With its Logic Studio, zenon Logic offers a powerful and flexible IEC 61131-3 programming environment. The compiled code is then carried out by Logic Service, which acts as a virtual PLC. zenon Logic Studio is directly integrated into the Engineering Studio of the zenon Software Platform. zenon Logic makes the configuration of projects quicker, more reliable and more efficient.
- Logic Studio is an IEC 61131-3 conforming programming system, Python code can be integrated
- SCADA and PLC programming in one system, using a joint database within the whole zenon software platform
- Test and simulate projects securely and efficiently with PLC code and digital twins
- Flexible engineering with IEC 61131-10 support
- zenon Logic service can also be used on Linux
The role of zenon Logic within the zenon Software Platform
zenon's intelligent integration of the IEC 61131-3 programming interface zenon Logic has been an integral component of the zenon Software Platform since 2001. It means for example merging the HMI/SCADA world and the PLC world, when it makes sense to do so.
The seamless integration of zenon Logic within the zenon Software Platform is truly impressive and provides automation engineers with considerable advantages.
- Configuration of a comprehensive industrial automation application following a low-code/no-code principle and PLC programming in one overarching system.
- zenon Logic uses one coherent database within the software platform. After writing the PLC program, all data is present in the SCADA system. No laborious imports or exports, no unnecessary manual work and therefore major time savings while engineering.
- Shared variables and data types can be created, amended or deleted by either system. The shared data within the system is available immediately, therefore changes can be visible in other systems immediately and are always up to date.
- Considerable time savings, e.g. as a result of the reduction of export/import processes
- Lists of data are no longer needed to be kept and maintained twice
- A particularly high degree of reliability can be reached when configuring projects and putting them into operation, thanks to a consistent database and fault avoidance
- All of this leads to reduced project expenses
Virtualization and Containerization of PLCs with zenon Logic
Software-based control systems, that are independent of the hardware, are known as Soft PLCs. If both, the PLC logic and the application program are available only as software, a Soft PLC solution can be run on almost any hardware as a so called virtual PLC. zenon Logic has been known as a Soft PLC solution for a long time already and offers virtualization to a broad extent. zenon Logic as virtual PLC can be containerized via Docker. In this way, zenon Logic offers a high degree of openness and flexibility in its implementation.
Depending on the requirements, zenon Logic can run on a PLC or an industrial PC, on an edge device close to the machine, in the company’s internal server room, or in the corporate data center. Even fully virtualized Industrial Control as a Service (ICaaS) applications are possible. Therefore, zenon Logic also plays a major role in a “Software-defined Automation” scenario.
PLC Virtualization and ICaaS
In our Information Unlimited Magazine #43 you can learn more about PLC virtualization and Industrial Control as a Service.
What else can be accomplished by zenon Logic?
zenon Logic can be used for complex calculations, e.g. key performance calculations like Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).
Furthermore, zenon Logic is also used for project simulation. Here, zenon Logic simulates the target PLC and provides realistic values during tests in the engineering phase. You will therefore be able to see straight away how the project will work in real life. Such digital twin approaches can help your team eliminating errors and risks before going live, without the need for expensive testing hardware.
Additionally, zenon Logic supports data integrity by buffering events. If connection failures occur, zenon Logic can be used to automatically buffer the values intermediately, and transmit the data as soon as the connection is set up again.
The service is suitable for open platforms as zenon Logic supports the standard IEC 61131-10 for exporting and importing IEC 61131-3 projects. Therefore, respective projects can be transferred between different engineering environments smoothly.
zenon Logic and Linux
In order to offer a high degree of flexibility and openness, the zenon Logic service can not only be used on Windows but it can also be run on Linux. Especially when used in a containerized environment, the usage of Linux offers many advantages such as:
- easy maintenance
- cost efficiency
- scalability
- flexibility and interoperability
Success Story - zenon Logic in action
DaeMyoungEnergy operates and manages wind and solar power and energy storage systems across Korea. In this project, power calculation coding was implemented in zenon Logic Studio to calculate the electricity usage and the electricity production tariff for each hour and generator.
Want to get in-depth knowledge more about zenon Logic? Take the zenon Academy online course and learn how to build your own zenon Logic project.
Getting started with zenon Logic? Find out in our tutorial videos how to take the first steps in zenon Logic, how to connect zenon Logic with zenon and how to share variables.