PLC Programms that work under linux

[Acadien]

I have been looking arround for a PLC Programm that works under linux or WINE. Not even ioProject from opto22 works under linux. RsLogix, DirectSoft32, Step7 none of these work under linux nore can I find anybody that has succesfully made it work under wine.

How about you guys?

Lately I concentrated my search in Europe with some possible leads, but they are not BrandName PLCs.

 

[Terry Woods]

In general, you write your own PLC-Program as an "INTERRUPT" to the processor.

That is, you create an "Interrupt" that calls your PLC-program. Be damned sure that the next "Interrupt" is not activated any sooner than it takes to complete the previous "Interrupt".

A Programmed Interrupt can occur asynchronously to the current Interrupt. That is, it is possible to invoke another Interrupt while an Interrupt is currently being serviced. Interrupts can be assigned priorities. If a higher priority interrupt is being serviced then, an Interrupt of lesser, or equal, priority will be serviced after the higher, or equal, priority Interrupt. If an Interrupt of Higher priority occurs while an Interrupt of lesser priority is being serviced then the higher priority Interrupt will interrupt the lower-priority Interrupt.

Plan your Interrupts carefully.

 

[elevmike]

Not even ioProject from opto22 works under linux. RsLogix, DirectSoft32, Step7 none of these work under linux nore ...

Dont you wish you name was BILL..

 

[Acadien]

I'm a little bit confused with the interupts answer.

 

[jstolaruk]

I believe he's looking for a development system that will run under Linux; like "RSLogix for Linux".

Aren't there utilities that exist that create Windows environments in Linux, allowing Window programs to run? Granted, online might be tricky, but maybe offline?

 

[elevmike]

I'm a little bit confused with the interupts answer.

to make it short...Your outta luck.

You need to make a $100.00+ donation to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation....

 

[Terry Woods]

"I'm a little bit confused with the interupts answer."

Write a Control-Program on any PC, in a manner similar to a PLC Scan routine, using any of the standard languages (C, Basic, Pascal, etc), then "call" that program with an Interrupt, you got a PLC-type program.

Ain't no "outta luck" involved.

Of course, you do need the compiler... just as you do for any PLC.

 

[Peter Nachtwey]

Confused

Terry, Acadien does not want to write a program. He wants to know if he can use a windows emulator ( Wine ) to run RSLogix or some other program.

We had someone show up at one of our training sessions with a Apple Laptop. We told him that our software runs on windows onlys. The someone then proceeded to install our program on his Apple laptop and execute it. The someone had a windows emulator that allow one to emulate a PC. It worked and it worked well.

I think Acadien is looking to do the same thing under Linux. I don't think Acadien will have any luck with RSLogix because it needs to have RSLinx to run. Although we have Linux at Delta, I have not tried using Directsoft with Linux. However, I think Directsoft would have the best chance of working under Linux and Wine. I hope Acadien is successful in his quest. I too am looking for any excuse to get away from Microsh$t. I recently bought a small Unix system. It multitasks far better than Windows XP or 2k and the Unix hasn't crashed yet. I can't say that for Windoze.

 

[bernie_carlton]

I realise that Acadien wants a PLC development for a major PLC which also runs under some flavor of Linux. He probably is out of luck for that. But I wonder how the PuffinPLC project is coming along. It's an open source PLC system. Properly compiled it should be able to run under anything.

As a note I wrote a complete machine control package for a STD Bus Pro-Log PC system. The foreground, operator and file interface was written in 'C' (Microsoft 5.1) and ran under DOS (remember that?) The background machine control was also in 'C' and driven from the non-maskable interrupt. There was no rotating file storage, only solid state, so the operating system had no problem with the fact that it was being interrupted 100 times a second.

Worked great. No BSOD. Unfortunately it was a PC-XT level and later levels used the NMI interrupt for their own purposes. I really blew away the Pro-Log reps when they assumed that I had to have 2 processors to have the system do what it was doing. But nope - only 1 operating in a true pre-emptive multitasking mode. Ah, those were the days.

 

[elevmike]

IMHO..

What ever PLC your going to use, your main objective is to program the PLC. So it would seem to me that what operating system your going to use is dependent on what the PLC programming software is running under. Like pounding square pegs into round holes, you might be able to do it, but you wont be satisfied with the results.

The main object is to program the PLC.. You need to have whatever tools are required...

 

[rsdoran]

We had a discussion similar to this not long ago. One source for using Linux with plcs is http://plc.sourceforge.net/
May want to take a closer look at X Windows http://sourceforge.net/softwaremap/trove_list.php?form_cat=229

 

[monkeyhead]

Wow, the sourceforge link makes me happy. I'm a big linux dork and would love to see some more PLC tools on linux/unix.

Not too sure about the X windows link. X11 doesn't have anything to do with PLCs. It's just the base of most *nix GUIs. Provides the basic services to support a mouse and applications being run in windows.

 

[Acadien]

There are many nixu automation links here: http://www.linux-automation.com/index_en.html

I recently e-mailled www.hosteng.com the programmers of DirectSoft32 for Koyo-Automation direct PLC asking them if they are considering porting DirectSoft32 to Linux. They replied that they are a Windoze shop and will propably remain a windoze shop for the foreseeable future since the automation world is dominated by Windoze. They have no plans to provide a version for Linux. Perhaps interrested members would like to drop them a line for a DirectSoft32 linux version

 

[rsdoran]

Just curious, have you been to Wine HQ? http://www.winehq.org/

Or Wines Application Database to see if there is something that could be done to get the programs to run? http://appdb.winehq.org/

 

[Acadien]

Yep, nothing for STEP7, RsLogix or DirectSoft I haven't check for Omron...