BANKURA UNNAYANI INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING
NAME- JITENDRA NARAYAN GHOSH
DEPT.-ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION
ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY ROLL NO.-10500321010
CLASS ROLL NO.-01
SEMESTER-8th
SUB- Industrial automation and control(PE EC 802B)
Introduction
A programmable logic controller (PLC) or
programmable controller is an industrial computer
that has been ruggedized and adapted for the
control of manufacturing processes, such as
assembly lines, machines, robotic devices, or any
activity that requires high reliability, ease of
programming, and process fault diagnosis.
PLCs can range from small modular devices with
tens of inputs and outputs (I/O), in a housing
integral with the processor, to large rack-mounted
modular devices with thousands of I/O, and which
are often networked to other PLC and SCADA
systems. They can be designed for many
arrangements of digital and analog I/O, extended
temperature ranges, immunity to electrical noise,
and resistance to vibration and impact.
Invention and early development
The PLC originated in the late 1960s in the
automotive industry in the US and was designed to
replace relay logic systems. Before, control logic for
manufacturing was mainly composed of relays,
cam timers, drum sequencers, and dedicated
closed- loop controllers.
The hard-wired nature of these components made
it difficult for design engineers to alter the
automation process. Changes would require
rewiring and careful updating of the
documentation. Troubleshooting was a tedious
process. When general-purpose computers became
available, they were soon applied to control logic in
industrial processes. These early computers were
unreliable and required specialist programmers and
strict control of working conditions, such as
temperature, cleanliness, and power quality.
Architecture
A PLC is an industrial microprocessor-based
controller with programmable memory used to
store program instructions and various functions. It
consists of:
A processor unit (CPU) which interprets inputs,
executes the control program stored in memory
and sends output signals,
A power supply unit which converts AC voltage to
DC,
A memory unit storing data from inputs and
program to be executed by the processor,
An input and output interface, where the
controller receives and sends data from and to
external devices,
A communications interface to receive and transmit
data on communication networks from and to
remote PLCs.
Programming
Programmable logic controllers are intended to be
used by engineers without a programming
background. For this reason, a graphical
programming language called ladder logic was first
developed. It resembles the schematic diagram of a
system built with electromechanical relays and was
adopted by many manufacturers and later
standardized in the IEC 61131-3 control systems
programming standard. As of 2015, it is still widely
used, thanks to its simplicity.
As of 2015, the majority of PLC systems adhere to
the IEC 61131-3 standard that defines 2 textual
programming languages: Structured Text (similar
to Pascal) and Instruction List; as well as 3 graphical
languages: ladder logic, function block diagram and
sequential function chart. Instruction List was
deprecated in the third edition of the standard.
Functionality
The main difference from most other computing
devices is that PLCs are intended for and therefore
tolerant of more severe conditions (such as dust,
moisture, heat, cold), while offering extensive
input/output (I/O) to connect the PLC to sensors
and actuators. PLC input can include simple digital
elements such as limit switches, analog variables
from process sensors (such as temperature and
pressure), and more complex data such as that
from positioning or machine vision systems. PLC
output can include elements such as indicator
lamps, sirens, electric motors, pneumatic or
hydraulic cylinders, magnetic relays, solenoids, or
analog outputs. The input/output arrangements
may be built into a simple PLC, or the PLC may have
external I/O modules attached to a fieldbus or
computer network that plugs into the PLC.
Process of a scan cycle
A PLC works in a program scan cycle, where it
executes its program repeatedly. The simplest scan
cycle consists of 3 steps:
Read inputs.
Execute the program.
Write outputs.
The program follows the sequence of instructions.
It typically takes a time span of tens of milliseconds
for the processor to evaluate all the instructions
and update the status of all outputs.[35] If the
system contains remote I/O—for example, an
external rack with I/O modules—then that
introduces additional uncertainty in the response
time of the PLC system.
Security
In his book from 1998, E. A. Parr pointed out that
even though most programmable controllers
require physical keys and passwords, the lack of
strict access control and version control systems,
as well as an easy-to-understand programming
language make it likely that unauthorized changes
to programs will happen and remain unnoticed.
Prior to the discovery of the Stuxnet computer
worm in June 2010.
Reference- google, youtube,
wikipedia
