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Steve G

just starting out

9 posts in this topic

I am just starting to try and learn Automation Direct PLC's, so I was wondering if there is a good resource for programming documentation on there plc's. I have downloaded the free Productivity Suite from there web site, is this a full version or not. I seems to me that each PLC family has there own software for programming is this the case. Software from the Productivity3000 plc's seem straight forward for now, but I am having a hard time finding documentation on the web about the different instructions and for that matter a general manual on the software. Thanks for any response

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Yep, each different type of PLC has it's own programming software. It looks to me as though some documentation comes with the Productivity3000 PAC software download from the AD website. Given that it's 100MB, and I have no plans to use AD's PACs, I think I'll skip the download. Is there something in particular you were trying to find that was missing? Greg

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Yep, each different type of PLC has it's own programming software. It looks to me as though some documentation comes with the Productivity3000 PAC software download from the AD website. Given that it's 100MB, and I have no plans to use AD's PACs, I think I'll skip the download. Is there something in particular you were trying to find that was missing? Greg

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Right now it appears that the help file in the software is the primary documentation. It appears to give at least a page to each instruction. Check out the 'Reference' area for some programming helps. I haven't used it on a machine yet. We are waiting for high speed counting modules.

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AD targeted alot of local coleges to get their product out into circulation, all the community colleges in our area (norhteast) and a good number of others are using them in their programs. The engineering depts are usually pretty liberal with the documentation they are given as it is (to AD) a sales platform if the college can recruit people to use them. I actually have the professors email (given not requested) in case I had any programing issues with AD processors. So far, none of our customers have requested the platform. Just a thought.

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http://learn.automationdirect.com has some awesome stuff

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certainly not the platform I'd recommend if just learning to program. There are a few deficiencies. One, the AD doesn't do automatic type conversion. So if you want to add a real to an integer you have to change one to the other type before working on them. The Siemens (the standard programming package) does this as well, as does the GE. The Allen Bradley does type correction automatically, so you could add 3.2 (float) to 1 (integer) and place the sum into either a real (float) or an integer. The AD also requires the programming to count in both HEX and OCTAL to program effectively. If you don't do this all the time its quite annoying. (personally I prefer base 7). As with the math instructions, the AD requires the programmer to track the registers. Using V1700 as a float uses both V1700 and V1701. But you could still load V1701 into the accumulator as a single register and operate on it, though this will undoubtedly cause all sorts of programming problems. The AD as a general rule requires more coding than some other processors and platforms. I would liken this to using C to Visual Basic. Both can get you there...one's a lot more cumbersome. One more thing. If you connect to the processor over an ethernet network, and somehow have a communication failure, you'll probably need to cycle power to the processor. A real annoyance if the processor(s) is not easily accessible.

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These statements are only true if you are using a DirectLogic processor. The newer Productivity 3000 and Click units handle this sort of stuff quite well.

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