Not a Microcontroller!…This is Better?!

47 Comments

1. I'm starting semester 2 of electromechanical engineering in a few days, and we have a whole PLCs class.
   I've been excited to start working with them!

2. I just started a job as an engineer for a business that makes control panels with PLCs. I feel like I'm seeing things about PLCs so much now when I never heard of them about a year ago. Also just finished the UL exam lol

3. My LinkedIn feed is half industrial automation folks and half computer science type programmers. My feed is nothing but intense arguments and knock out drag out fights about which technology platform is better. It’s fucking ponderous.

   All I can say is that when Amazon builds out a distribution center, they specify PLC’s and standard SCADA systems to run their product handling systems. Google and Meta run their server farms power and hvac systems from standard PLC’s and SCADA systems as well.

4. Did you get to try the comparison with the block diagram programming vs the ladder logic programming? Also is the microcontroller the only expensive part or are the sensors as well? Follow up – did you buy the sensors from arduino or source them elsewhere because those seem expensive.

5. 2:21 Interesting, just last month the Raspberry Pi people announced that they extended the operating temperature range of their Compute Module 4 between -40°C and +85°C. The Opta description calls -20°C to +50°C an industrial temperature range, so I wonder if this 70-degree range is enough for most industrial cases, and if there are more industrial temperature ranges, because it's pretty wild to target such a big increase in the temperature rage, to 125 degrees between limits.

6. its like a Siemens Logo and an Arduino married and got a baby!!🤣🤣🤣 and the baby is about to rule the world

7. I love your work, it's beautiful. Your energy is contagious.

8. I personally have both experience in programming plc's and micro controllers, i have experience only with the Siemens plc's. To be honest i really hate the fact that to code PLC's you have to use their visual-based programming language, i whould prefer by far programming the plc's in C ish programming language like an arduino.

9. Neat project. Any source links for the mini conveyor and the button bar would be appreciated.

10. I'm not sure if you mentioned it, the other important thing to note about PLCs is due to use in industrial environments, they are robust. They have built-in protection from their inputs, etc. which using microcontrollers in the same environment would take considerable design and testing to prevent electrical spikes and accidental mis-use. Which justifies their cost.

11. Hi Where did you get the conveyor belt from ?

12. Donde compraste la cinta transportadora, los sensores y la botonera?

13. Expensive

14. Sedona is free. And some of the controllers can be relatively cheap.

15. Could you please share the design of the conveyor belt?

16. I❤Y

17. Very nice video and very good explanation. Question, where can I order conveyor you used in this video?

    Thanx, great job

18. I think one could put it like this:
    A PLC is based on a Microcontroller (stronger) and has useful peripherals integrated already. It comes with a software preinstalled for flashing and running all your PLC Programs on it and communicating with the controlling PC software.
    All of this could be done with a Microcontroller, a PLC is just a very flexible prebuilt solution.

19. †

20. Halo PLC Boy

21. the opto basic is $150 and contains a $22 STM32H7 Microcontroller. In a package with some relays. What makes them unique is the ladder logic programming language. I just saved you 20 minutes because he didn't say any of this in the video.

    Fun fact 120v AC uses 15 A breakers. You should never have a device that can only handle 10A on a 15A breaker. Europe doesn't use breakers so this guy doesn't know anything about this.

    This is cheap crap relay territory don't give a shit what certifications they say they have.

22. Cost is prohibitive to most arduino users , who really are hobbyists.

23. Still find it a freaking armed robbery that they charge couple hundred bucks for what's essentially a microcontroller hooked up to some relays or solid state switches ._.

24. Once again, a great video from you. On this topic, I'd also be interested to know when something is considered industry-grade. Why is an ESP32 not used, but an STM32 is? What makes ARM so different? Feel free to go into detail.

    Best regards

25. I seriously don't comprehend why so much people are averse to actual coding, like, using a keyboard. I believe given the same level of complexity in a solution it'd still be similarly difficult to implement using blocks than it would be using text based input. Also the "learning curve" associated with finding the "correct" pre-made function block in that gui thingy for PLCs sounds like it would make both learning and developing brutally slower, more painfull, and the skill less portable or useful to other applications than just learning to code.

26. (9:01) "now personally, I think that such a block diagram is way easier to wrap your head around than a text based coding language"
    Bro doesn't do much coding does he? Skill issue 😅

27. Where did you get that mini conveyor belt?

28. for the aldorithm

29. I'm not a fan of the way this PLC model has laid out it function block page, I prefer the layout of say a Zelio or a Crouzet much easier to fit function blocks and link them to previous lines of inputs and outputs, the one you shown almost looks like an amalgamation of ladder and function block which to be honest overcomplicates things IMHO.
    I get it you are sponsoring this PLC so unlikely to get a honest review but I just have to add my constructive criticism here and for those interested check out the free software you can download with my exampled models and have a play with the function block options.

30. PLCyaaaaa

31. Can you share your conveyor belt product link?

32. Why do German engineers label everything in German? (I noticed the lables on the phsyical buttons) Us Dutch all do it in English because we know that English is the international language. Even for our own stuff we just do it in English.

33. Very interesting, thanks. For my industrial applications, I use industry-grade raspberry pi devices, like the Neuron series from Unipi Technology. Since it runs Linux, you can do a lot of things that otherwise you couldn’t: using advanced programming languages, secure protocols, VPNs, web servers, firewall, and so many others.

34. I wonder why you can't just make a microcontroller based PLC that supports all the standardized IO stuff, but still allows for more complex logic

    I get that a drag-and-drop visual interface can be easier to understand for people who don't know programming

    but it feels like it would take longer to program in considering all the time spent just dragging stuff around and memorising all the pre-built blocks

    especially when it can't super fast switching and already costs an insane amount of money

35. 100 for the software is amazing. Try Allen Bradley.

36. I'll verify that the price is really good, especially considering having to purchase the software with most established industrial PLCs (and then paying for subsequent versions). Half the cost and more likely a third.

37. Hey Scott can u do a solar panels project which can run 30 lbs trolling motor

38. AutomationDirect PLC software is free. They have 5 or 6 tiers of PLCs now. Pricing is very good. They also own the venerable Koyo DdirectLogic DL305 series, which has been around since the 80s.

39. I will say that in work situations we use PLC's everywhere and for good reason. That said, frequently there are applications that come up where a Arduino or Ras Pi etc are clearly a great choice. But in the past several companies that i have worked with there have not been much if any people that understand even that they exist, let alone how to code them.

    This is a true frustration as I have never learned myself (i am in management, you know, the blow hard's… I do like to think i am not one of them at all but you never know…) but rarely there have been people capable of building the small projects that i want to see done.

    To solve for this i have outsourced work to people i know but that is not as easy as you might think because in corporate America there are stupid rules for who is a vendor, how they can get paid, etc… and then there is the "did you get 3 quotes" to which i reply – no, i did not get 3 quotes for a project that will cost in total under $1K are you kidding? It probably costs you $1K every time i have to contact another vendor and go thru the whole quoting process…

    such is life in corporate America I guess. Then there is the "oh, your "friends" are the ones doing the work" to which i respond 'Well if any of you idiots could do it that would be great, it is only like $500 he will be paid – wow, what a amazing grift, you got me."

    I will say that i have actually completed several of these ideas/projects all on my own – the modern internet makes this an actual possibility and i am super glad it exists. One such project was to help a team of 8 people track and identify the different kinds of work that came down their way, it was indeed a mixed lot where what made a difference was not easy to put into a category.

    This app captured that data in real time and allowed us to create 3 separate production cells or lanes to specialize for the different types of work which was a real help, it reduced the "pain in the butt" factor by eliminating it completely! But you would not believe the resistance i got from local IT as if this was going to be a huge "security risk" talk about dumb fukz! As a matter of fact, i think i spend the majority of my time having to explain basic shyte to IT, even to engineers, to other managers, to frick'n useless HR, i mean completely useless people!

    Anyway, PLC's are really cool – they can withstand a lot of abuse, the ladder logic is a cool language that is not that hard to learn, but yes they are way more expensive than a basic stamp, etc… They have a place and it is worth knowing about them for sure. Cheers

40. "i'm not using an arduino"… "i'm using the arduino blablabla"….
    an arduino that can do plc is still an arduino.

41. My last job, i did engineering with plcs. One thing that blows is allen bradley studio 5000. Software version has to match the firmware version. Licensing is also a pain. This is the industry standard. However, allen bradley also makes the micro series that uses the free ccw software. No versioning issues. It makes no sense.

    I wish plc software would work on linux. Openplc needs to start getting some good hardware.

42. PLC is nice, we have clean electric panel every time we use , i used PLC a lot of years before, in water bottling factory, also lot of machines use only relays and timers to make automations but lot of relays and wires xixix
    Nice Video Thanks, brings to me old memories

43. Can it do SCADA? (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)

44. Yeah, arduinos are better for smaller things: https://youtu.be/7csel1YkS3U?si=Bq80C-GwZl3kokI2

45. I'd love it if you can make more videos on the opta plc i recently got one and i want to learn more about the plc ide and how to use the opta.😊

46. PLCs: they aren't as good but they're only 100 times more expensive than a MCU

47. Comparing terms PLC and microcontroller is nonsense. Most PLCs are built around microcontrollers. What makes it PLC(besides industrial I/O) is the firmware running on microcontroller, containing the interpreter for the abstract languages like LD or FBD. No offense, but a lot of people get information from youtube videos and discussions with them over beer are getting more ridiculous.

Comments are closed.