An Affordable And Programmable PLC

We’re all applied to standard function microcontroller boards these kinds of as the Arduino or its numerous imitators, but maybe we really don’t see as a lot of their industrial cousins. A programmable logic controller (PLC) is a computer designed to automate industrial equipment, and will come with guarded interfaces and normally a certain PLC programming atmosphere. Therefore [Galopago]’s get the job done with an low-cost Chinese PLC clone is especially appealing, offering a route forward to making use of it inside of the Arduino IDE ecosystem.

Opening it up, the processor is identified as an STM32F103, and the connection necessary to position it in bootloader method is determined. Then it can be programmed from the Arduino IDE, even while its bootloader can’t be transformed. Then to comprehensive the process it is important to detect the several different inputs and outputs by outdated-fashioned components reverse engineering.

This PLC may not be really as robust as some goods costing significantly much more money, but it however signifies a cost-successful way to accessibility a microcontroller board with much of the interface circuitry previously mounted that would typically be expected for controlling machinery. We assume that we’ll be looking at it show up on these pages in excess of the coming months, and perhaps there could even be yet another comparison in the air.