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TwinCAT 3 SoftPLC

This section covers how to use the TwinCAT 3 software as a SoftPLC to program and run the basic psychics model example.

  • Right click on the TwinCAT3 icon in the taskbar
  • Click on TwinCAT XAE(VS2010)
  • On the Start Page click New TwinCAT Project (or New Project if Visual Studio 2010 is also installed on machine)
  • Fill in the fields, project name for example would be DemoProject
  • Use BROWSE to select where to save the program
  • When done click OK
  • In Solution Explorer on the left hand side right click PLC
  • Select Add New Item
  • The Add New Item window opens
  • Select Standard PLC Project
  • Fill in the name field, for example DemoProject
  • Click ADD
  • The next step is to create a Global Variable List
  • Right click on GVLs and select Add and from the pop out menu select Global Variable List
  • Name the file and click OPEN
  • The Global Variable List is now created
  • Now cut and paste the following between VAR_GLOBAL and END_VAR
MCS: BOOL; //Motor Control Switch
LIS: BOOL; //Load In System Lamp
FLB: BOOL; //Feed Load Button
LFF: BOOL; //Load Fed from Feeder
M1R: BOOL; //Motor 1 Running
S1A: BOOL; //Sensor 1 Activated
S2A: BOOL; //Sensor 2 Activated
  • The next step is to create the program block
  • Right click on POUs and select Add and from the pop out menu select POU…
  • Enter a new name, leave the Type as Program and the Implementation Language as Ladder Logic Diagram (LD)
  • Now the ladder logic code for the model can be written
  • In the newly created ladder logic POU right click in the bottom half of the window and select Insert Contact
  • Click on the 3 question marks above the contact and type in MCS, the variable should appear in a dropdown
  • Press Enter to add it to the contact
  • Now right click on the small box to the right of the contact and select Insert Coil
  • Click on the 3 question marks above the coil and type in M1R
  • Once again the variable should appear in a dropdown
  • Press Enter to add it to the coil
  • To add the next line of logic right click to the left where the number 1 is shown
  • From the menu select Insert Network (below)
  • In the new line two contacts need to be added in parallel
  • To do this add the first contact as done previously and then right click on that contact and select Insert Contact Parallel (below)
  • Then, to the right of the contacts, right click and select Insert Coil
  • The top contact should be assigned variable FLB and the bottom contact variable S2A
  • The coil should be assigned variable LFF
  • Now add one more Network below to which should be added a contact and a coil
  • The contact should be assigned the variable S1A and the coil variable LIS
  • The last thing to do here for the moment is to add a reference to the ladder logic module into the Main program
  • In the Solution Explorer on the right under PLC->Project Name->PLC Name->POUs double click Main to open it
  • In the first line of the lower section of the file type POU(); where POU is the name of the file with the ladder logic in it
  • Save the program (Save All button or key combination CTRL+SHIFT+S)
  • Now back in Experior click on the Communications tab on the right of the Experior window, just below where the Catalogs are displayed
  • Right click and select Beckhoff ADS
  • Select the newly created entry and in the Properties pane, to the bottom right of the Experior window, change the Port to 851
  • Now the variables have to be added to their respective components
  • Select the Motor Control switch and in the properties under PLC Input -> On/Off expand the section using the small arrow to the left of On/Off
  • Input the symbol as GVL.MCS, the reason for the GVL prefix is so Experior knows the variable is global and not local
  • For the lamp Load In System the symbol should be input under PLC Output -> Lighting
  • For the button Feed Load the symbol should be added under PLC Input” -> Pushed
  • For the feeder the symbol should be added under PLC Output -> Feed
  • For the sensors the symbols should be added under PLC Input -> Blocked
  • Lastly, the symbol for the motor should be added under Operation -> Forward (Output)
  • When finished the Input and Output tabs should contain information like so
  • Save the model at this point
  • Back in the TwinCAT program it should now be built and have a license generated so that it is ready to run
  • To build the program, go to the Build menu at the top and select Build Solution
  • Now a license needs to be generated to enable the program to be run
  • Go to the Solution Explorer on the left
  • Expand System and double click on License
  • Click on Activate 7 days trial license?
  • Enter the characters displayed in the input box
  • Click OK
  • Under the TwinCAT menu select Activate Configuration
  • If prompted about overwriting an older configuration click Proceed
  • When prompted to Restart TwinCAT System in Run Mode? click OK
  • Under the PLC menu click Login
  • When prompted about application port_851 not existing, creating it and downloading the program, click YES
  • Under the PLC menu click START
  • Program is now running
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