TIA Portal
Siemens TIA Portal (Totally Integrated Automation Portal) is a software platform used for the configuration and programming of Siemens programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human-machine interfaces (HMIs), and other automation devices.
TIA Portal provides a unified engineering environment for different automation tasks and devices, allowing users to work with a single software platform for all automation needs. The platform supports a variety of programming languages, including ladder logic, structured text, and function block diagram, and offers a wide range of programming tools and libraries. TIA Portal includes modules for programming, configuration, simulation, and visualization, allowing engineers and technicians to design and test automation systems before they are implemented in the field. It also offers features for diagnostic and troubleshooting, as well as remote access and collaboration. Overall, Siemens TIA Portal is a comprehensive automation engineering platform that helps streamline the development, deployment, and maintenance of industrial automation systems.
With the TIA Portal, Siemens has ushered in a new era of programming. In addition to consistent, logical programming, the new software studio also simplifies the message system, among other things. First and foremost, the system module progam-alarm should be mentioned here, which can generate versatile messages by means of accompanying and text lists.
In order to be able to manage the text lists for the used messages also nicely this application was originally written. Here, the focus was to clearly display all used and possibly later added messages. In addition, each list entry in each language has its own document stored which can then be used as a driver description. At the end of the project, a document with all messages can be created automatically to hand it over to the end customer as a message description.
In a standardized message list, however, not all messages are always used in every machine. In order to be able to adapt the text list and documentation flexibly to different machine variants, it is also possible to save the messages used in the PLC in a list and then read them into the web app. In this way, the documentation (or, if necessary, the text list for the program alarm function block) contains only those messages that have also been used in the TIA Portal project.
How does the PLC-Alarm WebApp help me?
Our WebApp allows you to manage your message lists. You can also share these lists with your team and work on them together. It is also possible to inherit a message list to another message list. This way your projects are not only more clearly arranged, but this also makes sense especially with the function of standardizing messages. Here, certain messages are declared as standard messages which are then inherited by subordinate projects/message lists.
For example, if the message number 10 is assigned the text “Pneumatic supply too low”, this text will also be displayed in all subordinate projects.
To remain flexible, you can also declare corresponding exceptions.
If your message list needs to be extended by an additional language, this is no problem. In the settings you can add one of the more than 100 languages, then you only have to invite the translator of the project to add the message list.
A document is added to each message in each language you have activated. Of course, with your specific template to customize the header and footer according to your wishes. If the message is standardized and comes from the parent project, the documents are inherited as well. So a description can be added to each message which can be used as a machine document action. The individual documents of the individual messages can also be combined into one document in order to be able to create an entire documentation at the push of a button.
In a good standardized message list not all messages are always used which makes the documentation longer. This can be adjusted by defining in the WebApp which messages are used. This can be done manually or automated by uploading a file from the PLC to the WebApp.
This file created by the PLC can only be created if the blocks of our library are used or you make our own solution. Here, instead of the “Program_Alarm” block, a block created by us is used. Additional features are created by a further block that sorts and manages the messages before the “Program_Alarm” FB’s are activated. Collective messages can be generated automatically. Also the administration of different message zones is already integrated with this library. And of course, as already mentioned above, the possibility of all used message numbers in a file to store.
What are message zones?
Message zones are different areas of a machine which do not influence each other or only in one direction.
For a machine there is often a general alarm zone and several zones for the different parts of the machine. For example, an alarm in the compressed air supply is in the general alarm zone and affects all zones where this compressed air is supplied.
While a failure of a subordinate drive of the drilling unit of another machine section does not affect the general zone or other parallel zones.
These collective messages are important to initiate a certain alarm sequence in a machine section.