4/5/2016 Automation:IsArduinoreplacingprogrammablelogiccontrollerinindustries?

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Automation EmbeddedSystems Electronics ElectricalEngineering

Whyisprogrammingintheprocesscontrolindustry
Automation:IsArduinoreplacingprogrammablelogic (e.g.ladderlogic)soantiquatedwhencomparedto
modernsoftwaredevelopmenttools?
controllerinindustries?
HowtomakeProgrammableLogicControllertraining
kit?
7Answers Whichprogrammablelogiccontrollers(PLCs)are
usedinwhichmilitaryvehicles?
BenMordecai,EngineerinIndustrialAutomation
8.3kViewsBenisaMostViewedWriterinProgrammableLogicController(PLC). Whatwillbethenameofdifferentpositionsina
IndustrialControlandHomeautomationstartup?
Absolutelynot.It'snotevenonanyone'sradar.Arduinoisahobbyisttoy,andPLCsare
industrialequipment.It'stoomuchofahack. Whatbasicskillsareneededtobeinautomation
industry?

Thecostsavingsiscompletelyoutthewindowonceyouloseasingledayofproduction Ihave2yearsofexperienceasaPLCprogrammer.
becauseofanissuethattookyou10timesaslongtofixbecauseoftheengineeringhurdle. Whicharethetopcollegesforamaster'sinindustrial
automationintheUS?Isitreallyw...
It'snotdesignedtoworkinafailsafescenario,althoughallyoursafetyshouldnotevenbe
WhichPLC(ProgrammableLogicController)isbetter:
trustedbyanonsafetyPLCduetolackofredundancyinafailurescenario.
SIEMENSorAllenBradley?

It'salsonotdesignedtoruncontinuouslyina90Fdegreepanel,24hoursaday,365days WhyisnegativelogicprevalentinJapanese
ayearfor10years. programmablelogiccontrollers(PLCs)andelectronics
comparedtosimilarusageinEuropeorAmeri...
Finally,engineeringandtechniciantimeisvaluable.Budget$50200+perhour,not
WhyarePLCspreferredovermicrocontrollersinthe
includinglosttimeandequipmentlife.Howmuchmoneyareyoureallygoingtosave? automationindustries?
Written27Feb2015ViewUpvotes
Arethereanygoodoffcampus
(online/correspondence)mastersdegreeprogrammes
foranIndustrialAutomationEngineer?
RelatedQuestions
MoreAnswersBelow

Whyisprogrammingintheprocesscontrolindustry(e.g.ladderlogic)soantiquatedwhen
comparedtomodernsoftwaredevelopmenttools?

HowtomakeProgrammableLogicControllertrainingkit?

Whichprogrammablelogiccontrollers(PLCs)areusedinwhichmilitaryvehicles?

WhatwillbethenameofdifferentpositionsinaIndustrialControlandHomeautomation
startup?

Whatbasicskillsareneededtobeinautomationindustry?

AjinkyaKamat,DesigningRobotBrainsforaliving.
5.5kViewsUpvotedbyBenMordecai,EngineerinIndustrialAutomation

Noway.

Firstly,PLCandArduinoaretotallydifferentintermsofapplications.Onceyougetthe
hangofusingaPLCandreplacingitwithanArduinowillseemdifficultandpointless.

OnemayarguethataruggedArduinoBoardcouldbedesignedtowithstandtheharsh
environmentsofafactoryfloor.Howevertruethismaybewhenyoudesignarugged
Arduinoboard,whatyouareessentiallydoingisdevelopinganindustrialproductaround
Atmel'sAtmegamicroprocessor.SoletusgiveourfriendsatAtmelsomecreditandstop
callingsuchproductsArduinos.AndbelievemeIhaveopenedupafewindustrialgrade
productsmyself,particularlypowerfactorcontrollers,energymetersandgenset
controllers.ManyofthemdouseAtmelproducts.IamanAtmelfanmyself.

So,therealquestionisaremicrocontrollersreplacingPLCinindustries.

Theansweragainisno.

Yousee.PLCsandmicrocontrollersarebuiltfordifferentkindsofendusers.

https://www.quora.com/AutomationIsArduinoreplacingprogrammablelogiccontrollerinindustries 1/4
4/5/2016 Automation:IsArduinoreplacingprogrammablelogiccontrollerinindustries?Quora
Microcontrollersareusedbyproductdeveloperswhowilldesignanddevelopindustrial
equipmentliketemperaturecontrollers,panelmeters,sensormodules,transducers,
actuatorsetc.

PLCaretargetedforusebysystemintegratorswhowilluseproductsdevelopedbyother
companiestobuildanentireassemblyline.Fortheirapplicationwritingcodeusing
LadderLogicismuchmoreconvenientandoptimal.
Written5Nov2014ViewUpvotes

PiyushRamraika,CFALevel1candidate,ElectricalEngineer
4.3kViewsUpvotedbyBenMordecai,EngineerinIndustrialAutomation

YoushouldnoteventhinkofreplacingPLCswithArduino.Thereisimmensedifference
betweenarduinoandplc.
PLCsaremadetoworkinruggedandindustrialenvironmentandArudinoare
notreliableforsuchanenvironment.

Arduinocannotbetrustedinthelifesavingsituationasoccurinindustries.
Arduinoisdesignedforrandomhobbyistuseandsometimescangiveerrorwhichcan
beverydangerousforthelifeandpropertyoftheindustry.

PLCsusesimpleLadderLogicProgrammingsoitiseasytotroubleshootthemin
caseoferrorbutarduinoareprogrammedwithC++whichisforeginforplant
technicians.

ArduinoisprovidedwithResetbuttonassometimesitgetslockedupwhichisnot
goodforindustries.

ArduinohasfewI/OpinsandanalogpinsascomparedtoPLCswherepinscanbe
hundreds.

Soarduinoisgoodtoplayandprogramathomeandlabsitisnotreadytobeusedin
industrialarena.
Written31Oct2014ViewUpvotes

AdityaShakya,Tinkererbydesign,Artistbychoice.
4.2kViews

Ithinkitis.
ArduinoIsntJustForHackersPaulMFurley
ButIhavemixedfeelingsaboutextensivelyusingArduinoinmainstreamIndustrial
applicationsandwhenitcomestoreplacingPLCsandDCSs,Ihavetopainfully(coziama
fanofArduinoandembeditinallmyprojects)saythat,NoArduinoisnevergoingto
replacePLCs.Youaskwhy?
Firstofallifyoufollowlinkaboutyou'llfindthattheindustrialprintersinthelink
aboutuse5arduinos,andwhyisthat,becausetheyhavelowI/Ocount.Eventthe
mostadvancedarduinohasI/Osthatmaxoutataround100150(approx).Buteven
asmallindustrywilleasilyhavemorethan100I/Os.Nowyoumaysaywecanusea
numberofArduinostosufficeforlackofI/Os,yeswecan,butaskyourselfwhatwill
beeasytomanage(debugorprogram),PLCwithasingleCPU(thereisalwaysa
secondstandbyCPUinthem!!)whichwillhavealltheprogramor,Anumberof
arduinoswiththewholeprogramdividedintoeachandtheyallcommunicateand
synchronizeusingprotocolslikeI2C,SPIoratmaxSerialat115200baud,whichis
horriblyslowerthanthoseusedbyPLClikeModbus.

Secondproblemiscommunicationprotocolsavailable,andproblembeingtheyare
slow.Why?Because,whenyouhaveatleast1000I/Ostohandlethenyouwillhave
around2000+processparametersthatneedtobecommunicatedtotheOperator
consoleatatleast100to10Hzrate.Andatthesametimetheyalsoneedtobe
communicatedtocontrolequipment/hardware/deviceatmuchhigherfrequencies
liketensofthousandstime.Andwithslowcommunicationsavailableitwillmostlikely
resultinablownupBoileroraTurbinebreakingduetoexcessivevibrationandall
thatnotcountingthelifecasualtiesandmonetarylossandallsortsofaccidental
hazards.

ThirdpointbeingReliability.WhatifjustoneoftheArduinomalfunctionswhichisa
veryobviouspossibilitybecauseweneedtoresetitwhenithangsandagainitworks
perfect,butthisisnottolerablewhenyouarecontrollingmachinesworthBillionsof

https://www.quora.com/AutomationIsArduinoreplacingprogrammablelogiccontrollerinindustries 2/4
4/5/2016 Automation:IsArduinoreplacingprogrammablelogiccontrollerinindustries?Quora
rupees/dollars.PLCalwayshaveastandbyCPUthattakesoverwhenprimaryCPU
failsorstartsmisbehaving.

Fourthreasonbeing,PLCisprogrammedusingladderlogicwhichhasbeen
understoodandusedbyengineersandtechniciansfordecades,butontheother
handArduinohasitsownlanguage(notevenC).Andyetagainladderlogicbeing
graphicaliseasytoeditanddebug.TeachinganewlanguagelikeArduinowillbe
cumbersome.

Fifthreasonbeingthat,ifyouaresettingupanindustrialplantworthmillionsof
dollarsthenyouwouldn'twanttogiveitscontrolinthehandsofadevicethatcome
under100$!!.Soitsthetrustfactoratlast,PLCshavebeenhereforlongandtheyare
goingtostay.

AndatlastifyoudesignanIndustriallyrobustArduinobasedcontrollerfromscratch,
keepinginmindalltheindustrialnormsthenagainitwouldbenothingbutaPLCthatis
slowatcommunication,haslowprocessingpower,islessreliableandunderstandArduino
language.Itmaybeusefulforreallysmallindustrialapplicationlikeinsituationswhere
theapplicationisnotcriticalandreliabilityisnotbigadeal,Butyetagainitsfarfrom
replacingPLCs.

ItsnotthatIamagainstwholeArduinothing,actuallymymajorprojectwasan
IndustrialgradeDataAcquisitionandControlBoardwhichsupportbothDigitaland
AnalogI/OsofbothTTLlogiclevel(thoseusedbymicrocontrollerboardslikeArduino)
andPLClogiclevel024v.ItcanbeusedwithLABViewtomakeanycontrolsystembyjust
usingUSBconnectivity.ButthissaidIwouldneverhavesuggesteditsuseforanything
buteducationalpurposes.
Written13Nov2014ViewUpvotes

AnkurKaushal
2.8kViews

Wecanalsodesignarduinoforruggedorindustrialenvironment.

Howcansomeonesaysthatarduinogiveserrorinindustrialreqirement,asplcand
arduinobotharehavigmicrocontroller,whichworksaccordingtoprogramming.

ArduinoprogrammedinsimpleClanguagenotmorethan"if,else,than,for,while
etc"instructionseven7or8thstandardstudentcandoiteasily.

Resetisjustlikeon/offbutton,ifyoupoweroffplcitwillalsonotwork.

ifyoumaketemperaturecontrollerinindustriesusingplcitwillcostyounearabout
thousands$andifyouusearduinothiscostyouonlyfew$,sowhywepaymore.

Written2Nov2014ViewUpvotes

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