ADIGRAT UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER
ENGINEERING

Programmable Logic Controller

Timers
Mechanical Timing Relays
 are used to delay the opening or closing of contacts for circuit
control.
 Its operation is similar to that of a control relay, except that
certain of its contacts are designed to operate at a preset time
interval, after the coil is energized or de-energized.

 They provide time delay through two arrangements.

 on delay, provides time delay when the relay coil is energized.
 off delay, provides time delay when the relay coil is de-energized
On delay timer
 The time delay of the contacts begins once the timer is
switched on.
 The above figure shows an on-delay timer circuit that
uses a normally open, timed closed (NOTC) contact.

 The operation of the circuit can be summarized as

follows:

 With S1 initially open, TD coil is de-energized so

TD1 contacts are open and light L1 will be off.
 When S1 is closed TD coil is energized and the timing
period starts.

 TD1 contacts are delayed from closing so L1 remains off.

 After the 10 s time-delay period has elapsed, TD1 contacts
close and L1 is switched on.

 When S1 is opened, TD coil is de-energized and TD1

contacts open instantly to switch L1 off.
normally closed, timed open (NCTO) contact
Off delay timer
 Figure below shows an off-delay timer circuit that uses
a normally open, timed open (NOTO) contact.
 The operation of the circuit can be summarized as
follows:
 With S1 initially open, TD coil is de-energized so TD1
contacts are open and light L1 will be off.
 When S1 is closed, TD coil is energized and TD1 contacts close
instantly to switch light L1 on.
 When S1 is opened, TD coil is de-energized and the timing period
starts.
 After the 10 s time-delay period has elapsed, TD1contacts open
to switch the light off.
Off-delay timer with normally closed, timed closed (NCTC) contact.
PLC TIMERS
PLC timers
 PLC timers are instructions that provide the same functions as
on-delay and off-delay mechanical timing relays.
 Advantages of PLC timers include the fact that:
 Time settings can be easily changed.
 The number of them used in a circuit can be increased or
decreased using programming changes rather than wiring
changes.
 Timer accuracy and repeatability are extremely high
because its time delays are generated in the PLC
processor.
Types of PLC timers
 In general, there are three different PLC timer types
 Timer on Delay(TON):
 is the most common type of timer.
 Counts up when the instruction is true.
 Timer Off Delay(TOF):
 Counts up when the instruction is false.
 RTO (Retentive Timer On): Counts when the instruction
is true and retains the accumulated value when the
instruction goes false or when power cycle occurs.
The following quantities are associated with the timer instruction:

 The preset time represents the time duration for the timing
circuit. For example, if a time delay of 10 s is required, the timer
will have a preset of 10 s.
 The accumulated time represents the amount of time that has
elapsed from the moment the timing coil became energized.
 Every timer has a time base.
 The smaller the time base selected, the better the accuracy of the
timer.
Timers are most often represented by boxes in ladder logic.
Block formatted timer

 The timer block has two input conditions associated with it, namely,
 the control and
 reset.
The control line controls the actual timing operation of the timer. The
reset line resets the timer’s accumulated value to zero.
counters
Counters
 A counter is set to some preset value and when this value
of input pulses has been received, it will operate its
contacts.
 Two types of counters,
 Down counters: count from preset value to zero and
 Up counters and counts from zero to preset value.
 The two methods used to represent a counter within a
PLC’s ladder logic program are
 the coil format and
 the block format.
Coil formatted counter
 The following Figure shows a typical coil-formatted up-
counter instruction.
 The up-counter increments its accumulated value by 1
each time the counter rung makes a false-to-true
transition.
 When the accumulated count equals the preset count the
counter output is energized or set to 1.
 Shown as part of the instruction are the:
 Counter type
 Counter address
 Counter preset value
 Accumulated count
Applications
 This might be in a situation where items pass along a
conveyor
 It might be counting the number of revolutions of a shaft or
 It might be number of people passing through a door.
Block formatted counter
Up/Down counter
 Each time the down-count event occurs, the accumulated value is decremented.

It is usually used in conjunction with the up-counter to form an up/down-

counter.

 The following Figure shows the program and timing diagram for a generic,

block-formatted up/down-counter.

 The operation of the program can be summarized as follows:

 Separate count-up and count-down inputs are provided.

 Assuming the preset value of the counter is 3 and the accumulated count is

0, pulsing the count-up input (PB1) three times will switch the output light

from off to on.

 This particular PLC counter keeps track of the number of

counts received above the preset value.

 If the count-down input (PB2) is now pulsed four times, the

accumulated count is reduced to 2. As a result, the

accumulated count drops below the preset count and the output

light switches from on to off.

 Pulsing the reset input (PB3) at any time will reset the

accumulated count to 0 and turn the output light off.

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
(SCADA)
 a SCADA system usually refers to a system that coordinates
but does not control
 In a typical SCADA system, independent PLCs perform I/O
control functions on field devices while being supervised by a
SCADA/HMI software package running on a host computer.
 Process control operators monitor PLC operation on the host
computer and send control commands to the PLCs if required.
 The great advantage is that data are stored automatically in a
form that can be retrieved for later analysis without error or
additional work.
Typical SCADA system
Distributed control system (DCS)
 Distributed control system (DCS)

 is a network-based system.

 involves two or more PLCs communicating with each other

to accomplish the complete control task.

 Each PLC controls different processes locally and the PLCs

are constantly exchanging information through the

communications link and reporting on the status of the

process.
 The main features of a distributive control system can be
summarized as

 permits the distribution of the processing tasks among several

controllers.

 Each PLC controls its associated machine or process.

 High-speed communication among the computers

 drastically reduces field wiring and heightens performance

because it places the controller and I/O close to the machine

process being controlled.

 Depending on the process, one PLC failure would not

necessarily halt the complete process.

DCS