The design of the PLC is based on a selection of references available in
the manufacturer's catalogs.
PLC Design
There are two types of PLCs: single-piece PLCs, and PLCs comprising racks, modules, or
card. PLC components are added by searching for the reference in the manufacturer
catalog.
Single-piece PLC
To create a single-piece PLC:
- Place the cursor on the electrical project level in the tree in the top part of the
dialog box.
- Click Add PLC and select the PLC manufacturer
part option.
The manufacturer part search box opens and lets you select
the PLC reference to add. If you select a manufacturer part that it is not in the PLC
class a message box opens to prevent you. The mark is automatically generated. You can
modify it by clicking Properties. The list of channels appears
in the lower part of the dialog box.
PLC with rack
To create a PLC with rack:
- Create a mark (PLC mark).
- Add the rack and cards.
- Place the cursor on the electrical project level in the tree, in the top part of the
dialog box.
- Click Add PLC .
- Select PLC mark .
The mark dialog box opens and lets you allocate a mark to the PLC.
To add a rack, select the PLC mark and click Add rack. The
manufacturer part search box opens and lets you select the PLC reference to add.
The rack mark (which you can edit by clicking Properties) is
automatically added to the PLC tree structure.
If you expand the rack mark, you can see the slots available to receive cards or
modules.
To add a card, select a free slot on the rack and click Add
module.
The manufacturer part search box opens and lets you select the card to use. The list of
channels appears in the lower part of the dialog box.
Associating Inputs/Outputs
SOLIDWORKS Electrical has an interface that handles Input/Output management. You can
associate the I/O entered in the specific interface for various PLC channels.
- Select the channels to associate and click Associate
I/O link.
- In the I/O management dialog box, select the I/O you
want to associate.
Ensure that your selection is consistent between the two interfaces. If
there are inconsistencies, SOLIDWORKS Electrical displays an error message. Data
specific to the I/O (function, mnemonic, and description) is automatically
updated.
Navigate to the Drawings
In the contextual menu of the circuits (PLC channels), the Go to
symbol command allows you to open the drawing in which the symbol of
the PLC channel is inserted.
Page Break Management
Since a card can be drawn on several drawings, you can manage your own page breaks.
In the contextual menu for a PLC channel, select Add/Remove page break
option.
An icon is automatically placed at the start of the line.