2017 14th International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots and Ambient Intelligence (URAI)

June 28 - July 1, 2017 at Maison Glad Jeju, Jeju, Korea

Design of SW Architecture for PLC Integrated Robot

Ho Seok Jeong1 , Sang Hoon Ji2, Heung Sang Jung3, and Ja Choon Koo4
1
School of Mechanical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746, Korea
(Tel : +82-31-8040-6322; E-mail: hsj0820@kitech.re.kr)
2
Group of Robot R&BD, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Ansan, 15588, Korea
(Tel : +82-31-8040-6322; E-mail: robot91@kitech.re.kr)
3
Research Institute, Puloon Technology Inc., Seoul, 137-866, Korea
(Tel : +82-2-6959-4750; E-mail: hsjung@puloon.co.kr)
4
School of Mechanical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746, Korea
(Tel : +82-31-290-7454; E-mail: jckoo@skku.edu)

Abstract – In this paper, we suggest a SW architecture for programmable controllers and other components of
PLC integrated robot which plays a role of master in the automated systems [2].
industrial smart process. Our suggested SW is composed And the level of the PLCopen Motion Control Function
of multi-agents which cooperate with each other. Blocks are specified at such a level that the user quickly
Especially, PLC agent supports PLCopen Standard such recognizes the functionality of the function block and what
that it helps the engineers to write down their own PLC happens if it is activated or connected to other blocks in a
SW contents. sequence of motion commands [3]. Path oriented
movements are programmed either with specific robot
Keywords – Industrial robot, Programmable Logic oriented programming languages, or “G-code” (for
Controller (PLC), PLCopen, Robot Controller, SW instance cf. DIN 66025) as used in the CNC world. Both
Architecture. consist of a relative small number of users. But without a
doubt, the movements which can be described in these
languages are applicable to a broader area of use. This
1. Introduction PLCopen initiative transforms the functionalities as
In recent, for response to a shortened product lifecycle known in the CNC and Robotic world to the PLC world
and various customer needs, it is needed to change [3].
production process procedures in real time. However, it is In this paper, we propose a method that makes it easy to
difficult to cope with the complicated situation with the change the process composite by making the PLC and the
existing fixed structured automation system in which the robot be built in the one controller in which they are
industrial robot is responsible for the simple but precise designed as functional SW agents. In particular, the
repetitive operation and the PLC (Programmable Logic process operation contents are created in accordance with
Controller) is for the process control. the international standard IEC 61131-3.
IEC 61131-3 is the first real endeavor to standardize
programming languages for industrial automation. With
its worldwide support, it is independent of any single 2. Robot SW Architecture
company [1]. IEC 61131-3 is the third part of the IEC
System SW structure including robot, PLC, motion
61131 family and consists of eight parts: ‘General
controller is as shown in Fig. 1. In the architecture, data
Overview’, ‘Hardware’, ‘Programming Languages’, ‘User
communication is based on shared memory provided by
Guidelines’, ‘Communication’, ‘Fuzzy Logic’, and
system engine and robot agents and PLCs do not allow
‘Application Guidelines’ [1].
direct data sharing.
This part of IEC 61131 specifies the syntax and
System SW’s data flow are as follows:
semantics of a unified suite of programming languages for
z Synchronous data transfer between robot- PLC-
programmable controllers (PCs). This suite consists of two
motion controller: some agents transferring data are
textual languages, Instruction List (IL) and Structured
blocked until they receive answer or other agents
Text (ST), and two graphical languages, Ladder Diagram
requiring data are blocked until data are transmitted to
(LD) and Function Block Diagram (FBD). An
them. But agents sending response are not blocked.
additional set of graphical and equivalent textual elements
z Asynchronous data transfer between
named Sequential Function Chart (SFC) is defined for
robot-PLC-motion controller: the agents sending
structuring the internal organization of programmable
asynchronous data are always not blocked.
controller programs and function blocks. Also,
z Event transmission between robot-PLC-motion
configuration elements are defined which support the
controller: In this case, all agents sending event signals
installation of programmable controller programs into
are always not blocked bit the agents waiting for event
programmable controller systems. In addition, features are
reception are blocked until events arrived at the agents.
defined which facilitate communication among

978-1-5090-3056-9/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE 874

 z Barrier: Robot-PLC-Flow match between motion The development environment of the designed PLC
controllers. Only After the all agent declaring the SW architecture is as follows:
barrier (robot-PLC-motion controller) arrives at the - Lenovo-ThinkPad E130 (X86 CPU cored Notebook)
corresponding point, the already arrived frozen agents - Xenomai-2.6.5 & gcc 4.8.4
are released to be ready for operation. - Three stepping motors and motor drivers (SMMC42S)
z Agent priority: there are robot-PLC-priority among
motion controllers
z Function Task priority: there are Robot-
PLC-Priority of function tasks composing inside the
motion controller (= final priority of function task =
agent priority + function task priority)

Fig. 2. PLC test enviroment

Table 1. SMMC42S Stepping Motor Driver

ITEM Content
CPU Cortex 32BIT MCU
Power 24VDC
Motion Signal Open collector Pulse/Direction
Output Output
Motion 70KHz Trapezoidal
acceleration/deceleration
Communication 485 Multi drop
(Up to 8 : X,Y,Z,A,B,C,D,E)

Our system SW consists of a master program and a

slave program. They exchange variables and events
through the shared memory with other. The Master
includes an interpreter which reads and executes the
Fig. 1. System SW Architecture. prepared programs sequentially. The Slave uses the shared
memory for updating each variable and event, and
Hardware interface using shared memory are as connecting the system and the motors and a keyboard with
follows: each legacy program.
z Functional blocks and interpreter operate in
conjunction with the system middleware engine (=
TaskManager) and perform hardware interface (I / O,
communication) using an indirect method using shared
memory.
z It is possible to set the update cycle, data size, etc.
for each memory.
Our PLC SW provides some function blocks (FBD) in Fig. 3. Structure of implmented PLC
defined IEC 61131-3 which are classified into four types
of categories: ‘Data (Move)’, ‘Math (ADD, SUB, MUL, When user hits the keyboard, operation data are
DIV, MOD)’, ‘Counter(CTUD)’, and ‘Timer(TP)’. transferred the master which has the CTUD
The function blocks are different from functions in that (UpDownCounter), SUM, and MUL functions to
they has memory while the function does not have determine the moving axis and position requirment of the
memory and has only external memory references. The motor. It stores this information in the shared memory
function block management is based on flat memory. using the Move function, and then drive the motor through
SFC of PLCopen requires a program flow control to the slave.
support it because there are multiple control flows not
existing in the existing PLC SW.
z Periodic task (running PLC interpreter): SeqTask
z Specific events (tasks that work under certain
circumstances: DcmdTask, DfreTask, XcelTask, etc.)

3. Implementation

875
 Fig. 4. Implmented SW function blocks

4. Conclusion

In this paper, we proposed a method that makes it easy

to change the process composite by making the PLC and
the robot be built in the one controller in which they are
designed as functional SW agents. The process operation
contents are created in accordance with the international
standard IEC 61131-3. We implemented some FBD’s
which controlled three motors by user key input.
In future, we add Ladder function blocks (LD),
Instruction List(IL), and Structured Text(ST). And we will
implement our system SW supporting SFC grammar.

Acknowledgement
Research was supported by the R&D program in the
Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (KEIT,
No.10067414).

References
[1] “IEC 61131-3: A Standard Programming Resource”,
www.plcopen.org.
[2] International Standard, IEC 61131-3, Edition 3.0,
2013.
[3] “Technical Paper PLCopen Technical Committee 2 –
Task Force. Function Blocks for motion control: Part 4
–Coordinated Motion”, www.plcopen.org.
[4] M. Marcos, E. Estévez, I. Sarachaga, and A. Burgos
“Towards the conformance Analysis of IEC 61131-3
PLC Programming Tools”, Proceedings of the 17th
World Congress IFAC, Seoul, Korea, pp.8467-8472,
2008

876