Bruce B Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 Hi I'm very new to Unitronics and Visilogic , I'm not a programmer and have limited experience in PLC, I'm a refrigeration tech and a business owner with strong back ground in control wiring, about 10 years ago I purchased a Siemens Logo PLC. down loaded the program and made my first program. I was probably up all night learning. After that I ended up with a contract to build a specialized refrigeration unit for a scientific cold lad with unique cooling specifications, as I could not find a controller that could meet the design specifications or out control system I purchased the V570 with a v200-18-E3XB. the controller had to control analog valves and a SCR control along with digital inputs and out puts, time delays on and on, the display had be very user friendly and display the box temp in both Fahrenheit and Celsius as it would be use around the world. this was no easy task for someone with not experience aside from what I read on the web to take on but after obsessively working on it and learning I completed the task . I'm sure if a trained programmer looked at it they would see things I could have done better or more correctly but my point in posting this is if you have the mind to learn and the tenacity Visilogic can be learned, making it a great application for what it is and the un-limited things you can do with it. I already have another project in mind and will be adding more things to it like remote logon (just have to learn how). I included a pic of my display. I included a pic of the display 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVP 2023 Flex727 Posted December 18, 2020 MVP 2023 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 Very Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVP 2023 Joe Tauser Posted December 19, 2020 MVP 2023 Report Share Posted December 19, 2020 On 12/17/2020 at 6:13 PM, Bruce B said: I'm sure if a trained programmer looked at it they would see things I could have done better or more correctly If it works, it's good. You've done a fine job! You've also demonstrated a willingness to dive into unfamiliar territory and make it your own, an attitude I so wish we could teach on a large scale basis. I've lost count of how many times people have posted on this forum, described a project, and then asked for an example of it. It is maddening. Please reach out on the forum if you have questions or run into stumbling blocks on your next project. There are a handful of us on the "experienced programmer" side who are very happy to help those who help themselves. Joe T. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickL Posted April 10, 2023 Report Share Posted April 10, 2023 Hi Bruce B! : ) Welcome to the HELP forum!! I'm very new to Unitronics and Visilogic PLC as well! I do special design and mods on refrigeration projects as well too! (roof-top units, coolers, freezers, etc ..... and currently prototyping an ultra-sound cavitation assisted, beverage fast chiller) but, I'm not a HAVC tech! : ) I also do special projects in electrical, plumbing, auto mechanics, etc. as well but, I'm not an electrician, plumber or mechanic by any normally recognized professional criteria. I simply exploit these and many other technical fields to fulfill my current project desires .... and have lots of fun! : ) I'd be happy to help you with your project thru to its completion. Any code clips I can pass you or app shells to get you up to speed, I will! Question: In your posted HMI of your project here, I feel the buttons and symbol graphics library , needs much improvement! : ( (I'm referring to the on-off, arrow up and down graphics ) I myself would not present to my customer, on a state of the art PLC, such a poor quality graphic representation. I don't know why this is , maybe a memory constraint of this PLC? I would be willing to pay extra for more memory with high end graphics than to present such poor graphics in the end product. ..... your thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVP 2023 Flex727 Posted April 10, 2023 MVP 2023 Report Share Posted April 10, 2023 11 hours ago, RickL said: I don't know why this is , maybe a memory constraint of this PLC? No, the issue is the HMI display resolution on this particular PLC is 320x240. Unitronics makes higher resolution HMI screens on other PLC models that might suit you better. Further, The graphics and the programming software are both free. There is nothing preventing you from buying graphics from another source, or even creating your own. I do that frequently. Nothing forces you to use graphics that Unitronics supplies as a courtesy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickL Posted April 10, 2023 Report Share Posted April 10, 2023 Thank-you Flex! "...... buying graphics from another source, or even creating your own. I do that frequently. Nothing forces you to use graphics that Unitronics supplies as a courtesy" - Flex727 Do you have a source to share for where you buy these enhanced graphics ? ...... and what you lead me to, is the format, resolution, etc compatible with the PLC I'm now using? SM70-J-TA22 V. 9.8.96 Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVP 2023 Flex727 Posted April 10, 2023 MVP 2023 Report Share Posted April 10, 2023 The name of the service I have used in the past escapes me at the moment, but I'll post if it comes to mind. There are a lot of paid graphics services available - just search. The SM70 HMI is 800x480 resolution. You can use most common graphics formats, but I tend to stay with Windows Bitmaps for the Vision Line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickL Posted April 10, 2023 Report Share Posted April 10, 2023 Ohkeedoke! Thank-you! I'll check it out! I don't have a current need for a special "customized" on-off or arrow up down button. But the information you provided lets me know its out there should I do. Thanks! I seriously doubt I will ever need a customized "on-off button", or the like The standard generic HMI buttons serve my needs well! I was accustomed to using the awesome button/graphics in the Netbeans IDE. You could rotate and vertical stack the typing, etc. Very well done library. I feel the pictorial button library was a sad offering in this software. (my kids toys have better ICONS on them!) I think they need to find a better graphics designer or not even offer a graphics library then. What PLC would you choose to buy? .... one with the latest state-of the-art artistic design or one that looks like "Micky Mouse" was the chief designer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickL Posted April 11, 2023 Report Share Posted April 11, 2023 Hi Bruce B ! Here is an HMI starter "shell" that I'm using for my current project. You may also want to graph out your Temperature and Humidity sensors, It's so helpful with just a glance to see the state of your machine ...... especially when troubleshooting. Hope this helps in your design! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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