Introduction to IEC 61131-3

Acknowledgement

1. Bo Svensson / HV
2. Anders Nilson / HV
3. Alto University Materials
4. plcopen.org
 Course aims at

• Sustainability
– focus on program quality
– readability
– maintenance
– good programming practise
– e.g. the elevator model will be used several times,
but “the goal is not to make the elevator run”

• Supervisory control
• PLC in systems
• Communication in-between systems

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 HMI
Automation System Level 25 %
Bus

MES system Start Stop

Network (TCP/IP)

Bus

Servo control
1 2 1 2 3
3 4 4
Bus
PLC I/Os 1
4
2 3

PLC
External Logic
Process control
Bus Robot control

Process
Programming
Robot
PLC

4
 PLC = hub

in in
Process PLC HMI
out out

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 Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)

• An industrial computer
– ruggedized and adapted for control of manufacturing processes

• Designed for application that requires

– high reliability control
– long-time stability
– ease of programming
– process fault diagnosis
• “Hard" real-time system
– output result as response to input change within a limited time

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 Origin of PLC

• First developed for automobile industry (GM, US, 1968)

• Replace hard-wired relays, cam timers and drum sequencers

By Fylip22 - Own work, CC BY 3.0,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12180099

• Updating was very time consuming and expensive

– change operational function by rewire each relay individually
– rebuild or replace timers and sequencers with new ones
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 PLC today

• Functionality has evolved over the years to include

– sequential control
– feedback control
– motion control
– distributed control
– supervisory control
– networking
– …
• Data handling, storage, processing power, and communication
capabilities of modern PLCs are equivalent to desktop computers

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 PLC vs. desktop computers

• Hardware
– PLC designed for long life, temperature, humidity, vibration, …
• Operating system
– PLC long-time stable and deterministic execution
• Cost
– no discrepancy in hardware
– software development most costly in both
• PLC are
– high-reliability automation controllers
– suitable for harsh environments

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 PLC programming

• PLC aimed for non-programming experts

– relay and logic competent staff

• PLC become a success story

– the market exploded with different brands

• Each brand with its own programming language(s)

• Early PLCs also need branded programming panels
• Obviously, a PLC standard was needed
– IEC took the task

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 What is IEC?

• International Electrotechnical Commission (founded 1906)

• Prepares and publishes International Standards for
"electrotechnology" (electrical, electronic and related technologies)
• Cover a vast range of technologies
– from power generation, transmission and distribution
– via industrial and commercial applications
– to home appliances and office equipment

• Manages also three global conformity assessment systems

– certify equipment/system/components conform to IEC standards

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 http://www.iec.ch/
IEC members

By Japinderum at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23621173

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 IEC 61131 history
• 1979 working group for PLC standard
• 1982 the first draft of IEC 1131
• 1982 splitting in to 5 sub groups
• 1992 part 1 and 2 published
• 1993 part 3 published
• 1994 corrigendum to part 3
• 1997 changed name to IEC
• … 61131 (content not changed)
• 2003 part 3 edition 2
• 2013 part 3 edition 3
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 IEC 61131 parts
Part Title
1 General information
2 Equipment requirements and tests
3 Programming languages
4 Users guidelines
5 Messaging service specification
6 Functional safety
7 Fuzzy control programming
8 Guidelines for the application and implementation
of programming languages
9 Single-drop digital communication interface for
small sensors and actuators
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 Why IEC 61131-3

•There are more modern programming tools, why not use them?
Or
• My old programming environment,
that’s a powerful tool!

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 IEC 61131 part 3

• A standard for “PLC programming”

• An open known and accepted standard
• Used by many suppliers, even the big ones
• Brand and hardware independent
• Cross platform reusability of logics
• Based on well tested methods and techniques
• Deterministic behaviour, even between different systems
• No “magic registers”, standard data types with type check
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 IEC 61131-3 properties

• Program quality in focus

– stability, ladder is ladder – not “ladder v3.12”
– safety, easy to describe rules
– maintainability, hard to implement smart and advanced
solutions as a small program
– hierarchical and structured, anyone that read the code
should be able to understand the purpose
• Stable in the long term
– PLC programs may last for 20 years, not 3 months

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 IEC 61131-3 languages

• Not a language standard –

a standard that includes more than only a language
– e.g. execution control, structures for program development, …

• Five (Six) different languages included

– each language has its purpose
– hard to replace by one “super language”
– historical reasons
– possible to “transfer” from one language to another
– “all problems” can be solved in all languages

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 LD – Ladder Diagram

• Graphical symbols (relay chart)

• Boolean logic expressions
• Executed rung by rung (line)
• Most commonly used PLC
language
• Easy to visualize and debug logics

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 FBD – Function Block Diagram

• Graphical symbols (electrical chart)

• Same idea and design as LD
• Executed rung by rung

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 SFC – Sequential Function Chart

• Graphically oriented language

• Sequence of processing controlled by transition condition
• Action(s) with qualifier assigned to step elements

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 ST – Structured Text

• High level “normal computer” programming language

– like C, Pascal, …

• Function oriented
– arithmetic calculation
– processing numbers
– handling structured data types

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 IL – Instruction List

• Assembler-like low-level language

• Limited capabilities due to low level instructions
• First PLC language
• Deprecated in IEC 61131-3 edition 3

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 CFC – Continuous Function Chart

• Based on the FBD

• Not network operating, rather with freely placeable elements
– allows e.g. feedback
• Not implemented by many suppliers

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 IEC 61131-3 weakness
• No requirements to be IEC 61131-3 compatible
• Lots of parameters are implementation dependent
– i.e. brand specific solutions

• SFC has a weak definition

– e.g. execution order, action control

• “Weak” standard for predefined FUN and FB

• Many different ways to describe the same problem
– e.g. many languages

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 PLCopen – www.plcopen.org

• Founded 1992
• An organization active in Industrial Control, aiming at
– higher efficiency in application software development
– lower life-cycle costs
• Different levels for IEC 61131-3 Certification
• Open IEC 61131-3 function block interfaces
– motion control
– communication
– safety

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 IEC 61131-3 a living standard

• IEC 61131-3 edition 3 (2013)

– object oriented
– harmonization between IEC 61131-3 and
IEC 61499 (Function Block standard)
– motion control
– compliance certificates

• I.e. implement work by PLCopen

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 IEC 61131-3 conclusion

• Reduced waste of human resources

– training, debugging, maintenance, consultancy, …

• Focus on problem solving via a high level of software reusability

• Reduced misunderstanding and errors
• Programming techniques usable in a broad environment
– general industrial control not restrict to conventional PLC

• Combining different components from different programs,

projects, locations, companies, etc.

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 TwinCAT3 (Beckhoff)
• An IEC 61131-3 Integrated Development Environment
– TwinCAT2 follows ed. 2 (2003)
– TwinCAT3 follows ed. 3 (2013)
• Free to download and use (test license)
• One software for programming and configuration
• Programming and run-time systems on one PC or separated
• Online monitoring and log of data
• HMI design
• Visual Studio integration
– use of C/C++ as programming language
– link to MATLAB/Simulink
• Data communication by means of open Microsoft standards (OPC, OCX, DLL, etc.)

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