What You Need to Know about Learning Logix

We all know that the rate at which technology grows is mind boggling.

You’ve no doubt heard that computer processing speeds double every 18 months. The possibility and probability of such exponential growth places a lot of pressure on us to keep up.

The broader world of Logix is no different. And when we refer to Logix, we are talking about programmable logic controllers and the Logix platform line of products comprised of those control systems and their components.

These systems use a common control engine with a common development environment to provide high performance in an easy-to-use platform and feature tight integration between the programming software, controller and I/O modules to reduce development time, cost at commissioning and during normal operation.

These systems also allow you to perform standard and safety control in the same chassis. They provide increased performance, capacity, productivity, and security to help meet the growing demands of smart machines and equipment for manufacturing.

Our Allen-Bradley Logix product line is no stranger to the technological sprints in growth cropping up all around us. The demand to keep current with all of the advancements in Logix and PLC control systems, and to have a clear understanding of what those changes mean, can at times be overwhelming!

So to help, we have developed The Logix Learning Series podcast.

What can The Logix Learning Series do for you? Are you a sales person, distributor, end user, or someone who just wants to know more about best practices when using Logix programmable automation controllers? This 12-part series will answer a broad range of questions and will provide a great review of things you never even knew you forgot.

In our pilot episode, you’ll meet our hosts and get the list of topics to be covered. You’ll learn about the types of information that will be covered and what benefits you will receive as a frequent listener to the series. The other topics the series we are exploring:

• Requested Packet Interval or RPI: Do you know how to configure your RPI? Is a faster RPI better? What are the benefits of having your configuration correct?

• Memory Allocation, Tags and Data Types: What are the guidelines for what data type to use? Where do you configure data types? How does proper configuration affect scan time and memory? Learn the answers and how to benefit from knowing how to configure your memory correctly.

• Programs, Tasks and Priorities: What are the different types of tasks, what do they do and when should you use them? How can you monitor execution time? How is the embedded web page on new large controllers different from the task monitor tool?

• System Overhead Time Slice (SOTS) and Other Communication Impacts: Do you know what the SOTS is and how to configure it? How does SOTS impact CPU utilization?

• Redundancy: What does redundancy really mean? Do you need more hardware, and if so, how much? Are there different levels of redundancy? Do you need additional programming?

• UDTs and AOIs: What is modular programming and why should you use it? How do you set up a User Defined Data Type (UDT) structure to optimize your program? What can you do with an Add-On Instruction (AOI)? Do AOIs have limitations?

• Program Parameters: What are program parameters and how are they different from controller scoped tags? Is an alias the same thing as setting up a parameter connection?

• Library Management: Logical Organizer and Partial Import Online (PIO): How is the Logical Organizer different from the Controller Organizer? Is the Logical Organizer better? What are the benefits of using PIO and does it help enable modular programming?

• Compare and Merge Tool: What can you do with the Compare and Merge Tool? What do the color sand symbols mean? How do I access the tool?