Learnign new stuff

[JeffKiper]

OK I'm an old school PLC geek. I like to learn but I also like to spend time with the family.

Is there a reason to learn the arduino, raspberry pi, node red, MQTT,etc. for industrial application or are these just for home and expanding our knowledge base. There are a lot of acronyms out now. I dont even know enough to not know what I dont know about these systems.

I've seen post about guys using a Linux PC to do this or that and "it just a pc". I'm looking to learn some new skills. I'm starting in on Fusion 360 for mechanical design of small machines.

 

[dmroeder]

Arduino = Micro controller with some 5v/3.3v I/O, runs compiled C code.
Raspberry Pi = Computer that runs the Linux operating system, has a full desktop, some I/O similar to the Arduino

Both of those have industrial packages these days. Arduino released some industrial PLC's and there are companies like Kunbus who offer industrially packaged Raspberry Pi's. When you "learn Raspberry Pi's", what you are really learning is Linux. You can learn about Linux using a VM if you want.

What I really enjoy these days is python. If you want to kick the tires with python, DM me.

 

[Old Man]

I'm the SCADA Administrator for an Independant Oil & Gas producer. we use AB Plc, Node Red, Raspberry Pi, and MQTT everyday. I publish/subscribe to over 500,000 tags from all over the United States every 3 minutes using MQTT Sparkplug B,.

So in my opinion the answer is YES, you could not work in this industry without this knowledge.

 

[I_Automation]

since PLC programmers now have to know everything about every aspect of the machinery, lines and process they are programming the PLC to run, then I say yes.

I have had to learn more about chemical engineering than the chemical engineer at the place that made the chemical to get a line running.

I have to know the latest technology, sensors, controls and possibilities, which include non-PLC controls like Arduino, Rasberry Pi, etc.

 

[JeffKiper]

Absolutely.

I'm the SCADA Administrator for an Independant Oil & Gas producer. we use AB Plc, Node Red, Raspberry Pi, and MQTT everyday. I publish/subscribe to over 500,000 tags from all over the United States every 3 minutes using MQTT Sparkplug B,.

So in my opinion the answer is YES, you could not work in this industry without this knowledge.

When you say you publish/subscribe what do you mean? What does MQTT Sparkplug B do? How does it tie into the industrial controls side?

I've always been the PLC HMI system integrator mainly on thr troubleshooting side. After I was diagnosed with Leukemia I stopped doing any field work because I don't have a ln immune system yet. Im on the path to recovery. It's just LOOOOOOONG and drawn out. So I have time learn new stuff.

 

[JeffKiper]

since PLC programmers now have to know everything about every aspect of the machinery, lines and process they are programming the PLC to run, then I say yes.

I have had to learn more about chemical engineering than the chemical engineer at the place that made the chemical to get a line running.

I have to know the latest technology, sensors, controls and possibilities, which include non-PLC controls like Arduino, Rasberry Pi, etc.

I pride myself in knowing the machine inside and out. I love learning the what and figuring out why the original guy did it this way or that way.

I definitely keep up with the new sensors and technology. Most of my customers don't let us send data or collect data. Most don't even allow remote access to sites.

 

[Old Man]

Absolutely.

When you say you publish/subscribe what do you mean? What does MQTT Sparkplug B do? How does it tie into the industrial controls side?

I've always been the PLC HMI system integrator mainly on thr troubleshooting side. After I was diagnosed with Leukemia I stopped doing any field work because I don't have a ln immune system yet. Im on the path to recovery. It's just LOOOOOOONG and drawn out. So I have time learn new stuff.

MQTT is a super lightweight communication protocol used for moving DATA back and forth across a network, "if bandwidth is a problem then MQTT is your answer". Here is where you should start Mqtt Sparkplug B.

 

[geniusintraining]

Is there a reason to learn the arduino

Hey Jeff,

As for the Arduino, yes, I just stared using their PLC... in the next couple weeks we are going to start becoming a distributor for them and selling their products also a trainer (below) using their Opta PLC, the nice thing about their PLC software (IDE) is you can program the PLC in five languages and thats a lot to learn

Talking to them they are going to start entering the industrial side and this PLC is just the beginning

Ladder Diagram
Functional Block Diagram
Structured Text
Sequential Function Chart
Instruction List

I like yourself like to learn and this is going to be one why to learn all 5 or at least get familiar with them

 

[geniusintraining]

MQTT is a super lightweight communication protocol used for moving DATA back and forth across a network, "if bandwidth is a problem then MQTT is your answer". Here is where you should start Mqtt Sparkplug B.

Yep, I did a couple projects for Amazon and thats what they wanted MQTT for their protocol, its good for a lot of data in a smaller package, this was 100 Click PLUS PLC's talking to a BRX and the BRX was posting the data to AWS Cloud

 

[dwoodlock]

So I’ve been slowly digging into this myself lately.

Currently have an Arduino uno and 3 rpi(2xzeroW, 1x5)

We have been using node-red to do data collection and storage with our controllers (Codesys based) for some our customers. After using(read learning) node-red I realized just how powerful it is. Open source, connects to about anything under the sun, in my experience it’s a little frustrating getting all the kinks worked out because I’m a noob, but when I do it works like clockwork. Have more issues with customers IT side of things than node-red itself.

I have a home grown data logging tool with a web interface for my smoker so I can trend what the temperature is doing over the course of a smoke. Arduino handling the temperature reading, communicating i2c to the rpi running Codesys which is logging the values into an array and hosting a web server.

It’s all super interesting and you can really nerd out, amazing the capabilities of these single board computers.

 

[bill4807]

I like the fusion 360 idea better, myself. Because that's exactly what I have been doing too over the last 12 months or so. I actually love it.

Whats quite disturbing is that now that I can design small systems mechanically or enough for a proposal I feel like im doing more than I should now. Hate to say that, but come - on. Should I just move over to mechanical designer and get paid the same with no travel, or stick to controls and do electrical design, machine assessment, programming, debug, and runoff. On top of that machine concept and proposals concept 50% of the time now!?.

Sorry about that wild paragraph there.

Like others have said you may want to dabble in the new plc/PC/scada stuff, I haven't found myself doing it yet, I have found I like hardware and design better.
Your right there are alot of buzzwords out there and it is tough sometimes to actually figure out what people/companies are actively implementing vs. what the influencer videographer pulled out of their travel pack that day.

 

[geniusintraining]

my smoker

Something else thats a passion of mine... just picked up a 3lb buttom but thats for a stew that I am making tonight and should be ready for dinner tomorrow.
I love to cook, drink and rockout... life is good (for now)

 

[Ken Moore]

I took the basic programming in college, for my era. Fortran, Ansi C. Never used it until I inherited a Foxboro DCS in the early 1990's. For sequence they used a structured text, called HLBL ( High level batch language). It was mostly Pascal, but you could use C code also.
Plus the DCS engineering stations ran on Sun Sparc stations. Which was Unix, you could write C scripts that directly interfaced with the control system. I remember writing a script that backedup everything at midnight each night, count how many devices were in auto, ectc... But Sun systems died, and Foxboro never really recovered, their migration to Windows was painful at best.
Since then I have not used any programming languages for process control. I must admit "object oriented programming" has been hard for me to grasp. In my day, logic ran top to bottom and looped. I have played around with Python, and like it a lot. It works the way I'm used to. The one thing about Unix, was you could do anything. And not have to reboot. I had one engineering station that had run for almost 12 years without a restart.
So I expect other languages/platforms to become more main stream as things progress.
Having experience in other environments, should be useful long term.

Linux is Unix based, and is (to me) just a more user friendly version of it. If you ever used Unix, Linux will be very similar.

I would recommend the Arduino, just because it's in C (something I understand). (BTW, Siemens, WinCC, graphics also supports C code, just an FYI)