RoyLittle0

Newbie Help, Migrating from Allen Bradley

6 posts in this topic

Hi all,

I am currently looking migrating from a company that works solely with Allen Bradley to a company that works mainly with Siemens, at the moment its Step7 for the PLC and TIA Portal for the HMI, but they will be moving to TIA for both PLC and HMI, I have worked with Allen Bradley for over 9 years PLC5, SLC500, 5000 and control Logix, the company will be providing me with a full training package but that wont be for about 5-6 weeks, can anyone point me in the direction of any good training material to get me started with a head start before I get the training, there seems to be more on Allen Bradley than Siemens.

Video's preferably so I can watch them in my hotel room whilst working away, also any tips on the differences between Allen Bradley and Siemens

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

TIA is more like Logix5K in that you can create tags on the fly and use indirect addressing in ladder (S7-1200/1500 only)

S7 is a sexy beast, but there are some drawbacks when switching from Logix.  You cannot mix defined data types.  You can't multiply a real by an int into a dint without some conversion.

indirect addressing S7-300/400 is a bitch, but there are hundreds of FC's out there that enable you to do it in ladder, but it's definitely not as easy as N7:[N17:0]

But, you can download code changes without changing the memory area, which is awesome.  Yes, I am aware of the Tag Preserved download option in logix, but I never got it to work right.

The HMI's generally reboot in about 10 seconds after a download compared to the eternity of downloading to a PVPlus.

It's all in what you're used to.  If you go into Siemens programming just hearing horror stories from everyone, you'll hate it.  But give it a chance, it will grow on you once you figure out how to make it do what you want.  You tube link below for some starter vids.  Good luck.

SimonPlcTV

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
17 hours ago, TravisPedley said:

 

indirect addressing S7-300/400 is a bitch, but there are hundreds of FC's out there that enable you to do it in ladder, but it's definitely not as easy as N7:[N17:0]

SimonPlcTV

But it is far more flexible, in Logix you can only indirectly address into arrays, Step 7 is much more flexible and can indirectly address virtually anywhere.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm certainly seeing the similarities between the two, but so far I have to say the Logix engine is much easier to understand than Seimens, the simplicity is in the descriptions e.g. TT in Logix is Timer Timing and adding timer values is as simple as adding a value no designator at the front, just a time base and a time.

I do understand that simpler to use is not always better performance or better functionality, but at least I am starting to find my way around the software, everything else will cone in time

The video's help but they are a little erratic in the presentation.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

What you have to get to understand is the difference between FB's and FC's. 

 

Also find the libraries (SFB's and SFC's), I've seen people struggle to develop code for functions that were in the libraries simply because they didn't realise they were there.

 

For instance the Siemens Timers are archaic and the format is based on the old S5 timers, most people commonly use SFB4 which a TON timer.

Edited by Groo

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The help file appendices show the detailed break down of all data types, its in the PDF Programming with Step 7. Especially helpful for the format of Pointers and the ANY data format.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!


Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.


Sign In Now