On Remote Real-time Communication between MATLAB and PLC Based on OPC Technology

Aiming at the communication between MATLAB and PLC, the paper presents a method of implementing remote real-time communication based on OPC (OLE for process control) on the Ethernet. It analyzed the principle of remote real-time communication between MATLAB and PLC and designed a remote real-time communication test system consisting of MATLAB, Ethernet and S7-300 PLC. The author realized the S7-300 PLC hardware configuration, OPC server configuration, configuration variable and real-time data exchange between MATLAB and S7-300 PLC by using MATLAB OPC toolbox, and gave out the details of procedure and program. The test results indicate that the function of exchanging remote real-time data can be attained between MATLAB and S7-300 PLC through OPC server, and prove that it is an effective and feasible method to realize the real-time remote communication between MATLAB and PLC. The proposed method can be used to realize data process and advanced control in industrial to improve the quality of control.