{"id":15579,"date":"2022-07-22T15:38:55","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T15:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.automazioneindustrialeferrazza.it\/programmatore-plc\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T11:56:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T11:56:11","slug":"plc-programmer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.automazioneindustrialeferrazza.it\/en\/plc-programmer\/","title":{"rendered":"How does a PLC programmer work?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


How can a PLC move an entire plant?<\/strong><\/strong>
A PLC<\/strong> is a vital part in an industrial automation plant<\/strong>. Such devices are<\/strong>, indeed, the brain of industrial machineries<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we told in a previous article<\/a>, a PLC detects input signals<\/strong>, process them and activates the<\/strong> digital (or analogic) outputs to run the whole line<\/strong>. But how is all of this possible<\/strong>?<\/strong> Well, you will first need a PLC programmer that knows his trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does a PLC programmer work?<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

CEI EN 61131-3<\/a> regulation <\/strong>standardised 5 programming languages<\/strong> that PLC operators can rely on<\/strong>, languages supported by the different softwares available on the market. Thanks to these specific softwares, it’s possible to write coding lines that can be later uploaded in the PLC memory<\/strong>. The newly created software<\/strong>, however, is not immediately connected to the programmer’s PC<\/strong> for any editing: it must first be tested and then it will be possible to edit it, if needed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PLC programming begins<\/strong> with a functional analysis<\/strong> of<\/strong> what is the<\/strong> problem to be solved in an industrial automation plant<\/strong>, i.e.: what the software has to make the machines and the plant do. <\/strong>After collecting this information, it’s necessary to understand<\/strong> which and how many signals are introduced<\/strong>, how long<\/strong> do they last<\/strong> and their characteristics.<\/strong> Later, the programmer needs<\/strong> to have an exact and detailed definition and description of the plant functioning<\/strong>, in order to better and more accurately code the PLC application software.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From programming to start-up<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Earlier we talked about an analysis of the input signals, we now need to understand when and how long the output signals need to last.<\/strong> Immediately after, the programmer makes an “I\/O occupation list”<\/strong>, a list that allows<\/strong> the programmer to know in which entry a specific sensor is connected and in which exit the relative actuator is connected.<\/strong> This passage is fundamental to allow the signals to reach the correct machineries<\/strong> in the automation plant<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the creation of the software is done,<\/strong> it’s time to<\/strong> work on the details and get the specifications right<\/strong>. During this last phase, the software is run on an emulator platform<\/strong>, normally called “test bank”<\/strong>. Using this “bank” it’s possible to analyse the PLC behaviour, simulating different situations that might arise on the plant, making sure the software reacts the right way.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What can a PLC do?<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Long story short: A PLC programmer is <\/strong>something between a technician and the director of an orchestra<\/strong> that, starting from basic information, can create an application software capable to coordinate an entire industrial system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since every PLC software is specifically programmed<\/strong> for the production plant it’s going to be installed on<\/strong>, the possibilities<\/strong> for programmable controllers are virtually infinite<\/strong>. If the programmer knows what an industrial plant has to do<\/strong>, along with the specific characteristics of the signals to exchange, the application software can be programmed in any imaginable way<\/strong>. We are talking about features that range from moving an conveyor belt to coordinate a robot for quality control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact us to know more about what we can do for your PLC programming.<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How can a PLC move an entire plant?A PLC is a vital part in an industrial automation plant. Such devices are, indeed, the brain of industrial machineries. As we told in a previous article, a PLC detects input signals, process them and activates the digital (or analogic) outputs to run the whole line. But how is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15581,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[281,265,283,269,270,275,286,289],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-automazione-en","category-automazione-industriale-en","category-ferrazza-2-en","category-hmi-2-en","category-industria-4-0-en","category-plc-2","category-revamping-en","category-software-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.automazioneindustrialeferrazza.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.automazioneindustrialeferrazza.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.automazioneindustrialeferrazza.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.automazioneindustrialeferrazza.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.automazioneindustrialeferrazza.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15579"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.automazioneindustrialeferrazza.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15592,"href":"https:\/\/www.automazioneindustrialeferrazza.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15579\/revisions\/15592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.automazioneindustrialeferrazza.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.automazioneindustrialeferrazza.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.automazioneindustrialeferrazza.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.automazioneindustrialeferrazza.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}