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TIA Portal V18

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to connect Atom to a Siemens PLC over Profinet. You'll learn how to update the run/stop and setpoint parameters, and monitor the heatsink temperature.

If you haven't yet, please review ATOM's Profinet Profile.

If you'd like to skip the tutorial, you can download a completed example project in TIA Portal V18:

Requirements​

  1. TIA Portal V18
  2. A Siemens PLC (optional, you can still follow along by simulating the PLC on your PC).
    1. We use a S7-1511-1 6ES7 511-1AK02-0BA0 in this example.
    2. You can easily follow along with a different PLC if you have a different one.
  3. Download Atom's GSDML file

Hardware setup​

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If you're using the PLC simulator, skip to the next section.

Important

When Atom is configured for Profinet, the Ethernet port closest to the 24V power connector is disabled.

Connect 24V to your PLC and Atom unit with the provided power cable. Connect two Ethernet cables to the PLC:

  • P1: Connect to your PC
  • P2: Connect to your Atom unit

Atom and PLC hardware setup

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To simplify this diagram, we have not connected a load to Atom.

If you do not connect a load, you can still verify your PLC is working by connecting a USB cable to Atom and using Control Panel to watch the parameters change/verify the PLC is receiving the correct monitor data.

Creating a project in TIA Portal V18​

Open TIA Portal V18. If you're in the Portal view (shown below), switch to Project view by clicking in the lower left:

Create project step 1

Next, select Project > New:

Create project step 2

Give your project a name, like AtomExample, then click Create:

Create project step 3

Importing Atom's GSDML file into TIA​

A GSDML file describes the capabilities of a Profinet device — the parameters, communication modes, diagnostics (and more) that the device supports. We'll import Atom's GSDML file into TIA so that TIA knows how to talk to Atom.

Select Options > Manage general station description files:

Install GSDML 1

Enter the path of the folder containing your GSDML file, check GSDML-V2.43-Control-Concepts-ATOM-20231108.xml, then click Install:

Install GSDML 2

If everything goes well, a dialog should appear "Installation was completed successfully". Click Close.

Adding and configuring your PLC​

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Even if you're using the PLC simulator, still follow this section and add a Siemens PLC to your project. TIA is capable of simulating the S7-1500 series PLCs.

In the Project tree pane, within the Devices tab, double click Add new device:

Add PLC 1

Select the Controllers tab, and browse to Controllers > SIMATIC S7-1500 > CPU > CPU 1511-1 PN > 6ES7 511-1AK02-0AB0 (if you're using a different PLC, select that PLC instead):

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You can generally find your PLC's model number on the frame of your PLC. You can also check the firmware version (and model number) within the Overview page on your PLC:

PLC

Then, click Ok:

Add PLC 3

A PLC security settings dialog will popup. For this example, we'll disable the PLC password (unchecked):

Add PLC 4

Leave Only allow secure PG/PC and HMI communications checked, then click Next>>:

Add PLC 5

For this example, change Access level without password to Full access (no protection), then click Next>>:

Add PLC 6

Then, click Finish:

Add PLC 7

The PLC should appear in the Network view:

Add PLC 8

Adding and configuring Atom​

To add Atom to your project, select the Hardware catalog tab on the right side of the screen. Enter ATOM in the search box and double click ATOM SCR:

Add Atom 1

Atom should appear in the Network view of your project:

Add Atom 2

Click Not assigned on the Atom block, and select PLC_1.PROFINET interface_1:

Add Atom 3

After doing so, a network connection should appear between the PLC and Atom:

Add Atom 4

Next, double click on the Atom block to open its Device view:

Add Atom 5

Select the Hardware catalog tab on the right side, expand Module and select drag the DIO 8xLogicLevel module into Slot 1 of Atom:

Add Atom 6

Your Atom module configuration should look like this:

Add Atom 7

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The two red arrows indicate the number of input and output parameters that Atom supports. In this case, the addresses IW0 to IW85 are input parameters and QW0 to QW85 are output parameters. Check out the Profinet Profile for more information on the available parameters.

Network provisioning​

Let's set up a basic Profinet network. We'll provision a basic network like so:

  • PC
    • IP address 192.168.0.25
    • Subnet mask 255.255.255.0
    • Only used for loading the PLC program
  • Siemens PLC
    • Station name plc-1
    • IP address 192.168.0.1
    • Subnet mask 255.255.255.0
    • Port P1 connected to PC
    • Port P2 connected to Atom
  • Atom
    • Station name atom-1
    • IP address 192.168.0.2
    • Subnet mask 255.255.255.0

Return to the Network view, right click the PLC block (make sure to right click directly on the graphic) and select Properties:

Network provisioning 1

Navigate to PROFINET interface [X1] and select Ethernet addresses. Change these to match our network provisioning above:

Network provisioning 2

Navigate back to the Network view, right click the Atom block (make sure to right click directly on the graphic) and select Properties:

Network provisioning 3

Navigate to PROFINET interface [X1] and select Ethernet addresses. Check these to match our network provisioning above:

Network provisioning 4

A basic test​

Now that we've configured our network, we should be able to run a simple test to make sure everything is working.

Download to your PLC​

Right click on PLC_1 in the device tree and select Download to device > Software (all):

Basic test 1

The Extended download to device dialog will appear.

Basic test 2

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  • The green box shows your provisioned network settings, in other words, what you want them to be.
  • The red box shows the actual (current) network settings — the actual IP addresses of the PLC, Atom, etc.
  • The blue box lets you configure the Ethernet interface on your PC and Profinet subnet to search for your PLC on.

Your PLC will automatically update the station names, IP addresses, and subnet masks that you set up in network provisioning when you start your PLC program, so you don't need to change them manually. The reason this dialog shows up is so that you can tell TIA which PLC to load the program on to.

Make sure Show compatible devices is selected, click Start search, wait for your PLC to appear, select it, then click Load. Notice that our PLC's actual IP address (192.168.0.5) isn't the same as the IP address we provisioned for it (192.168.0.1). This is fine, because we've linked our provisioned PLC to an actual PLC on the network, TIA knows whichs PLC to program and subsequently will update its network settings along with the network settings of all other Profinet devices on your provisioned network.

You may get a warning dialog like "X.X.X.X might not be a trustworthy device", click Connect:

Basic test 3

The Load preview dialog will open, when it finishes preparing, click Load.

Basic test 3

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If the load fails, see Troubleshooting.

Use a simulator​

If you don't have a real PLC handy, you can instead start the PLC simulator by right clicking PLC_1 in the devices tree and selecting Start simulation:

Simulation

Monitor the heatsink temperature​

Next, right click PLC_1 in the device tree and select Go online:

Basic test 4

If everything goes well, your device tree should display green checkmarks over each device and their associated modules:

Basic test 5

Open the case of your PLC and put it into RUN mode (or, if you're using the simulator, click RUN in the PLC simulator popup):

Basic test 5

Next, expand Watch and force tables under PLC_1 in the device tree and double click Add new watch table:

Basic test 6

Double click the newly created watch table Watch table_1 to open it:

Basic test 7

On the first row, enter %IW15, then right click the row and select Monitor all. %IW15 is short for input word #15, which corresponds to the low-order word of the heatsink temperature parameter. After clicking Monitor all, you should see the value update to a non-zero value. If it does, this means your PLC is successfully talking to Atom over Profinet!

Basic test 8

Building a simple PLC program to control Atom​

Writing some ladder logic​

In the devices tree, expand PLC_1 > PLC tags and double click Show all tags. Create two tags:

  • Tag #1
    • Name: Run/Stop
    • Data type: Bool
    • Address: %Q4.0
  • Tag #2
    • Name: Setpoint
    • Data type: Dint
    • Address: %QD0

PLC program 2

Next, in the device tree, expand PLC_1 > Program blocks and double click Main [OB1].

First, create two constants:

  • Name: Run stop enabled, Data type: Bool, Default value: true
  • Name: Setpoint, Data type: Dint, Default value: 5000

These are the values we will ultimately set to Atom.

Next, create two networks.

  • Network #1
    • Insert a contact on the left, and drag the Run stop enabled constant into it.
    • Insert an assignment on the right, and enter %Q4.0
  • Network #2
    • Insert a MOVE block
      • Insert a contact on the EN input, and set its value to true
      • Drag the Setpoint constant into the IN input
      • Enter %QD0 into the OUT1 output

After you're done, your PLC program should look like this (you can also download the example project with the completed program):

PLC program 3

Running on your PLC​

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This will still work if you're running a simulator, make sure you started the simulation as shown in Use a simulator.

Right click PLC_1 in the devices tree, select Download to device > Software (all):

PLC program 4

A Load preview dialog will show up, if your PLC was previously running, you may have to set the Stop modules action to Stop all. Then, click Load:

PLC program 5

If the load fails, check out Troubleshooting. Otherwise, click Finish:

PLC program 6

Make sure your PLC is set to RUN. If everything worked, the PLC will put Atom into RUN with a setpoint of 5000. If you connect a USB cable to your Atom and look in Control Panel, you should see the setpoint and run/stop parameters update.

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Try switching the Stop / Run switch off in Control Panel or updating the setpoint. Notice that the PLC immediately sets the run/stop and setpoint parameters back to their original values.

PLC program 7

Troubleshooting​

Download to PLC fails​

If the download to your PLC fails, you can try resetting your PLC.

First, click the Accessible devices icon in the menu bar:

Reset PLC

When the Accessible devices dialog appears, select the network adapter on your PC that is connected to your PLC and click Start search:

Reset PLC

In the devices tree, expand Online access > Your PC's network adapter connected to your PLC > plc_1.profinet interface_1 (192.168.0.05) (may be different for you) > Online & diagnostics:

Reset PLC

Expand Functions > Reset to factory settings, check Format memory card, then click Reset PLC:

Reset PLC