Sizing a Codesys project

[ds7891]

Specification of Codesys is being driven by customer and I'm being asked to control roughly 100 network connected vfd's for a conveying project in a warehouse. Drives can be ordered with MBUS, PN, or EIP. Drives will also have local IO wired back to them.

With that many network connections to control, plus a few other control systems to integrate with and a SCADA system needing to hit my Codesys app for supervisor control, how would one go about choosing the correct processor for this application? This is my biggest concern. If this was Siemens application, I'd drop an S7-1500 in here and feel confident. My tag count could end up being in several thousand.

I know there are a lot of manufactures that have PLC's capable of running Codesys. Where would I even start with choosing the correct size of processor for this application?

 

[L D[AR2P#0.0]]

Which S7-1500 would you use from the 1500 range, S7-1511......S7-1518?

 

[the_msp]

I know there are a lot of manufactures that have PLC's capable of running Codesys.

If I were in your shoes, I would narrow it down to 2 or 3 manufacturers, compare price, lead time, and support, and ask them for their recommendation on CPU size to cope with the job.

 

[ndzied1]

You should look at the new CtrlX line from Bosch Rexroth.

https://apps.boschrexroth.com/microsites/ctrlx-automation/en/portfolio/ctrlx-core/

They have a long history with CoDeSys.

 

[Ken Roach]

I gotta tell you I've been burned repeatedly by doing a project with the latest and greatest Indramat or Rexroth CoDeSys-based controller, then finding that it's obsolete the next year.

I don't know if the ctrlX stuff is more or less subject to that risk because they don't have their own I/O platform. If you've got a good reason to use Rexroth drives everywhere, then of course their newest platform is maybe a good choice.

"It's the newest and latest and [doesn't mention a crucial feature that does not exist] seems to be a universal sales boast. We're doing a Sinumerik One project and the surprise missing features of the 'cutting edge' are numerous.

If this is a big distributed drives system, the vendor of the drives is going to be the one most motivated to help.

 

[bkottaras]

If I were in your shoes, I would narrow it down to 2 or 3 manufacturers, compare price, lead time, and support, and ask them for their recommendation on CPU size to cope with the job.

+1.
That would be my approach as well.

 

[ds7891]

If I were in your shoes, I would narrow it down to 2 or 3 manufacturers, compare price, lead time, and support, and ask them for their recommendation on CPU size to cope with the job.

This is the direction I will head. Starting with B&R I believe. It's not a brand I have ever touched, but have been seeing more and more of. Reading a lot online about them, it seems they've come a long way.

Wago I believe is going to be my second path as I review the CtlrX platform.

 

[busarider29]

This is the direction I will head. Starting with B&R I believe. It's not a brand I have ever touched, but have been seeing more and more of. Reading a lot online about them, it seems they've come a long way.

Wago I believe is going to be my second path as I review the CtlrX platform.

TwinCAT is CodeSys based, so look at the CX's and IPC's from Beckhoff too. I think you could go with something in the CX20x0 series and have peace of mind. I know it's the customer's call, but I'd try to talk them into EtherCAT drives, as that would easily give the best comms performance at the lowest cost while being the easiest to implement from the other protocols you listed. I would at least run that by them so that they are aware.

 

[dwoodlock]

I gotta tell you I've been burned repeatedly by doing a project with the latest and greatest Indramat or Rexroth CoDeSys-based controller, then finding that it's obsolete the next year.

Really?? What controller?

 

[Ken Roach]

I don't want this to turn into a Rexroth bash fest.

I've got one machine with an IndraControl L45, with its slice style I/O and the XLC logic controller system. And it's not entirely compatible with the previous machine, that had an IndraControl L25 with IndraLogix L. And then with the next machine, we were talked into an IndraControl XM, with the S20 I/O platform, because that was going to be the latest and greatest with the fastest I/O that we needed to meet the customer specification.

Sure, they're all more or less CoDeSys. But I maintain separate VMs for each system to prevent conflicts between the libraries and dependencies.

I get it that Bosch and Rexroth and Indramat are coming from different histories and supply related industries, and that product development can move fast. I just don't want to go through the "get the lastest from Bosch/Rexroth/Indramat, it'll be universally compatible and have broad support because it's CoDeSys" cycle.

And I am definitely sick to death of "well it's CoDeSys based". That's great, but unless the Beckhoff IDE can program a Wago 750, that's no benefit for me as a machine builder except for familiarity with the execution model and syntax.

 

[busarider29]

And I am definitely sick to death of "well it's CoDeSys based". That's great, but unless the Beckhoff IDE can program a Wago 750, that's no benefit for me as a machine builder except for familiarity with the execution model and syntax.

Just putting another option out there that might be viable for the OP. If it's just the familiarity and syntax and even the IDE of Codesys, then TwinCAT (with Beckhoff hardware) could be an option. The IDE's are practically the same!

 

[j.sowin]

This is the direction I will head. Starting with B&R I believe. It's not a brand I have ever touched, but have been seeing more and more of. Reading a lot online about them, it seems they've come a long way.

Wago I believe is going to be my second path as I review the CtlrX platform.

Keep in mind, B&R does not use Codesys under the hood so that would unfortunately rule them out for this project.

 

[Karsten]

Schneider

Do not rule out Schneider Modicon M251. We did a project with 30+ drives. Local IO, distributed IO. We then used CAN-Open for drives, encoders and RIO but it supports Modbus TCP and EIP. We also had three HMI over eth. I was truly impressed by this small and inexpensive PLC. System has been running for seven years without problems.