Twincat demo software

[Stijnb]

Hello,

Im new to the beckhoff software twincat 3.
I can see that the software is free without the plc run time.
But can you upload you program with de demo version to the beckhoff hardware?

Thank you

 

[realolman]

I dunno about ur specific version, but u used to be able to... and their tech help was the most friendly and knowledgeable I've ever encountered... outside of here of course

wait a minute.... I just remembered something... I could NOT upload but in my case, I think it was because of the controller and not the software

You're welcome for this virtually useless post.

 

[shooter]

yes you can use it conplete, however it will stop after 1 hour.
you can make a full program and test it.
and you can simulate everything without timelimit.

 

[einnh]

Yes you can upload to the hardware. Beckhoff hardware has it's own PLC runtime license on it. Twincat should pick it up if configured correctly.

 

[LadderLogic]

The only thing is, most people seem to call transfers from a PC to a controller 'downloads'. And use 'uploads' for transfers from a controller to a PC.

 

[realolman]

The only thing is, most people seem to call transfers from a PC to a controller 'downloads'. And use 'uploads' for transfers from a controller to a PC.

Yeah when I used it I could download to the device but could not upload from the device, but IIRC that was the device, not the software

 

[LadderLogic]

With TwinCAT, one cannot upload anything unless the last downloader explicitly chose to download the source code to the device as well.

 

[RocketTester]

Sounds more like a licensing question. When you get a Beckhoff CPU (CX1000, CX1020, CX5020, etc), it needs to have the "TwinCAT run-time" installed w/ a license. The programming environment (TwinCAT-PLC or such) on your laptop PC doesn't require a license and checks the CX for a valid license. That is the stated approach in TwinCAT 3. In TwinCAT 2, there was a separate "development license" for the programming laptop, but people said it really just checked for a run-time license on the CX. If so, that might have been an oversight by Beckhoff. If buying a CX on ebay, insure it has a valid TwinCAT run-time, since some companies bought them w/o TwinCAT for use as an industrial PC.

For TC3, you also need Microsoft Visual Studio on your programming laptop, but Beckhoff offers a free stripped-down version for TC3-only (no Visual Basic, C#, ...). You use VB or C# to develop your own HMI program. You can also develop an HMI within TC3 (Visualization) or use Indusoft, WonderWare, LabView, Ackerman Automation, ...

 

[rblunt]

I thought the demo was 7 days it would actually work, then you just need to renew it again, and you get another 7 days, you can just keep doing it.

 

[RocketTester]

I think it depends on terminology.

"Demo" means software that runs on any Windows PC and simulates a PLC. I don't know that there is an expiration date.

If you have Beckhoff I/O modules, you can install TwinCAT (2 or 3) with a 7-day trial license. I think you can renew it every 7 days. You can operate any PC as a "TwinCAT brain" or "run-time", if it has a compatible ethernet card.

As always, nothing I state may actually be true. Beckhoff's InfoSys website has much more detail.