Hi everyone,
My name is Chris and I'm pretty new to PLC programming. I am currently in the midst of trying to teach myself how to program Schneider Electric's Unity Pro XL series of PLCS. Although I'm familiar with motor control ladder logic as well as computer programming languages such as C++, I'm having a little trouble transitioning to PLC programming. There are two things I'm having trouble with:
(1) I want to create an input that is only active based on the truth value of another input (1 for ON and 0 for OFF). When the second input is active, it reads an integer value. Specifically, I'm trying to simulate a conveyor belt system where the first sensor detects a box coming down the line and increments a box counting variable by 1. Then, based on a box being counted from that sensor, it activates another sensor which reads a barcode that gives the PLC the appropriate line number the box will go to. The reason I want to do it this way is so a box's barcode can't be read unless it's been counted first.
(2) For each line, I want to simulate a photosensor that detects a box coming down the line and monitors the duration of its passing. When the sensor is blocked, I want a timer to start counting. When the sensor is unblocked, I want the timer to stop. I also want to store the value of the timer's measured value in a variable that I can use to decide on subsequent program actions. Then, depending on the value of the variable, I want to tell the program to either deactivate an output or, if a certain predetermined time has been reached, to stop the entire process until the photosensor has a false reading.
I hope that makes sense. As far as the timer issue goes, I've looked into it a bit and came across some documentation on Unity Pro's PL7_3_TIMER. The trouble is that there are several versions of it and I'm not sure which one to use. Unfortunately, Schneider Electric's help files aren't terribly helpful and I'm having trouble even running the program in an attempt to try to test it. If there is someone out there who is familiar with Unity Pro XL programming who might be able provide me with some insight into these matters, I'd greatly appreciate it. Tank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Chris
My name is Chris and I'm pretty new to PLC programming. I am currently in the midst of trying to teach myself how to program Schneider Electric's Unity Pro XL series of PLCS. Although I'm familiar with motor control ladder logic as well as computer programming languages such as C++, I'm having a little trouble transitioning to PLC programming. There are two things I'm having trouble with:
(1) I want to create an input that is only active based on the truth value of another input (1 for ON and 0 for OFF). When the second input is active, it reads an integer value. Specifically, I'm trying to simulate a conveyor belt system where the first sensor detects a box coming down the line and increments a box counting variable by 1. Then, based on a box being counted from that sensor, it activates another sensor which reads a barcode that gives the PLC the appropriate line number the box will go to. The reason I want to do it this way is so a box's barcode can't be read unless it's been counted first.
(2) For each line, I want to simulate a photosensor that detects a box coming down the line and monitors the duration of its passing. When the sensor is blocked, I want a timer to start counting. When the sensor is unblocked, I want the timer to stop. I also want to store the value of the timer's measured value in a variable that I can use to decide on subsequent program actions. Then, depending on the value of the variable, I want to tell the program to either deactivate an output or, if a certain predetermined time has been reached, to stop the entire process until the photosensor has a false reading.
I hope that makes sense. As far as the timer issue goes, I've looked into it a bit and came across some documentation on Unity Pro's PL7_3_TIMER. The trouble is that there are several versions of it and I'm not sure which one to use. Unfortunately, Schneider Electric's help files aren't terribly helpful and I'm having trouble even running the program in an attempt to try to test it. If there is someone out there who is familiar with Unity Pro XL programming who might be able provide me with some insight into these matters, I'd greatly appreciate it. Tank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Chris
