Author: Liam (Site Owner)

Looking to get started with Structured Text / Structured Control Logic (ST / SCL)? Here’s an introductory guide to the PLC language that is not restricted to a single development…

The Variant data type is a special data type that accepts almost anything. Similar to the ANY data type, TIA Portal essentially creates a pointer to the data and passes…

There will always come a time in a project, where the compiling must be done. This is because you must compile in order to download to a PLC, even a…

Projects can never start early enough, and getting hardware early in a projects development is getting harder every day. This is why taking advantage of the Simulation PLC, built in…

Sometimes, you find yourself in a position where (despite no compilation issues) your PLC will just not start correctly. Instead of seeing the above image, with nice green ticks and…

Making changes to a project is an everyday aspect of PLC programming, especially during commissioning or fault fixing. When it comes to making changes, the key consideration should always be:…

As with all PLC environments, being “Online” is an important aspect. The difference between “Online” and “Offline” is that when your connected to a PLC and online, you are able…

A complete introduction to Ladder Logic programming, generalised for use in any environment

Since TIA Portal came along, there’s been an argument between whether or not you should allow TIA Portal to “Optimize” your data. Set to ON by default, this allows the…

Leveraging virtualized environments is one of the best things that can be done in the new “Working from home” world. I have a copy of PLCSIM Advanced and I make…