Development of three dimensional virtual PLC experiment model based on Unity3D

PLC experiment is an important course of technical education and training in all kinds of schools. The PLC physical model and the actual control model are indispensable in the traditional PLC experiment. It is not conductive to the students' self-study because the cost of maintenance and update of this experiment is higher and the experimental place is fixed. In order to solve these problems, this paper designs a pure software virtual PLC experiment scheme using SIEMENS virtual PLC which provides control signals and a three-dimensional virtual experiment model based on Unity3D. The new experiment scheme can intuitively show the experiment authenticity and overcome the disadvantages of SIEMENS virtual PLC which can only show the status of the control signals but cannot show the running states of peripheral equipment. At the end of this paper, an example, a three-dimensional virtual traffic light experimental model based on Unity3D for SIEMENS virtual PLC, is given to illustrate the feasibility of the scheme.