Help picking studio 5000 version

[Mueller34]

Hey everyone. I'm new to programming and am currently the only one who does any in my workplace. I have access to rs logix 500 pro, and ccw, but we don't have studio 5000. My employer is a little iffy about getting the studio 5000 full edition as I don't need to be writing all new programs for machines, but I do have to do lots of troubleshooting and some adding/modifying. I know from the programmer who did the upgrades to a few of our machines that he used function blocks in the programs. I'm not sure if we would be okay using the standard edition and still be able to make minor modifications to the ladder logic or if I do need the full or pro version to work on those.

 

[chavak]

Welcome to the forum.

Check with a programmer, is he referring to AOI [add on instructions] for the function blocks, then a standard edition is fine for your case.

But if he is using SFC, ST etc, then you may need at least a full edition.

Regards

 

[saultgeorge]

Hi and welcome!
I did some programming for air handlers and needed to do a lot of analog scaling. Yes, there's an AOI (I've heard) for scaling in 5000 as opposed to Scale with parameters in 500 however I used the scaling instruction in the FBD platform in 5000 and that was really nice. Using compute instructions in a program needing a lot of scaling makes the ladder pretty clunky.
So if you're doing a lot of scaling I would get the version of 5000 that allows function block diagram. Additionally, some processes require PID control and a lot of the folks on here like the PIDE instruction as opposed to just the PID. PIDE is in the function block diagram version, but not in just ladder diagram. Just my personal preference and I hope this helps.

 

[mylespetro]

Hi and welcome!
I did some programming for air handlers and needed to do a lot of analog scaling. Yes, there's an AOI (I've heard) for scaling in 5000 as opposed to Scale with parameters in 500 however I used the scaling instruction in the FBD platform in 5000 and that was really nice.

The FBD scaling is nice, would also help to know what platform OP is using (i.e. ControlLogix or Compact, or both?). ControlLogix has the option to scale analogs at the card, but when I mentioned this recently, someone did say that this could be a little confusing for anyone who looks at the program after it's installed, as it might not be obvious to everyone that the scaling is configured in the module.

Scaling with FBD is great, the SCP AOI works well too, but if you're new to AOIs it could be a little confusing as you need to create a tag for the AOI itself. I've used the AOI successfully on a couple projects now.

 

[Mueller34]

The FBD scaling is nice, would also help to know what platform OP is using (i.e. ControlLogix or Compact, or both?). ControlLogix has the option to scale analogs at the card, but when I mentioned this recently, someone did say that this could be a little confusing for anyone who looks at the program after it's installed, as it might not be obvious to everyone that the scaling is configured in the module.

Scaling with FBD is great, the SCP AOI works well too, but if you're new to AOIs it could be a little confusing as you need to create a tag for the AOI itself. I've used the AOI successfully on a couple projects now.

We mainly have compactlogix and compactguardlogix controllers right now. Some newer presses we looked at have controlllogix. They are doing scaling with FBD currently for different transducers and temperature controllers and I'd assume I'll see this in everything we have going forward as the same 2 programmers will be involved with all new and upgraded equipment we buy.

From the sound of it I will be asking my boss to splurge on the full edition. He did suggest the service edition but I know I wouldn't be able to edit anything, or toggle bits which is not very helpful with troubleshooting.

Thanks,
Eli

 

[JCreel]

Hi,

I noticed you said you have access to RS Logix 5000 pro, but not studio. If you have a pro license already for RS Logix 5000, that same license will work to download studio 5000. Ive had the same license for a number of years and it was originally for RS logix 5000, but you can keep using it for the newer versions.

They just switched the name to studio after version 20, and incorporated a few more features. Hope that was helpful.

 

[JCreel]

** EDIT**

My apologies, i read the first part wrong. Disregard last statement.

If you can manage the PRO, go for that one. Not only do you get the ST,FBD, and SFC, but you can also do safety programming as well. This is something that i have found invaluable when it comes to setting up safety devices on different applications.

Really cuts down on all the hard wiring.