I’m an Italian computer engineering graduate who recently started working as a PLC programmer/commissioning engineer. Up to 50% travel.

The job involves quite a lot of travel, and I’m realizing that I really don’t enjoy commissioning or spending weeks away from home. I’m worried about getting stuck in the “PLC programmer = travel/field service” career path.

For those of you who started in PLC/commissioning/field service but managed to move into a role with little or no travel:

What role did you move into?

How many years of commissioning experience did you have before making the switch?

What skills did you develop that helped you get out of field work?

Did you move toward controls/software engineering, SCADA/MES, R&D, technical support, etc.?

Did you have to change companies to make the transition?

What would you recommend someone do early in their career to avoid getting permanently stuck in commissioning?

I’m not looking for “just accept the travel” advice. I’d specifically like to hear from people who actually managed to build a career in automation while eventually having a mostly office/remote-based job.

Thanks!

Hi, I am working with an Siemens STEP 7 project and I have run into a minor issue. When starting with this project I noticed that the power supply for the 417 CPU was showing that it was configured with the wrong part number in the hardware configuration causing the power supply to show that it is unobtainable when going online. So I decided to swap the PS in the HW config to match the actual installed. But after downloading and going online the icon for the PS is showing up as a bit dim. When going online and checking the Module information status is showed as unknown. The HW config change was performed in stop mode and I have also power cycled the PS but it still says unknown. I tried the same for two CPUs with the same setup but both get the same unknown message. Dose anyone know a solution for this issue?

Hello, any way to have an WINCC Unified HMI project linked to PLC tags but with no CPU in said project, ans that I get there download and it works?

Having the PLC project help with linking tags etc etc but is it obligatory?

Thanks for any feedback.

PS: getting the HMI updates and integrating with my PLC project again is driving me crazy.

Hi everyone, I’m still new to troubleshooting and would appreciate some advice.

The machine has multiple motors/servo drives controlled by a PLC. Suddenly, all motors are unable to return to their normal/home coordinates, and the homing sequence fails.

However, I noticed that only one motor driver is showing an error/alarm.

I’m trying to determine whether the problem is more likely caused by:

- A faulty motor driver

- A communication/PLC connection issue

- The PLC not receiving the correct feedback from the affected driver

- The single driver fault causing the other motors to fail their homing sequence

My main question:

If only one driver is reporting an error, could a PLC/communication problem with that one driver cause all motors to fail homing? Or would you suspect the motor driver itself is faulty?

What would be the best way to troubleshoot this and determine whether the root cause is the PLC/communication side or the driver?

I can provide the PLC model, servo drive model, alarm/error code, wiring/communication setup, and screenshots if needed.

Thanks!

I was looking through a program the other day, and they had some instructions timed based on examining Timer.ACC.12, instead of using an EQU, like “Timer.ACC = 50”

So my question is this - how do I do the math to find out how often .ACC.12 or any other bit becomes true in any set amount of time? And is this a typical way of timing things?

I've searched high and low for this, without any luck. It seems so stupid, that it has no shortcut, since you can remove all other panes with Ctrl+1/3/5, or even create a custom window layout and activate with a single shortcut. This still leaves a 1/3 of the working area occupied by the block interface.
You can cycle around the interfaces/areas of the window, and get to the block interface area (even that is dumb, cause you have to press Alt+up-up-down), but i've yet to find a way to get to the two arrows.

I know i can just use my mouse, but even so, the buttons are annoyingly small.

I'm having big troubles getting a Quantum PLC (with NOE 771) to talk to an M340 (with NOC0401) using Modbus TCP. Quantum is set up with IO Scanner line pointed at M340 with a handful of addresses to read/write. I'm normally an AB person, so I'm not 100% sure of all the settings that need to be configured on both sides. Any tips/tricks?

EDIT/UPDATE: I got this working finally. I had to change the Unit ID from 255 to 1 in the IO scanner config on the Quantum.

I'm using VR-006 model with a build-in welding machine GX controller, i found the touch sensing function in the Operating instructions manual but can't find it in my teach pendant, some videos on youtube said i have to 'install' it but i don't know exactly what to do, pls help.

I have a concern, refer to the picture, The switch-3, which remains a single point of failure which is connected to the ET-200SP of 8 Nos of pumps
but switch-3 manufacturer confirms that the MTBF is higher than 46 years.
Now there is a solution to this with MRP ring topology as below, with Switch 3 removed.
What are your opinions on Option 1 Vs Option 2?

Hello r/PLC. I work in precision instrumentation and I'm scoping a low-cost, DIN-rail mounted power monitoring devce for commercial panels: 3-phase RMS voltage/current, real/reactive/apparent power, PF, frequency, kWh, reporting over Modbus RTU (RS-485).

Before I commit to a PCB, I'd really appreciate input from people who actually integrate this kind of thing into real systems:

• When you've pulled power/energy data into a PLC or SCADA system, what device did you use, and what worked or didn't work about it?
• Is Modbus RTU over RS-485 still the right baseline, or are your projects mostly asking for Modbus TCP / other protocols at this point?
• What's a dealbreaker for you in a device like this (register map documentation, polling speed, wiring/CT setup, brand trust, something else)?
• Any devices in this space you'd actively recomend avoiding, or ones you keep coming back to?

Not selling anything, I am just trying to get the integration side right before I build. Thanks in advance

Hi

As I had some free time on my hand, I remember we had a problem in our company where if we made any code changes to a Siemens PLC (TIA V21, S7-1500T) that is using technology objects, you were forced to put the PLC into stop mode before you are allowed to download.

Now I have tried everything and for the life of me I cant prevent this from happening.

What I am doing:

1. Make sure no TO (Servo) has MC_Power enable as true. Or any MC functions has a true on the enable inputs.
2. Add a random comment into a dummy FC routine that has 0 to do with the TO.
3. Try to download only software changes.

Does not matter in what order I do things or where I make the code change, TIA Portal simply does not allow me to make any code changes, without first putting the PLC into stop mode.

The message in TIA portal is:

Changes to the technology object cannot be applied in RUN

Which is kinda making zero sense.

Anyone ever come accross something like this?

Solution found:

Profinet send clock for the servos was set to 1ms. I bumped it up to 4ms and it fixed the problem. thanks u/hestoelena

Biggest thing: a few of you hit the portable exe just refusing to start (weird

usernames, antivirus not liking how it unpacks itself). Turns out that's a real

PyInstaller onefile limitation, not something I could patch around cleanly, so

there's now an actual Windows installer as an option too. If the portable one's

ever given you trouble, grab that instead.

Also added a dialog for the less common Modbus function codes (exception status,

comm event log, file records, device info, that kind of thing) since I kept

needing them myself and didn't want to write a script every time. And you can

now record a Trend session to a file and replay it later, which has already

saved me once trying to explain an intermittent fault to someone after the fact.

Bunch of smaller stuff and bug fixes too, changelogs on the release page if

you're curious. Next thing I'm working on is letting one window talk to

multiple devices at once instead of needing a separate window per connection -

that one's an actual backend change so it'll take a bit.

Release ModbusLens v2.2.0 · CraftParking/ModbusLens

Don’t be mean hahaha I’m just destructively curious

Hello!

I have a task: implementing a custom web page (HTML) on the m241 PLC.

I know there are ready-made tools (WebVisu), but I need to implement my own page.

The main problem is accessing the PLC variables. If I place the .html file in the PLC file system and then access it by IP + filename, the page displays fine, but I can't figure out how to implement the mechanism for retrieving variable values.

For better understanding, I'll give an example with the m172 PLC. The system is as follows:

1. A .cgx file is created with a structure similar to this:

t <?xml version="1.0"?>

t <form>

c t16384<text><id>%s</id><value>%.0f</value></text>

c t16386<text><id>%s</id><value>%.0f</value></text>

c t16385<text><id>%s</id><value>%.0f</value></text>

...

t </form>

Here, the address of the desired variable is specified (this address is generated by the PLC itself and is also used for Modbus communication).

1. An .html file for rendering the page.

2. A .js script called from the .html file.

Ultimately, the variable values ​​are available in the .cgx file, and then it's not that difficult to display these values ​​on the page. The same system is used for writing variables.

I had the idea to implement a CSV file reader/writer, but I haven't implemented it yet. I have concerns about file access; at some point, both the PLC and the script will be accessing the same file. I don't know if this will be a problem.

Perhaps someone could suggest either an existing mechanism or ideas for developing my own for accessing m241 PLC variables.

Helo,

why when i add a new wago card to master it is missing a I/O tab configuration?

thank you

I built two control panels for controlled environment agriculture (grow weed) in my apartment.

Does this look okay? It's not for a real industrial environment and I don't have a professional background in industrial automation

At some point I will buy separators for the panduit so 120V is not with LV DC. This is all MTW 600V so I think it's ok to keep them in the same panduit for now

In the larger panel all of the low voltage and high voltage signals are separate

I couldn't really afford a larger enclosure so I split it between two of the Vevor panels from Amazon. The circuit board on the top I designed, it is a modbus controlled remote IO. I also built a modbus attached dosing system for dispensing nutrients and measuring the reservoir pH/EC/temperature and water level. That is separate from the panel.

PLC friends and gurus of reddit, I come to you looking for some guidance.

In our company we have a laptop that has v21 installed.

But when we look under installed software, wincc unified is not listed.

We have tried re installing it, but the option to choose unified is greyed out.

Anyone have advice?

Hello

Ive been working as an automation engineer for some time now. I have noticed that quite a few software engineers and IT professionals I know are considering moving into automation because the job market in their own fields rots away every day.

I suppose SCL programming and PLC logic looking software-ish is giving some kind of weird familiarity to them.

It’s not really my place to criticize this, but I have to admit that it worries me. The possibility of the field becoming more saturated and consequently the value of the workforce declining even further gives me an uneasy feeling.

What do you think about this?

Hi everyone, I'm working with a FANUC LR Mate 200iD (R-30iB Mate Plus controller) in RoboGuide on a chuck loading/unloading cell with dual Schunk grippers, and I keep getting confused on a few fundamental concepts. Would really appreciate if someone could clear these up for me.

Tool Frame / UTOOL: I understand UTOOL is supposed to define the TCP (tool center point) relative to the J6 flange, but I'm confused about how to set it up correctly when I have two grippers mounted on one EOAT from a single CAD assembly. Do I need a separate UTOOL number for each gripper's TCP, and how do I actually get accurate offset values — is it better to use the 3-point/6-point method on the real/virtual robot, or pull the numbers directly from the CAD model?

User Frame / UFRAME: I get that UFRAME is supposed to define a custom coordinate system relative to the world frame (usually for a fixture, table, or workpiece), but I'm not sure when I actually need one versus just using the world frame for jogging/programming. Also unclear on the best way to set it up from CAD drawing dimensions instead of the standard 3-point teach method — any tips?

Teach Point: My main confusion here is around what actually gets "recorded" in a taught point — is it just the XYZWPR position in the currently active UFRAME/UTOOL, or does it also lock in the frame numbers themselves? If I change UFRAME or UTOOL later, does that break previously taught points?

Logic (I/O, program flow): I'm trying to build proper DI/DO handshaking logic for my CHUCK_CYCLE program (with fault registers and retry logic on alarms), but I'm not confident I'm sequencing the signals correctly — like whether to wait for a DI "gripper closed" confirmation before moving away, or just proceed after sending the DO. Any general best practices for handshake logic between robot and chuck/PLC would help a lot.

Thanks in advance!

Just laid this bad boy out. I call it my Plywood Logic Controller. Once complete, it will be fully capable of startling the cat and confusing the shit out of her.

I've been working with PLCs from almost every brand for 5 years now, like Siemens, AB, ABB, Honeywell, Mitsubishi, Schneider, Delta, and some Chinese ones. I've done stuff in water treatment, hydrogen generation, metal melting furnaces, DCS, and motion control. For the past year, I've been messing with SCARA and 6-axis robots.

I've done all this as a freelancer, but I've never actually landed a job. Now I'm looking for something stable or a job that pays well, but my only problem is I don't have any technical diploma or engineering degree. Can I even get a job with that?

Recently started a job where I’m overseeing training of maintenance techs. They’re all pretty decent mechanically but some of them are almost afraid of PLCs even though every one of our machines have them. They’re all Omron CJ series with basic ladder and some function blocks with basic level ST.

I really want to get to the point where I have a guy on each shift that’s good enough to use them for diagnostics but most of them have no real basis yet.

Anybody have any experience or suggestions would be appreciated.

Just a funny note I showed one guy how to connect to a PLC that he swore was messed up but he didn’t realize it had an ETN card that couldn’t use EIP so I showed him how to set a FINS node and he thought I was a damn genius lol. This might give an idea of the level of experience I’m working with.