EasyPLC Machine Simulator

Our PLC Training

About EasyPLC Software Suite

EasyPLC & machine simulator were developed over 10 years ago to bridge the gap between learning plc controls & having to be working directly on a machine to test plc logic. Built for a training environment to take the machine design to the student and allow them to program all of the controls then be able to test the controls with an easy way to see the full function, hence the name EasyPLC.

Treating your PC like a PLC and make learning easy…is this software for you?

Do you need a fun way to learn plc controls?
Do you need to see results as you learn?
Do you need to sharpen your plc programming skills?
Are you looking to challenge yourself?
Do you think learning PLC controls is boring?
Do you need a way to easily test plc controls?

if you answered yes to any of these questions then you owe it to yourself to watch a few of the videos we made showing how to use the EasyPLC & machine simulator software suite.

In this 10-year time frame, the software developer, Rafael, worked work all of the major automation controls brands to integrate an OPC server to allow the machine simulator to work with that specific plc brand. PLC brands like Rockwell Automation, Seimens, CodeSys, & many more.

In the world of gaming everyone has fun but until now did we ever have a great piece of software that works well for plc programmers or those looking to learn plc programming. EasyPLC & Machine Simulator has programming tools that help you understand the real-world effect of the logical code that you have written. About one year ago, Rafael which is the founder of EasyPLC & Machine Simulator reached out to me to try his software.

At first, I immediately compared it to FactoryIO which I thought was better, however, after using EasyPLC’s Machine Simulator I knew this by far is much better software.

EasyPLC & Machine Simulator works well with all major brands of plc programming software like Rockwell Automation, Semiens, & CodeSys just a name a few.

To start off, I want to show you an example of a pallet sorting system that I programmed using the Machine Simulator.

EasyPLC Machine Simulator Pallet Sorting

When I first started using EasyPLC’s Machine Simulator it did have a few bugs that I notice so I blew it off because I was very busy, yes you heard that correctly, I just about passed up on this great software. When I finally got caught up on what I was doing, I wrote an email to Rafael letting him know about the bugs I found when using the software & to my surprise he immediately fixed the issues so this fired me up to use the software more.

Mainly because once I brought up what I found he made it so much easier to use & I was looking for a challenge. Not a challenge of helping fix software but a challenge to step up my game in plc programming by testing myself with the simulated machines that the software has.

You will see through the videos that I made, this was an opportunity that I needed to pique my interest back into plc programming.

At the time, I was doing a lot of IT/OT work working more with HMI controls & just as everyone knows, if you don’t use it then you start to lose it. This was something I needed so I could stay highly knowledgeable in plc programming & HMI programming along with IT stuff that I was doing, thanks to EasyPLC’s Machine Simulator I was able to stay active in all areas that I needed to giving me the ability to re-tool myself in plc controls.

I have a motto that I live by…To be a better version of myself tomorrow than I am today.

That requires me to challenge myself whenever I have the opportunity because life is a gift, start living life as you can be instead of who you used to be.

If you want to have a great career, have better opportunities, provide a better life for your family then you have a push yourself so when everyone else is watching TV or relaxing that is the time when you should be learning & growing. That is how great things happen, most overnight success stories were created over 10 to 15 years when no one was looking.

Here is a video showing a simple conveyor logic & the OPC being built step-by-step to show how easy this software is to get working.

Machine Simulator Simple Conveyor – Step-by-Step Set Up

Email me for a discount on EasyPLC & Machine Simulator. Shane@OnlinePLCsupport.com

Note: this is not FactoryIO, the software we are using is EasyPLC. A much better alternative than FactoryIo because of the added features & the price. It even has its own PLC writing software so if you do not have any software at all, this is a full suite of software to learn & emulate machines & PLC logic.

In this video, I show actually how to connect Studio 5000 with RSLinx OPC to the EasyPLC Machine Emulator to get a simple system up & running.

Minute-by-minute video breakdown:

0:00 Quick intro
1:00 Selecting A Machine Emulation
2:00 Testing the Inputs & Outputs
2:50 Programming our PLC Logic in Studio 5000
6:30 Downloading the PLC Logic to Studio 5000 Emulator
7:00 How to Setup A Virtual Driver in RSLinx
8:30 Adding our OPC Topic in RSLinx
10:05 Setting Up Our EasyPLC OPC Driver
12:15 Mapping the Inputs & Outputs In Machine Emulator
12:35 Starting the EasyPLC Machine Emulator Driver
12:44 Testing the logic
12:55 Fixing the PLC Logic
13:20 Restart machine then testing
13:43 Watching the PLC Logic & Machine Emulator

From this simple conveyor example, you can see how to get the scope of work for the machine simulator then build the plc logic around the scope while learning how to set up your OPC driver & getting the whole system working.

I know what is like watching a 17-minute video so I am aiming to pass on as much information as I can when I make these. Starting from scratch then building things out in an easy-to-follow way to get to a working system, this is a very simple machine design but no worries, we have more complex systems that we built logic around to show just how functional EasyPLC is.

Let me introduce you to another machine that I programmed using EasyPLC’s Machine Simulator, it was a palletizer that I use state logic for to show how each section worked. The video below actually shows being able to edit the machine or make modifications to the machine which is another great side of the machine simulator. It is a bit more time-consuming but very much worth it.

EasyPLC Machine Simulator Palletizer Programming And Editing

Programming a palletizer in EasyPLC Machine Simulator – Note that this video is a bit longer & shows a very detailed breakdown of how to use the Machine Simulator editor along with the Studio 5000 PLC controls.

This was written in a ladder logic state machine using Studio 5000 while communicating to the Machine Simulator through an RSlinx Classic OPC driver.

This is a great tool to use to learn PLC controls, challenge yourself, & become a better automation tech through the use.

Minute-by-minute breakdown:

1:00 Starting the Palletizer Machine
3:00 Explaining the Palletizer machine process
4:00 Shutting down the Palletizer
4:20 Editing the Palletizer Machine
5:00 Moving the Box bar
6:00 Loading the new Palletizer Machine
6:45 Watching the Pusher work after the change
8:20 Looking at the Studio 5000 Ladder Logic
8:30 Explaining the Ladder Logic State Machine
9:00 State 1 Ladder Logic
9:20 State 2 Ladder Logic
9:35 State 3 Ladder Logic
10:50 State 4 Ladder Logic
11:25 State 5 Ladder Logic
12:10 State 6 & State 7 determine what layer is active
12:15 State 8 Ladder Logic
12:40 Watching a Pallet get Made
14:00 Why I use a State Machine Control Type
14:30 Checking the RSlinx Classic OPC
16:45 Viewing the IO in Machine Simulator
18:10 Testing the E-stop Button

Notice in the video above that by minute 4, we are shutting down the machine interface then opening the machine up in the machine editor to edit the machine so that it will work in our design better. Please note that this is one of the machines that come pre-built with this software suite but there are times when it is helpful to edit the machine design versus making more control logic.

This process that I show is exactly what an operator or maintenance tech would do to make the boxes turn better, by moving the bracket.

I wanted to make this example as lifelike as I could so I thought this example was perfectly fit for that.

About EasyPLC Software Suite

EasyPLC & machine simulator were developed over 10 years ago to bridge the gap between learning plc controls & having to be working directly on a machine to test plc logic. Built for a training environment to take the machine design to the student and allow them to program all of the controls then be able to test the controls with an easy way to see the full function, hence the name EasyPLC.

Treating your PC like a PLC and make learning easy…is this software for you?

Do you need a fun way to learn plc controls?
Do you need to see results as you learn?
Do you need to sharpen your plc programming skills?
Are you looking to challenge yourself?
Do you think learning PLC controls is boring?
Do you need a way to easily test plc controls?

if you answered yes to any of these questions then you owe it to yourself to watch a few of the videos we made showing how to use the EasyPLC & machine simulator software suite.

In this 10-year time frame, the software developer, Rafael, worked work all of the major automation controls brands to integrate an OPC server to allow the machine simulator to work with that specific plc brand. PLC brands like Rockwell Automation, Seimens, CodeSys, & many more.

In the world of gaming everyone has fun but until now did we ever have a great piece of software that works well for plc programmers or those looking to learn plc programming.

EasyPLC & Machine Simulator has programming tools that help you understand the real-world effect of the logical code that you have written. About one year ago, Rafael which is the founder of EasyPLC & Machine Simulator reached out to me to try his software.