CODESYS VIRTUAL PLC
The latest evolution of Industrial Automation 5.0
CODESYS Virtual Control SL has no hardware requirements
CODESYS has been offering hardware-independent Soft PLCs for 30 years and continuously expanding their products. Today, CODESYS provides hardware-independent Soft PLCs for Windows, as well as for Linux x86 and ARM-based systems with excellent real-time performance.
The CODESYS Virtual Control SL is a more advanced product for the future. It allows the CODESYS Soft PLC to run in a virtualized environment without the need for specific device hardware. Instead, the device gets replaced by containers and hypervisor technologies.
The containerization makes the new virtual control solution completely hardware independent. Instances of the runtime environment can now also be operated on high-performance IT servers, for example, allowing entire production lines to be controlled centrally.
Dozen of native PLCs can therefore be replaced by a centralized system. IT methods and tools make it much easier to set up and maintain the control landscape. New instances of the virtual runtime can be set up and terminated as required - in a matter of seconds.
The CODESYS Virtual PLC can be installed multiple times on a device and has no hardware requirements. The Virtual PLC is connected to the real Automation World via virtual LAN and remote I/O. CODESYS Virtual Control SL is available for purchase in the CODESYS North America Store.
CODESYS device manufacturers can offer their customers images and configurations for CODESYS Virtual Control SL on their devices. This gives system integrators maximum freedom in the development of control applications to organize them in separate micro-services.
To deploy or orchestrate CODESYS Virtual Control SL, CODESYS users can choose from industrial IPC devices, servers, or cloud platforms.
Performance can also be precisely scaled to meet the needs of any application. All control instances can be orchestrated via Linux commands or scripts, with appropriate tools (e.g. Kubernetes, Open Shift) or directly from the CODESYS Automation Server. Access to the field device level is via virtual LAN, which is also available in all managed industrial switches.
Based on container and hypervisor technologies, the CODESYS Virtual Control SL can be used to transform any modern system into an industrial controller - from small, dedicated ARM devices to IT servers. This opens up completely new industrial automation possibilities that were previously unthinkable with native PLCs.
ADVANTAGES
- A significant reduction in costs and effort for procurement,
- wiring,
- maintenance,
- rolling out applications and device administration.
- The control cabinet is no longer occupied by one or more controls.
- Power supply units and their wiring are no longer necessary.
- Easy scaling through dynamic creation of control instances and the ability to expand hardware independently from software.
- Security by design by distributing tasks to several independent control instances with powerful intercommunication.
Split up application parts and encapsulate them in the containers - just like microservices in IT.
- Interoperability with other services ("micro services")
- OT and IT merge completely
Instead of procuring and installing several controllers, it is sufficient to load an available IT platform in the network with virtual controllers and to manage them centrally - performed by IT specialists instead of automation specialists.
- SoftSafety
Deploy a virtual Safety controller according to IEC 61508 SIL3 through 'diversified encoding'.
- Scalability & Flexibility
Choose the right license and turn a virtual controller into any desired device such as compact controller, motion controller, or high-performance controller.
- Flexible Orchestration
Set up / delete virtual controllers with or completely without Linux knowledge.
CODESYS VIRTUAL CONTROL SL INSTALLATION
Discover CODESYS Virtual Control SL in the CODESYS North America Store or obtain it directly via the CODESYS Installer.
The download from the CODESYS Store provides you with the complete CODESYS package. Simply install it in the CODESYS Installer interface or directly by double-clicking.
The package contains all the necessary components to put your virtual controllers into operation.
You will find further information in the CODESYS Online Help.
CODESYS VIRTUAL SAFE CONTROL
With CODESYS Virtual Safe Control, any containerized platform can be used as a safety controller - including safety certification.
The software solution creates dual-channel capability through "Diversified Encoding", which is based on "Coded Processing". The processing of the application is divided into two logical software channels:
- The first channel simply executes the implemented safety application as is.
- The second channel uses the same application, but executes it with the algorithms of "coded processing" and can therefore already detect errors.
Both channels run on a virtual PLC in a process sequentially one after the other on a CPU core. They constantly check each other. Diversified Encoding distributes the safe inputs to both channels and, conversely, combines the outputs of both channels into safe outputs. This includes data streams that are generated by safe network or fieldbus protocols. The safety concept of SIListra Systems GmbH has been approved by TÜV SÜD.
The release and certification of CODESYS Virtual Safe Control as a hardware-independent solution is planned for the first half of 2024. As before, the safety application can be configured in the safe IEC 61131-3 editor as part of the certified add-on module, which extends the purely functional part of the CODESYS Development System. The user only notices that these are virtualized devices when connecting the safety I/O modules in the application.
Setup and Measurements from a Live Demo – see here
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