The Practice of Using a SoftPLC to Control the Electromechanical Units of a Training Turning Machine

The process of developing a PLC program for controlling the electromechanical units of modern machine tools with computer numerical control (CNC) has been formalized. The architecture of a two-computer CNC system with an integrated SoftPLC is given and the specifics of using the touch operator panel and virtual machine panel are considered. A set of libraries developed in the FBD (Functional Block Diagram) language for controlling the electrical automation units of a turning machine is proposed. An example of controlling the electric automation of a training lathe via the high-speed EtherCAT field bus using relatively inexpensive third-party solutions for servo drives and I/O modules that provide the required accuracy and speed is given.