Wish List

[Flex727]

I've been using and programming Unitronics PLCs for several years now and I have to say that I absolutely love them. I always recommend them to my customers whenever I have the opportunity. However, there have been a few missing pieces that every user really needs and wants. I know this has been asked many times before, but it's been awhile so can a representative from Unitronics provide a quick update on the status of these issues? I realize it may not be possible to get too specific, but a simple "we're working on it" or "there are no plans at this time" or "we're working on it and we should have something really soon!" for each item would be great to see.

-PLC simulator built into Visilogic

-Online editing capability

-Ability to open more than one project at a time and directly copy and paste between projects.

-Ability to see both ladder logic and HMI screen simultaneously in Visilogic.

Also, is there any plan to introduce a 5.7" format PLC with a 640x480 screen resolution? The limitations of a 320x240 screen are sometimes extremely difficult and my customers do not have room for the larger format (10.4") PLCs. Most of your competitor's HMI screens that are similar size as the 570 are 640x480.

[Cara Bereck Levy]

Hi :-)

Well, I can give you half of this one :-/

>-Ability to open more than one project at a time and directly copy and paste between projects.

<

How can I have multiple instances of VisiLogic running at a single time?

To have multiple instances of VisiLogic:

1.Copy the folder "Unitronics VisiLogic_C" from "C:\Program Files\Unitronics"

2.Paste that copied folder somewhere else on your hard drive.

3.You can then open up the file "VisiLogic.exe" from "Unitronics VisiLogic_C\Main"

inside each separately pasted folders.

(The typical limitation is that only a single "VisiLogic.exe"

can be opened at a time, but having a copied folder "tricks" and allows this)

This will also let you, of course, look at a copy of the same app, and view both the HMI and Ladder app.

I haven't heard of plans for a 5.7" format PLC with a 640x480 screen resolution, but I will check.

If I have news about the other issues, I will share it :-)

[Flex727]

Thanks, Cara. I had that set up on my previous laptop, but haven't set it up on my new one yet. My recollection (which may be faulty) was that I couldn't copy and paste between separate instances of Visilogic, but had to open a project, copy the elements (either HMI or ladder), open a new project (which closes the previous one, of course), then paste it in. That works, but is extremely cumbersome.

It seems like I've heard about a simulator being "in progress" for a couple of years now. Is it really - or has it been dropped?

The v570 PLC HMI with only 320x240 resolution is so far behind the times that it's very difficult to explain to a customer. At that resolution the interface always looks much less professional than it could be and complex screens are often impossible to produce correctly. This leads to a much more clunky interface by having to break screens up in a way that is not always logical or representative of the equipment being controlled. I strongly recommend that Unitronics take a look at developing a 5.7" 640x480 product. Since Visilogic already handles the 640x480 10.4" product, I can't imagine this would be a very significant engineering undertaking. I'm sure it's more of a marketing question and if your research says there's insufficient demand for such a product, then that's a legitimate answer.

[AZ1975]

I would like to be able to write code and wrap it as a FUNCTION BLOCK or CONTROL MODULE and call it severall times with different names just like other PLC's do, to that FB connect a FACEPLATE at the panel and so. I wish...

[Cara Bereck Levy]

...yes, I know it is one of our topmost requests.

At present, the best we can offer is to use subroutines with Data Tables...I know.

I hope that I will be able to give some news about the simulator in the future.

And I will pass your comments about resolution along (sorry for the long lag...August!)

[Flex727]

I hate to resurrect an old post, but it's a new year and the same issues persist. Any plans this year to address any of these?

[Cara Bereck Levy]

I will check and get back to you.

[Flex727]

Thanks, Cara!