from the output address on the screen directly to the actual piece of hardware where said out was connected.
Anyway, you should be fine. As long as its not RSLOGIX.
I have heard it is much different, I have only seen it a couple of times. No time to play with it yet.
Good luck