Robotics &

Automation
Lab # 2
Ayaz Zafar
ME-1176 / ME-453
Mechanical Lab V
Sir Mukhtar
3-Sep-2014
By
OBJECTIVE
To automate the movement of pneumatic robotic arm with the help of PLC controller.
EQUIPMENT
Pneumatic Robot
Compressor with automatic pressure solenoid switch
Power Supply of 24 volts with six switch box
PLC Model DPV 32ES
Delta WPL v2.09

SUMMARY
Programming steps of PLC to automate movement of robotic arm can be summarized in
following sections
INTRODUCTION
For the automation purpose we use PLC which gives us an added advantage of using
greater number of ports for input and output because of the extension that can be attached
with it. PLC are programmed in ladder and symbols language, so knowledge of
programming is not required. However, concept of a flow diagram is helpful as it pretty
much resembles to that. All input parameters are passed through X and output parameters
are from Y. The model which we are using in this practical is DPV32ES which contains
17 input and 17 output ports.
Output ports can be attached to any of the axis switch whatever we want. For our
convenience we have set ports as follows:


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OUTPUT PORT MOVEMENT AXIS
Y0 Base Rotation
Y1 Arm Extension
Y2 Arm Elevation
Y3 Wrist Rotation
Y4 Gripping
Y5 Track Sliding

STEPS
1. Click on start and open WPL Soft 2.09. Delta WPL Soft 2.09 windows will
appear on the desktop. Notice the user interface of this software carefully.

2. Now go to Menu bar and select File > New


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3. A new mini windows will appear prompting Select a PLC Model. In this
window give your program a title and file name. From select dropdown menu
choose ES/EX/SS. Then click OK
4. A Ladder Diagram Mode will pop up. This is the windows in which we will
give instruction to the robotic arm with the help of PLC.

5. Press F2 or select input device form the menu bar to give input to the PLC.
Input Device Instructions: Constantly closed contact will come up. Choose
Device Name: X and Device Number: 0 then click OK

6. Next press F7 or select output device from menu bar and again Input Device
Instructions: Output coil will appear. Choose Device Name: Y and
Device Number: 5 then click OK. The Blue box will move to next line.



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7. To end this program, double-click the Blue Box and Input Instruction windows
will come up. Type end to end this program.
8. To see this program in action. First compile this program by Write to PLC
button and then press Start button. According to our port setting, the robotic
arm will slide on its track.
9. Additionally we can also have a timer function so that we can move our required
axis according the timing that is needed. To do this, delete END function and
give input Y5 for timer as it is high at that time.
10. After that press F6 or select Timer from the Menu bar and Application
Instruction window will come up.

11. Select Instruction Type: Timer & Counter and Application Instruction:
TMR. Choose S: T and D: K with Device number 0 and 50
respectively. Our timer take input as pulses and 10 pulses are equal to 1 second
delay. To give 5 seconds delay we have chosen 50 pulses.
12. Our timer function is defined and will be initialized upon the logic high of Y5.
To execute the function, select input device as T0 and output it Y0 as shown in
figure.


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QUESTIONS
1. What is the difference between PLC and microcontroller?
Microcontrollers are programmed using C and Assembly languages whereas
PLC are programmed with Ladder and Symbols Language.

2. What are the advantages of using PLC over microcontroller?
Microcontroller has fixed number of I/O ports while PLC I/O ports can be
increased as desired by using extension.

3. What is the model of PLC used in experiment?
PLC model number is DPV32ES

4. Which software used in experiment to program PLC?
WPL Soft version 2.09 is used in this experiment by Delta Electronics.

5. What is the limit of instructions that can be given to PLC?
Maximum number of 4000 steps can be given as instruction to PLC in a single
program.

6. How many number of I/O ports are present in PLC?
In our current step, we have 17 input and 17output ports available to work with.

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