Hi Everyone,
Got a project that will use a S7-1200 (CPU 1214C). Am more of a AB guy and I have had the TIA Portal Software for awhile and have played with it some but this is my first full Project using Siemens.
I have watched a bunch of Youtube videos and have a general grasp on the software and how it works from a functional perspective. I want to learn how to do things the "Siemens way" and not try and make the Siemens work like AB. So I have some questions about the general philosophy around Siemens Programming.
1) OB's seem to be some what like Subroutines in AB. Is it common to have more than 1 OB that has your programming in it? In the videos I watched it seemed like they only used one OB (OB1) and put all the FC's in them.
2) FC's: It looked like you could use FC's as a Subroutine. They would take the FC and create some programming and they call it in OB1. Other times they used it as a user defined function that could be reused. What is the general thought process with these? How do you use them?
3) DB's: These I like, coming from the AB world these seem to make a lot of sense to me. Is there more to them than what is on the surface? Maybe some cool trick you can turn me on too?
The next couple of questions are more specific:
1) I have a CPU 1212C that I have selected when I first started my programming. How can I change the PLC in the program to the CPU 1214C? I don't want to start all over.
2) Is there a Linearization function in TIA Portal? I need to input some tank strapping info into the PLC and get a volume based on the level. I am looking for something like the FGEN Function Block in AB.
3) I am going to communicate to a Modbus device via RS-485 can you point me to some good tutorial on reading on doing that in TIA?
Thanks again for the help!!
Got a project that will use a S7-1200 (CPU 1214C). Am more of a AB guy and I have had the TIA Portal Software for awhile and have played with it some but this is my first full Project using Siemens.
I have watched a bunch of Youtube videos and have a general grasp on the software and how it works from a functional perspective. I want to learn how to do things the "Siemens way" and not try and make the Siemens work like AB. So I have some questions about the general philosophy around Siemens Programming.
1) OB's seem to be some what like Subroutines in AB. Is it common to have more than 1 OB that has your programming in it? In the videos I watched it seemed like they only used one OB (OB1) and put all the FC's in them.
2) FC's: It looked like you could use FC's as a Subroutine. They would take the FC and create some programming and they call it in OB1. Other times they used it as a user defined function that could be reused. What is the general thought process with these? How do you use them?
3) DB's: These I like, coming from the AB world these seem to make a lot of sense to me. Is there more to them than what is on the surface? Maybe some cool trick you can turn me on too?
The next couple of questions are more specific:
1) I have a CPU 1212C that I have selected when I first started my programming. How can I change the PLC in the program to the CPU 1214C? I don't want to start all over.
2) Is there a Linearization function in TIA Portal? I need to input some tank strapping info into the PLC and get a volume based on the level. I am looking for something like the FGEN Function Block in AB.
3) I am going to communicate to a Modbus device via RS-485 can you point me to some good tutorial on reading on doing that in TIA?
Thanks again for the help!!