Hi all,
I am looking to automate my home and I am considering using a Wago PLC. I have a professional background in software engineering and have had training in residential electricity but I have no practical experience with PLC's. I was hoping I could get some initial guidance with respect to the basic setup and software on this forum.
I have four electricity cabinets, one on each of three floors in the house and one in a separate garage. I am planning to use an Ethernet (750-880) or Linux (PFC200) controller in one of the cabinets, to connect the other two cabinets in the house with a bus extension (750-627 and 750-628, distance between subsequent cabinets is between 5 and 10 m), and to connect the cabinet in the separate garage with an Ethernet coupler (750-352, distance is more than 10 m). If I understand correctly, this setup should work in my case (using Wago Ethernet Settings to increase max bus extension distance from 5 to 10 m) and all the modules in the three cabinets connected using the bus extension would appear as one logical PLC from the software side. Does this setup make sense? Are there any limits I should take into account (e.g, is is possible to have several I/O modules and RS232 modules on every floor, ...).
I also have a question regarding the software side. In terms of functionality I would like to include SMS notifications (GSM modem via RS232?) and 1-wire (Maxim DS9097U 1-wire to RS232?). In this case it seems like the PFC200 is a better choice than a 750-880 (+ GSM modem and 2 x 750-650/003-000). However, the 750-880 is available in a starter kit including the WAGO-I/O-PRO while the PFC200 is not and it seems I would have to buy separate software which is quite expensive for a private individual. What are options that make sense at the software side?
- Can both the 750-880 and the PFC200 be programmed with both WAGO-I/O-PRO (= CODESYS 2.3?) and e!COCKPIT (= CODESYS 3.5)?
- Is there any reason to pick one software package over an other?
- Is the (free) CODESYS 3.5 + the (100 eu) CODESYS Control for PFC200 SL a workable solution? This would be very cost-effective.
- Where can I buy Wago targets for the 750-880 and the PFC200 for use with the CODESYS 2.3 en CODESYS 3.5 software?
- If I buy 750-880 starter kit, will I be able to use it for a PFC200 controller that I buy later? I.e., is the software tied to the PLC like the CODESYS PFC200 SL version or not?
Any input and guidance is greatly appreciated.
Best regards,
Ares
I am looking to automate my home and I am considering using a Wago PLC. I have a professional background in software engineering and have had training in residential electricity but I have no practical experience with PLC's. I was hoping I could get some initial guidance with respect to the basic setup and software on this forum.
I have four electricity cabinets, one on each of three floors in the house and one in a separate garage. I am planning to use an Ethernet (750-880) or Linux (PFC200) controller in one of the cabinets, to connect the other two cabinets in the house with a bus extension (750-627 and 750-628, distance between subsequent cabinets is between 5 and 10 m), and to connect the cabinet in the separate garage with an Ethernet coupler (750-352, distance is more than 10 m). If I understand correctly, this setup should work in my case (using Wago Ethernet Settings to increase max bus extension distance from 5 to 10 m) and all the modules in the three cabinets connected using the bus extension would appear as one logical PLC from the software side. Does this setup make sense? Are there any limits I should take into account (e.g, is is possible to have several I/O modules and RS232 modules on every floor, ...).
I also have a question regarding the software side. In terms of functionality I would like to include SMS notifications (GSM modem via RS232?) and 1-wire (Maxim DS9097U 1-wire to RS232?). In this case it seems like the PFC200 is a better choice than a 750-880 (+ GSM modem and 2 x 750-650/003-000). However, the 750-880 is available in a starter kit including the WAGO-I/O-PRO while the PFC200 is not and it seems I would have to buy separate software which is quite expensive for a private individual. What are options that make sense at the software side?
- Can both the 750-880 and the PFC200 be programmed with both WAGO-I/O-PRO (= CODESYS 2.3?) and e!COCKPIT (= CODESYS 3.5)?
- Is there any reason to pick one software package over an other?
- Is the (free) CODESYS 3.5 + the (100 eu) CODESYS Control for PFC200 SL a workable solution? This would be very cost-effective.
- Where can I buy Wago targets for the 750-880 and the PFC200 for use with the CODESYS 2.3 en CODESYS 3.5 software?
- If I buy 750-880 starter kit, will I be able to use it for a PFC200 controller that I buy later? I.e., is the software tied to the PLC like the CODESYS PFC200 SL version or not?
Any input and guidance is greatly appreciated.
Best regards,
Ares