Using the Codesys SoftPLC as Task Manager
This guide shows the step-by-step process on how to use the example Codesys project and make it communicate with the Realtime controller to control the robots in the Getting Started Guide example project.
- 1 1 Prerequisites
- 2 2 Setup and Execution
- 3 3 How To
- 4 4 Devices supported by Codesys
- 5 5 Codesys Realtime Controller Function Blocks
1 Prerequisites
Install Codesys on a Windows System
Install Codesys V3.5 SP14 x64 or newer on a Windows System
Download the Codesys installer from https://store.codesys.com/codesys.html.
A Codesys account is necessary to proceed with download, so when a user is not logged in, pressing Download will prompt a dialog box leading the user to the “Login or Create an Account” page
Once logged in as a user, the user would have the option to download the 32-bit or 64-bit installer.
2 Setup and Execution
2.1 Realtime Controller
Create a group and load the projects in the Control Panel
The Getting Started Example Project is loaded for this example with the group named as ‘Test’. You can download the project files for the Control Panel below.
2.2 Codesys
The Codesys library files and example Codesys projects are available in the Examples github repository. The files are located inside the PLC/RealtimeCodesysControl/ folder. The folder structure of the repository is as follows.
RealtimeExamples
├── PLC/RealtimeCodesysControl
│ ├── ExampleProject
│ ├── LibraryCode
│ ├── MELCOPickExample
├── C#
└── pythonOpen Codesys (Codesys v3.5 SP16 is used in this guide)
Install the RTR Controller Library.compiled-library file into codesys
From the menu bar: Tools -> Library Respository -> Install
b. Choose the RTR Controller Library.compiled-library file.
This file is located in the LibraryCode folder.
The library should show up in the installed libraries list when the library is successfully installed
Launch the Example Project (ExampleProject.project)
This file is located in the ExampleProject folder.
The project should be loaded as shown in the image below
Configure the necessary parameters in RunRobotA and RunRobotB
Configure the following parameters for RunRobotA and RunRobotB in the program and the logic diagram
Program | ParameterName | Value |
|---|---|---|
RunRobotA / RunRobotB | ProjectName | RTR_Example_Project_Left_Bot / RTR_Example_Project_Right_Bot |
RunRobotA & RunRobotB | RTC_IP | Realtime Controller IP address (e.g. 192.168.0.10) |
RunRobotA & RunRobotB | GroupName | Deconfliction group name (e.g. ‘Test’) |
RunRobotA & RunRobotB | HubOrder | ['staging', ‘place_1_1’, ‘place_1_2’, ‘place_1_3’, ‘place_1_4’, ‘place_2_1’, ‘place_2_1’] |
RunRobotA & RunRobotB | Work_State_Name (Logic Diagram) | ‘no_part' |
Check the IP address of the workstation or system running the Realtime Controller appliance using ifconfig in a terminal.
Make sure that all the libraries are installed into the system by double clicking on the Library Manager
Unavailable libraries will have a warning mark in their icon and show a message that the library is unavailable when the mouse is hovered over it as shown in the image below
Make sure that RunRobotA and RunRobotB are added to the main task.
The ExampleProject has RunRobotB_1 called in the MainTask. This step can be skipped if the ExampleProject you’re working on already has RunRobotA and RunRobotB under MainTask.
The following video shows how to remove the RunRobotB_1 call and how to add RunRobotA and RunRobotB call to the MainTask.
a. Double-click on MainTask (IEC-Tasks) on the Devices pane.
b. Click on RunRobotB_1 and click on Remove Call.
c. Click Add Call and choose RunRobotA or RunRobotB under Applications > Two Robots Moving To Hubs. Do this for both RunRobotA and RunRobotB.
Start the Codesys Control Win v3x64 soft PLC
a. Click on the Show hidden icons button in the task bar
b. Right click on the Codesys Control Systray icon (the icon of a gray box with 64 in black) and select StartPLC. The 64 on the icon will turn red once the PLC is started.
Scan Network and select the soft PLC
a. Double click on the Device icon in the Devices panel
b. Click on Scan Network and select the device
Download project to the soft PLC then run the program
The project can be built by clicking on the Build icon on the toolbar or by pressing F11. Make sure that there are no errors by checking the log message in the status bar.
When logging in for the first time with the active application, you will be prompted whether the application “Sim.<device name>.<application name>” should be created and loaded. Click Yes to confirm.
Pressing the Login button allows you to connect the application to the target system (PLC to simulated device) and allows you to go to online mode which allows you to run the application using the play icon.
10. Toggle InitEnable then EnableOpMode in both RunRobotA and RunRobotB
11. Toggle Run bit in both RunRobotA and RunRobotB. This allows the robot to move by cycling to the hubs in the HubList. Toggling the Run bit off will stop the PLC from sending commands. Toggling the Reset bit at the bottom of the logic diagram would reset the application and move the robots to the ‘home’ hub.
3 How To
3.1 Add a new Ladder Logic Diagram Program POU
This section shows a step-by-step procedure on how to add a new ladder logic diagram program POU
Right click on the Devices pane on the right side of the screen and select Add Object → POU
In the Add POU dialog box, select Program as the POU Type
Make sure that the Implementation Language that is selected is Ladder Logic Diagram (LD)
Edit the name of the POU and click Add.
3.2 Add RTR library blocks in the ladder diagram
The example uses a Program POU with Ladder Logic Diagram (LD) as implementation language. A Program POU with Ladder Logic Diagram consists of the upper and lower pane. The upper pane is where the variables can be defined and can be set to be either in textular or tabular view. The lower pane is where the ladder diagram can be constructed and RTR library blocks can be added.
The user can add the RTR library blocks in the ladder diagram by doing the following:
Right click on the Logic Diagram side of the program and select Empty box with EN/EN0
Click on the block title
Click on the button with ellipsis (…) beside the block title and select the RTR library block you want to add (We will be using TCP_Connect in this example) and click OK. The parameters of the empty box will be updated once you click somewhere outside the box.
Click on each of the input and output parameters and enter the necessary information (variables are defined on the upper pane of the program)
The video attached shows how TCP_Connect is added in the ladder diagram.
4 Devices supported by Codesys
To use actual PLCs, downloaded the PLC program to the actual PLC instead of downloading it to the Codesys SoftPLC as shown in this guide.
The list of PLCs supported by Codesys can be accessed here. Schneider Electric, Beckhoff, WAGO, and Festo among others use Codesys as their standard programming interface.
5 Codesys Realtime Controller Function Blocks
5.1 PLC Program Variables
5.1.1 ConfigurationStrings
Variable Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
Project Name | STRING | Project Name for each robot |
RTC_IP | STRING | IP address of the Realtime Controller |
GroupName | STRING | Group Name for Init Group |
HubOrder | ARRAY[0..n] OF STRING | Array of Hubs |
5.1.2 HMI Buttons
Variable Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
Configure | BOOL | Enter Configuration Mode |
RUN | BOOL | Moves from config to run mode and runs the robots |
xRESET | BOOL | Resets everything and moves robots back to home |
Priority | BOOL | If TRUE, robot will not go to staging but will wait in place. If FALSE, robot will go to staging. |
5.1.3 Realtime Controller Library Block Enable Bits
Variable Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
Connect | BOOL | Connect to robot |
InitEnable | BOOL | send INIT command to RTR controller |
EnableOpMode | BOOL | Bit to trigger the BeginOperationMode Command |
OffroadToHome | BOOL | Bit to enable the offroadmap move back to home |
5.1.4 Realtime Controller Library Blocks
Variable Name | Realtime Controller Library Block |
|---|---|
TCP_Connect | TCP_Connect |
hc_A | RTR.CAA.HANDLE |
InitGroup | InitGroup |
MoveToHub | MoveToHub |
MoveToStage | MoveToHub |
MoveToHome | MoveToHub |
BeginOperationMode | BeginOperationMode |
OffroadToHub | OffroadToHub |
5.2 Realtime Controller Library Block Specifications
The following diagrams show the different Realtime Controller library blocks used in the PLC example program with their corresponding input and output parameters.
5.2.1 TCP_Connect
Input Parameters
Parameter Name | Description |
|---|---|
xConnect | Connects on rising edge; connection remains open while true |
xReset | Reset connection |
strConfigIPAddress | IP address of appliance as a string (e.g. 192.168.0.4) |
uiConfigPort | Port to connect to on the appliance (e.g. 9999) |
Output Parameters
Parameter Name | Description |
|---|---|
hConnection | Required socket info for all appliance blocks |
strDiagnose | Status of the block |
xReady | TRUE when connected |
5.2.2 InitGroup
Input Parameters
Parameter Name | Description |
|---|---|
Enable | Message sent on rising edge | Disable to reset block |
Deconfliction_Group | String value for deconfliction group |
Project_Name | String value for project name |
Work_State_Name | String value for roadmap workstate |
hConnection | Required socket info for all appliance blocks |
Output Parameters
Parameter Name | Description |
|---|---|
Done | True when valid response is received |
Output | String output of the response |
Result | Output of the error code from the RTR controller |
Status | Current status of this block |
Error | True when a non-zero value is returned from the appliance |
5.2.3 BeginOperationMode
Input Parameters
Parameter Name | Description |
|---|---|
Enable | Message sent on rising edge | Disable to reset block |
hConnection | Required socket info for all appliance blocks |
Output Parameters
Parameter Name | Description |
|---|---|
Done | True when valid response is received |
Output | String output of the response |
Result | Output of the error code from the RTR controller |
Status | Current status of this block |
Error | True when a non-zero value is returned from the appliance |
5.2.4 MoveToHub
Input Parameters
Parameter Name | Description |
|---|---|
Enable | Message sent on rising edge | Disable to reset block |
Project_Name | String value for project name |
Work_State_Name | String value for roadmap workstate |
HubName | String value for hub name |
Speed | String value for robot speed (1 = full speed, 0.1 = 10% speed) |
hConnection | Required socket info for all appliance blocks |
Output Parameters
Parameter Name | Description |
|---|---|
Done | True when valid response is received |
Output | String output of the response |
Result | Output of the error code from the RTR controller |
Status | Current status of this block |
Error | True when a non-zero value is returned from the appliance |
5.2.5 OffroadToHub
Input Parameters
Parameter Name | Description |
|---|---|
Enable | Message sent on rising edge | Disable to reset block |
Project_Name | String value for project name |
Work_State_Name | String value for roadmap workstate |
HubName | String value for hub name |
Path_Quality | String value for the desired quality of the executed path (“low”, “medium”, “high”) |
Timeout | String value for the amount of time given to plan the path to the hub, in seconds. |
hConnection | Required socket info for all appliance blocks |
Output Parameters
Parameter Name | Description |
|---|---|
Done | True when valid response is received |
Output | String output of the response |
Result | Output of the error code from the RTR controller |
Status | Current status of this block |
Error | True when a non-zero value is returned from the appliance |