PLCs: The Industrial Controller That Affects Everything You Do

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As far as cost is concerned, the Arduino has a much lower sticker price. “But when all the ancillary components necessary to make the Arduino useful in this relatively simple application are added,” he concludes, “the hardware cost will narrow or disappear.” Moreover, since programming the Arduino was more laborious, a PLC turns out to be cheaper to install and maintain

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PLCs: The Industrial Controller That Affects Everything You Do
Uses and Advantages of PLCs
PLC Languages
PLCs vs Microcontrollers

Zachary Stank

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PLCs: The Industrial Controller That Affects Everything You Do Zachary Stank Follow Oct 11 · 6 min read
PLCs are commonly found in manufacturing, automotive, oil and gas, transportation, and many other industries.
We even find them in everyday devices like washing machines and traffic lights.
Today’s industrialized world certainly relies on PLCs, but what are they?
PLCs come in all shapes and sizes
TechTarget provides a definition: “A programmable logic controller (PLC) is a small, modular solid state computer with customized instructions for performing a particular task.
PLCs, which are used in industrial control systems (ICS) for a wide variety of industries, have largely replaced mechanical relays, drum sequencers and cam timers.” Essentially, a PLC is a type of computer.
Rather than focusing on ease of use and a GUI (graphical user interface) like a PC would, a PLC prioritizes resilience to extreme conditions, operational uptime, and maximum efficiency.
The first PLC was created by Dick Morley in 1968 for General Motors.
Since then, industries around the world have adopted this technology to automate processes and improve outcomes.
First, the PLC receives inputs from switches, push-buttons, sensors, encoders, and the like.
This then triggers outputs when the software performs its logic on the inputs, and the PLC engages valves, motor starters, solenoids, actuators, pumps, and more.
These I/O modules can be either analog or digital, and they are at the heart of a PLC’s functionality.
The PLC can then communicate with other devices and systems.
For instance, it might export data to a SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system that monitors an array of devices.
In effect, a PLC continuously cycles through the following four-step process:
1. Input Scan
2. Program Scan
3. Output Scan
This means that it receives the input, puts that input through its logic, and then determines an output based upon the result of that function

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