TIA Portal a useful and versatile software
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
It is used to develop educational projects that integrate HMI displays, PID controllers and other applications implemented for control and automation of industrial processes. OPC communication can be used to take data and export them to databases or to be used within a SCADA system to simplify real-time monitoring tasks.
Pros
- scada system simulation
- Allows the simulation of HMI screens
- integrates the necessary software to simulate PLC's and link them with HMI screens.
- It is useful when handling Grafcet.
- Easy to program in function blocks FBD.
Cons
- Amount of resources it takes up on the hard drive
- excessive consumption of execution resources (RAM, GPU)
- some licensing problems that are sometimes not recognized
- the existing saturation of icons on the main programming screen
Most Important Features
- ability to simulate analog and digital inputs and outputs
- versatility to handle different programming languages (LADDER, FBD, Structured Text)
- compatability with earlier software
- interconnection via ModBus
Return on Investment
- accelerated learning curve
- very intuitive visual interfaces
- allows the user to get familiar with the programming environment easily
Other Software Used
Python IDLE, Schneider Electric EcoStruxure