Re: PLCs: Some sources of free PLC programming software

B

Thread Starter

bob peterson

Never heard of either company, but anyone who is trying to compete in
the fairly crowded PLC market is welcome.

AB has mostly dealt with the free PLC software issue as has Siemens.
Both have introduced either free or much lower cost software packages
for at least some of their controllers.

Those who are thinking the expensive software packages of the past are
the norm are going to get a huge surprise if you look closer these
days.

Siemens has a downloadable package available for the S7-300 line. It
has some limits in what it will do, but for most standalone projects
it will work fine. Its biggest gap in coverage is Profibus.

The Siemens software for the S7-200 and S7-1200 lines is only a few
hundred dollars each. Very affordable.

AB has free software for the entire 1760 line (Pico) and the entire
micro800 line including the HMIs.

There is a version of the RSLogix500 software that is less then $150,
and another under $500. I think they only support the micrologix line
but if that is all you are doing, who cares?

There is a version of RSLogix5000 that only supports some of the low
end compactlogix units that is like $700.

The game has changed a lot in the low end of the market and both AB
and Siemens have radically adjusted their hardware and software prices
to deal with that reality.
 
W

William Sturm

I wish someone would give A-B some serious competition, they need it IMHO. 

The issue for any competitor seems to be market acceptance, not
technical reasons.
 
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