#7 Communications

When reading this chapter you have to take into account a series of points:

You can practice with an Arduino board. In the different PLCs we use original Arduino boards, for this reason, it is not necessary that you practice with our equipment.

In this chapter, we will explain the different types of basic communications available on an Arduino board, as well as the different industrial adaptations to communicate with industrial equipment. The different types of communication enabled in the Arduino-based PLCs are I2C, Serial TTL, RS232, RS485, and SPI, through which we manage to communicate via Ethernet.

Communications

It is important to be clear about how each type of communication is connected and what can be done in each of these. How many computers can be connected? If you can make a bus or simply allow 2 teams to communicate with each other. etc.

In the video, we show you differences between the communications by Arduino and in the PLCs based on Arduino that allows connecting directly with other industrial equipment. The objective is that you understand that it is more advisable to use depending on the needs. So, in the next chapters we will see more in detail each one of these communication systems.

(Remember: For us, a PLC works like an Arduino board, our PLCs use original Arduino boards so you can try this course using original Arduino boards).

Useful Links

• Arduino IDE
• Processing
• Industrial Shields Library from G​​​​​​itHub

Material to do practices

Arduino Leonardo or Arduino Mega (You also can use an Arduino UNO if you get it).

(The devices used with the Arduino Mega and Arduino Leonardo assembled inside have been: From the Ethernet PLCs; the M-Duino 21. From the 20I/Os PLC; The Ardbox Relay).