Universität Stuttgart

Institute of Industrial Automation and Software Engineering

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h. c. P. Göhner

Exercise 8 – PLC Programming

Theory

Functioning of a PLC
A PLC is working in cyclically. At the beginning of each cycle the current input data is read
in and stored in the memory. This procedure is denoted as creation of a process image.
Following to that the actual processing is done i.e. the calculation of the new basic values
based on the stored process image. Changes in the technical process during this calculation
phase are not (yet) recognized by the control and so they are not considered in the calculation.
After finishing the calculation, the output values in the output memory are released to the
technical process and the cycle starts again. Whereby the cycle time isn’t constant but
depending on the program and execution path.

PLC

process technical
actuator signals
image in process in a
output technical
memory system

Auto-
mation
program

process
image in
input sensor signals
memory

Industrial Automation PLC Programming, Theory 1

Mb, 5/2/2006
Industrial Automation Exercise 8: PLC Programming, Theory 2

Identifier
According to the functioning of a PLC, it is differentiated between thee kind of values: inputs,
outputs and internal values. Internal values include elements like flip-flops, timing relays and
many more. The Identifiers for the particular elements are partly dependent on the
manufacturer and the language so there are differences in practice. A general form is:

I<No.> Input
Q<No.> Output
... Internal values
Whereby <No.> is a positive integer (e.g. I1, Q5....)

The company Siemens is using a slightly different identification for their widely distributed
Simatic control. There the number consists of two digits. This combination results from the
applied I/O modules.

E<No.>.<No.> Input
A<No.>.<No.> Output
.... Internal values

Example: E0.0, A4.1

Circuit of PLC:
In order to realize the internal calculation in a correct way, the circuit plan of the PLC has to
be on hand. This gives information about which real process value is switched on which
input. The following illustration gives an example for that.

S1 B1 S2

I1 I2 I3

Q1 Q2

Contactor1 Contactor2

The connected switches can be realized like that:

Industrial Automation Exercise 8: PLC Programming, Theory 3

without reset force:

In general with reset force
position switch

On / Off toggle
push button end switch
switch switch

normally open

normally
closed

PLC Programming Languages

There exists large number of languages for programming of programmable logic controller
because each manufacturer develops own languages for the controller. However there are four
(mostly) standardized languages:

• Structured text
• Instruction list
• Ladder diagram
• Function block language

Besides the first mentioned language “structured text” the others are oriented on the logic of
the circuits. This is reflected in the form of programming.

Structured Text
Structured text is a language similar to Pascal which is intended to be for users with
programming experience. It offers known structures like loop constructs, conditional
branching and so on. It won’t be discussed in further detail.

Instruction List (IL)

The instruction list corresponds to a textual translation of logic connections, like AND, OR,
NOT and many more. Thereby every instruction row is built up in the same scheme:

Kind of connection Identifier

U E0.0
Industrial Automation Exercise 8: PLC Programming, Theory 4

Example:
One output signal should be switched depending on two input signals (Ouput = Input1 and
Input2). The associated instruction list results in:

U E0.1
U E0.2
= A0.1

The following table gives an extract of the IL-language elements of the Siemens SPS but is
not exhaustive.

Mnemonic Description
= Assignment
) Close branching
AUF Open data block
BEA Block end absolute
BEB Block end conditional
CALL Block call-up
FN Negative edge
FP Positive edge
L Load
LOOP Program loop
NOT Negate RLO
O OR
O( OR with branching
ON OR NOT
ON( OR NOT with branching
R Reset
S Set
SA Timer as OFF delay
SE Timer as ON delay
SI Timer as pulse
SET Set RLO (=1)
SPA Jump unconditionally
SPB Jump, if RLO=1
SPBN Jump, if RLO=0
SPN Jump, if result <> 0
SS Timer as a latching ON delay
SV Start timer as an extended pulse timer
T Transfer
U AND
U( AND with branching
UN AND NOT
UN( AND NOT with branching
X EXCLUSIVE OR
X( EXCLUSIV OR with branching
XN EXCLUSIV OR NOT
XN( EXCLUSIV OR NOT with branching
Industrial Automation Exercise 8: PLC Programming, Theory 5

Mnemonic Description
ZR Count down
ZV Count up

Ladder Diagram (LAD)

The nature of the ladder diagram is strongly based on circuit diagrams. AND relations are
realized as serial connections and OR relations are realized as parallel connections. Three
kinds of elements a distinguished: normally open contact, normally closed contact and the
result of the relations. Whereby all the existing values including internal values and outputs,
can represent a relation element and take over the function of a switch.

normally normally
result of relation
open closed
(relay coil)
contact contact

The above mentioned example would have the following form:

E0.0 E0.1 A0.1

The following tale gives an extract of the LAD language elements of the Siemens Simatic
PLC:

Mnemonic Description
-(ZR) Count down
-(ZV) Count up
-(R) Reset output
-(S) Set output
-(AUF) Open data block
-(CALL) Call up FC / SFC without parameter
-(P)- Query edge 0Æ1
-(N)- Query edge 1Æ0
-(#)- Connector
-|/|- Normally closed contact
-( ) Relay coil / output
-| |- Normally open contact
-(POS) Query signal edge 0Æ1
-(NEG) Query signal edge 1Æ0
-(JMPN) Jump if 0
-(JMP) Jump if 1
-|NOT|- Invert result of logic operation (RLO)
-(SZ) Set counter start value
Industrial Automation Exercise 8: PLC Programming, Theory 6

Mnemonic Description
-(SA)- Start timer as OFF delay (SA)
-(SE)- Start timer as ON delay (SE)
-(SI) Start timer as pulse
-(SS) Start timer as latching ON delay
-(SV) Start timer as extended impulse

Function block language (FBL)

The function block language is a bit stronger based on the logic elements that are combined
with each other. The following list gives an not exhaustive overview of the standard modules.

& AND relation

1 OR relation

1 Inverter

On delay timer

OFF delay timer

So the example would look like this:

E0.0
& A0.1
E0.1