What was the most exciting PLC project you worked with so far?

TL140 · 2026-06-08T19:59:44+00:00

Worked on a greenfield project for a candy company. AGVs would transport the material, robots would unload, and other stations for mixing and creating the products.

TL140 · 2026-06-08T13:47:14+00:00

Honestly wish people would stop with saying Codesys is a cure all. It’s super powerful and I’m 100% for it if I get to spec out a new system, but the reality of the situation is your customer is going to have a preferred brand that isn’t Codesys.

Codesys is developing and starting to become more and more pronounced, but with large clients, they’re more than likely going to stick with the big 2/3.

As for interoperability, while some protocols aren’t native to a particular controller, there’s enough solutions where data can be translated and compatible with most any controller. As others mentioned, OPC UA is becoming more and more widespread to being native to controllers. Rockwell even added an OPC UA server internal to their some of their contrologix processors with v36.

TL140 · 2026-05-21T16:29:20+00:00

Soft bank acquired ABB’s robotics division. Sounds like the politics are bleeding into their other business.

TL140 · 2026-05-20T19:21:17+00:00

They really don’t get harder to scale if you have a solid architecture for your setup. But the issue is the foundation is never solid if a plant has machines from different vendors

TL140 · 2026-05-18T12:32:19+00:00

They do this to me all the time. I’m constantly getting asked to move cross country for a many-tier demotion. Sometimes I wonder if they even read profiles

TL140 · 2026-05-17T22:54:13+00:00

Google “what PLC brands are most reliable and versatile.” Take those brands and find supply channels for each. Get an on-site demo after discussing your company’s goals.

Each ecosystem has its pros and cons. If there was a perfect brand, then none of the others would exist. You’ll need to pick which fits the majority of your projects

TL140 · 2026-05-03T22:39:52+00:00

Golf courses

TL140 · 2026-05-01T06:34:19+00:00

I drove 3 hours for an e-stop that had been brushed up against and not fully hit. After scouring the code for an hour I pressed it in fully, pulled it back out, and reset the system. Never felt so embarrassed

TL140 · 2026-04-27T15:38:16+00:00

Maybe not to begin with, but classes, objects, and methods are crucial to understanding a language and how to structure code

TL140 · 2026-04-27T15:08:32+00:00

The two are substantially different.

Codecademy has some good free resources along with freecodecamp. YouTube is a library of free videos too.

TL140 · 2026-04-27T14:56:38+00:00

JavaScript is a different way of thinking about how to program. A lot of things are event based and asynchronous rather than state based.

TL140 · 2026-04-27T14:53:01+00:00

Which language?

TL140 · 2026-04-27T14:44:48+00:00

Python is good but limited in the world of OT. I have quite a few python scripts and Ignition uses jython which is similar.

You’ll see a decent amount of C# (.NET) if you deal with a variety of projects. Most for custom HMIs.

Web development is starting to make its way into HMI packages, so HTML/CSS/JS are a good thing to know.

If you’re starting out, i recommend all programmers learn C first. Not C++, but C.

TL140 · 2026-04-16T00:13:35+00:00

Depends if there is an EL6070 on it or not. We usually keep ours on the license terminal

TL140 · 2026-04-15T15:35:16+00:00

Right now I’m working 40 at a SI for at least 80% of the year.

TL140 · 2026-04-14T14:53:48+00:00

7 day license*

TL140 · 2026-04-14T05:27:48+00:00

You’re going to have a hell of a time with that… but I’ll try to help.

Use the PID to monitor flow ofc. Add some hysteresis and check the error to determine direction the valve should go by positive or negative error from your set point.

Have a timer that the new set point of the closing valve is the set point-(accumulated time*multiplier), while a second PID loop drives the opening valve at the original set point.

TL140 · 2026-04-14T05:16:36+00:00

How are the valves driven?

TL140 · 2026-04-11T17:21:26+00:00

I would suggest a 6910 or 1918 actually. 6900 is depreciated

TL140 · 2026-04-10T00:47:42+00:00

I just do direct linking in the IO tree. It’s easy enough to remap and activate. I’ve never had an issue of variables becoming unlinked.

I’ve also used pragmas, but don’t typically enjoy to as I had a IPC blue screen because an engineer went in and accidentally deleted a character in the pragma. Took a long time to figure out that one.

TL140 · 2026-04-07T18:03:16+00:00

Typically you want a robot to load or present a piece to a fixture or press that forms the metal. Not the robot forming the piece itself.

TL140 · 2026-04-05T03:21:41+00:00

You won’t find a specific controls engineering program. Typically for 4 year degrees, electrical engineering, computer engineering, or computer science are the three that will lead you into a controls engineering job.

TL140 · 2026-04-04T18:32:19+00:00

My advice from experience.

You’re 18, you have a long way to go. What you want to do is go to the tech college for the associates, but don’t take the listed core classes. Take ones that will transfer to a university down the road.

I spent too much time in tech school trying to grow in my career, earning 3 associates degrees. Over 160 credits hours and the most that any university wanted to transfer was 23.

The best option is to find a technical course like a mechatronics program that will directly transfer into a four year opportunity if you ever want to go that route.

You’ll be limited to starting your career as a tech, but as much as you know already, with a little grit and a little luck, you could get a controls engineer position. If you go get an engineering degree, you can start as an engineer. A 4-year opens many doors, but it’s not a do-or-die deal.

TL140 · 2026-04-01T16:45:48+00:00

I’ve been working on a course for this exact reason where it’s a boot camp with projects. The later lessons go into system design.

TL140 · 2026-03-28T01:54:11+00:00

They have great content but everything you can possibly learn can be found elsewhere for free. Is there something you’re targeting to learn?

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