hboyer90

Bridging the gap between PLC and Smartphone

9 posts in this topic

Hey all, I've been trying to figure out a way to bridge the gap between my smartphone and my PLC. Both are capable of such amazing things and I want to bring them together. I know other's are already doing this, but I'm wondering if there is a way that i can do this without purchasing their products and using what I already have. What I have: Micrologix1000 PLC and a MicroLogix1100 PLC, a laptop, a Samsung Galaxy S5 Objective: To be able to control outputs in my home using my phone. I know there has to be a way. I want to be able to control lights in my home using my phone. Wire an extension cord to the output of my PLC, have that plug into a lamp, keep the switch on the lamp turned on all of the time, only turn on that output when I want to. Obviously I could control that output in a number of ways. If I had an HMI, at a certain time of the day have the lights turn on or off, ect. But I want to bridge that gap and use my mobile phone as the input/hmi that controls the output of that lamp. Is there an easy/way of doing this without buying an expensive 'Hue' lighting system? I've got to think so. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I see that Siemens and a few other PLCs have mobile applications, but I see nothing for Android. Just want to get all of your opinion. Thanks Howard

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There is something called an "Arduino" board, there are many example Arduino projects online. It can be used to interface with a smartphone. For example, here is a project where they control a door lock from a smartphone using Arduino: http://makezine.com/projects/controlling-a-lock-with-an-arudino-and-bluetooth-le/Obviously, with regards to the wiring, you can hook it up to PLC I/O. Maybe not exactly what you are looking for, but could be a cool project.

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Ok, this sounds like the right track that I'm looking to head down. Thanks.

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I would suggest Archie's Advanced HMI It should work great with your MicroLogix1100 PLC., not so much with the 1000. http://www.advancedhmi.com/ You will have to download some kind of Remote Desktop on your Galaxy to connect to a computer that is on the same network as your PLC. I was able to do it with an Iphone. Good Luck!

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I will look into this. Thank you.

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There are a number of bluetooth options available in various development boards (such as the Arduino), I remember seeing one on Kickstarter recently that allowed basic IO to be controlled via Bluetooth. Then you can write a custom App for your android device and control the board remotely within reason. Alternatively, as AndrewG mentioned the regular Arduino board does come with a wifi / Ethernet shield that could be used in combination with a website/service to control inputs via the web. A simple website accessed via a browser on the smartphone could chat with the board then the PLC.

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Maple Systems has options with their HMIs http://www.maplesystems.com/products/graphic-hmi/vnc/index.htm

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If you are not looking for anything fancy, then why not use the Embedded Web Server in the ML1100 to manipulate the binary data table. That way you don't have to purchase anything else, you already have it all. BCS

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I was also going to suggest AdvancedHMI as gbradley did. I have worked with it quite a bit and loved it. The problem is that it yields a desktop application only. If it were able to be deployed as ASP.NET somehow that would be better. Having said that, I would advise a change in direction. AndrewG mentioned the arduino, that is probably going to work out better. You can check those out, as well as raspberry pi. That in conjunction with what's called Node RED can yield great results. Node Red is a java based server that can run on the raspberry pi and control outputs and inputs based messages from http, twitter, other inputs, etc. It is a flow diagram style interface and very easy to work with. All open source. There are relay boards and ADC boards on amazon for very cheap as well.

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