Information on monitoring PLCs or production lines
Access to the PLC data is accomplished using one of the following methods:
- directly from PLC data blocks (see below)
- using the communication protocol built in the PLC e.g. ModbusTCP, OPC UA, OPC DA (OPC Classic)
- using the OPC UA or OPC DA (OPC Classic) server:
The OPC UA/DA server is a special application that receives low-level data from the PLC and then issues it to Scout and SCT over the OPC UA protocol.
The OPC UA server can be used for less popular PLCs.
It is required to connect the PLC to the LAN (directly or through the RS-ETH converter) and to know the data blocks that are to be read and transferred to Scout.
Direct PLC support
We support direct connection to the following PLCs:
- Siemens S7-200, S7-300, S7-400, S7-1200/1500, LOGO! and similar
- Beckhoff TwinCat 2/3
- OMRON
- Mitsubishi MELSEC
We are constantly adding support for more PLCs to be able to read data from them directly.
Siemens S7 without LAN support
In the case of PLC Siemens S7 200/300/400 without Ethernet modules, we suggest using a special S7 LAN adapter that allows “networking” the PLC without the need to make any changes to the PLC program.
If you have questions about getting data from your PLC, we encourage you to have a short conversation with our specialist. During a free consultation we will help you choose the optimal solution for communication with the PLC.