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Automation:IsArduinoreplacingprogrammablelogiccontrollerinindustries?Quora
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Automation:IsArduinoreplacingprogrammablelogic
controllerinindustries?
7Answers

RelatedQuestions
Whyisprogrammingintheprocesscontrolindustry
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BenMordecai,EngineerinIndustrialAutomation
8.3kViewsBenisaMostViewedWriterinProgrammableLogicController(PLC).

Absolutelynot.It'snotevenonanyone'sradar.Arduinoisahobbyisttoy,andPLCsare
industrialequipment.It'stoomuchofahack.
Thecostsavingsiscompletelyoutthewindowonceyouloseasingledayofproduction
becauseofanissuethattookyou10timesaslongtofixbecauseoftheengineeringhurdle.
It'snotdesignedtoworkinafailsafescenario,althoughallyoursafetyshouldnotevenbe
trustedbyanonsafetyPLCduetolackofredundancyinafailurescenario.
It'salsonotdesignedtoruncontinuouslyina90Fdegreepanel,24hoursaday,365days
ayearfor10years.
Finally,engineeringandtechniciantimeisvaluable.Budget$50200+perhour,not
includinglosttimeandequipmentlife.Howmuchmoneyareyoureallygoingtosave?
Written27Feb2015ViewUpvotes

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AjinkyaKamat,DesigningRobotBrainsforaliving.
5.5kViewsUpvotedbyBenMordecai,EngineerinIndustrialAutomation

Noway.
Firstly,PLCandArduinoaretotallydifferentintermsofapplications.Onceyougetthe
hangofusingaPLCandreplacingitwithanArduinowillseemdifficultandpointless.
OnemayarguethataruggedArduinoBoardcouldbedesignedtowithstandtheharsh
environmentsofafactoryfloor.Howevertruethismaybewhenyoudesignarugged
Arduinoboard,whatyouareessentiallydoingisdevelopinganindustrialproductaround
Atmel'sAtmegamicroprocessor.SoletusgiveourfriendsatAtmelsomecreditandstop
callingsuchproductsArduinos.AndbelievemeIhaveopenedupafewindustrialgrade
productsmyself,particularlypowerfactorcontrollers,energymetersandgenset
controllers.ManyofthemdouseAtmelproducts.IamanAtmelfanmyself.
So,therealquestionisaremicrocontrollersreplacingPLCinindustries.
Theansweragainisno.
Yousee.PLCsandmicrocontrollersarebuiltfordifferentkindsofendusers.

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Automation:IsArduinoreplacingprogrammablelogiccontrollerinindustries?Quora

Microcontrollersareusedbyproductdeveloperswhowilldesignanddevelopindustrial
equipmentliketemperaturecontrollers,panelmeters,sensormodules,transducers,
actuatorsetc.
PLCaretargetedforusebysystemintegratorswhowilluseproductsdevelopedbyother
companiestobuildanentireassemblyline.Fortheirapplicationwritingcodeusing
LadderLogicismuchmoreconvenientandoptimal.
Written5Nov2014ViewUpvotes

PiyushRamraika,CFALevel1candidate,ElectricalEngineer
4.3kViewsUpvotedbyBenMordecai,EngineerinIndustrialAutomation

YoushouldnoteventhinkofreplacingPLCswithArduino.Thereisimmensedifference
betweenarduinoandplc.
PLCsaremadetoworkinruggedandindustrialenvironmentandArudinoare
notreliableforsuchanenvironment.
Arduinocannotbetrustedinthelifesavingsituationasoccurinindustries.
Arduinoisdesignedforrandomhobbyistuseandsometimescangiveerrorwhichcan
beverydangerousforthelifeandpropertyoftheindustry.
PLCsusesimpleLadderLogicProgrammingsoitiseasytotroubleshootthemin
caseoferrorbutarduinoareprogrammedwithC++whichisforeginforplant
technicians.
ArduinoisprovidedwithResetbuttonassometimesitgetslockedupwhichisnot
goodforindustries.
ArduinohasfewI/OpinsandanalogpinsascomparedtoPLCswherepinscanbe
hundreds.

Soarduinoisgoodtoplayandprogramathomeandlabsitisnotreadytobeusedin
industrialarena.
Written31Oct2014ViewUpvotes

AdityaShakya,Tinkererbydesign,Artistbychoice.
4.2kViews

Ithinkitis.
ArduinoIsntJustForHackersPaulMFurley
ButIhavemixedfeelingsaboutextensivelyusingArduinoinmainstreamIndustrial
applicationsandwhenitcomestoreplacingPLCsandDCSs,Ihavetopainfully(coziama
fanofArduinoandembeditinallmyprojects)saythat,NoArduinoisnevergoingto
replacePLCs.Youaskwhy?
Firstofallifyoufollowlinkaboutyou'llfindthattheindustrialprintersinthelink
aboutuse5arduinos,andwhyisthat,becausetheyhavelowI/Ocount.Eventthe
mostadvancedarduinohasI/Osthatmaxoutataround100150(approx).Buteven
asmallindustrywilleasilyhavemorethan100I/Os.Nowyoumaysaywecanusea
numberofArduinostosufficeforlackofI/Os,yeswecan,butaskyourselfwhatwill
beeasytomanage(debugorprogram),PLCwithasingleCPU(thereisalwaysa
secondstandbyCPUinthem!!)whichwillhavealltheprogramor,Anumberof
arduinoswiththewholeprogramdividedintoeachandtheyallcommunicateand
synchronizeusingprotocolslikeI2C,SPIoratmaxSerialat115200baud,whichis
horriblyslowerthanthoseusedbyPLClikeModbus.
Secondproblemiscommunicationprotocolsavailable,andproblembeingtheyare
slow.Why?Because,whenyouhaveatleast1000I/Ostohandlethenyouwillhave
around2000+processparametersthatneedtobecommunicatedtotheOperator
consoleatatleast100to10Hzrate.Andatthesametimetheyalsoneedtobe
communicatedtocontrolequipment/hardware/deviceatmuchhigherfrequencies
liketensofthousandstime.Andwithslowcommunicationsavailableitwillmostlikely
resultinablownupBoileroraTurbinebreakingduetoexcessivevibrationandall
thatnotcountingthelifecasualtiesandmonetarylossandallsortsofaccidental
hazards.
ThirdpointbeingReliability.WhatifjustoneoftheArduinomalfunctionswhichisa
veryobviouspossibilitybecauseweneedtoresetitwhenithangsandagainitworks
perfect,butthisisnottolerablewhenyouarecontrollingmachinesworthBillionsof

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Automation:IsArduinoreplacingprogrammablelogiccontrollerinindustries?Quora
rupees/dollars.PLCalwayshaveastandbyCPUthattakesoverwhenprimaryCPU
failsorstartsmisbehaving.
Fourthreasonbeing,PLCisprogrammedusingladderlogicwhichhasbeen
understoodandusedbyengineersandtechniciansfordecades,butontheother
handArduinohasitsownlanguage(notevenC).Andyetagainladderlogicbeing
graphicaliseasytoeditanddebug.TeachinganewlanguagelikeArduinowillbe
cumbersome.
Fifthreasonbeingthat,ifyouaresettingupanindustrialplantworthmillionsof
dollarsthenyouwouldn'twanttogiveitscontrolinthehandsofadevicethatcome
under100$!!.Soitsthetrustfactoratlast,PLCshavebeenhereforlongandtheyare
goingtostay.

AndatlastifyoudesignanIndustriallyrobustArduinobasedcontrollerfromscratch,
keepinginmindalltheindustrialnormsthenagainitwouldbenothingbutaPLCthatis
slowatcommunication,haslowprocessingpower,islessreliableandunderstandArduino
language.Itmaybeusefulforreallysmallindustrialapplicationlikeinsituationswhere
theapplicationisnotcriticalandreliabilityisnotbigadeal,Butyetagainitsfarfrom
replacingPLCs.
ItsnotthatIamagainstwholeArduinothing,actuallymymajorprojectwasan
IndustrialgradeDataAcquisitionandControlBoardwhichsupportbothDigitaland
AnalogI/OsofbothTTLlogiclevel(thoseusedbymicrocontrollerboardslikeArduino)
andPLClogiclevel024v.ItcanbeusedwithLABViewtomakeanycontrolsystembyjust
usingUSBconnectivity.ButthissaidIwouldneverhavesuggesteditsuseforanything
buteducationalpurposes.
Written13Nov2014ViewUpvotes

AnkurKaushal
2.8kViews

Wecanalsodesignarduinoforruggedorindustrialenvironment.
Howcansomeonesaysthatarduinogiveserrorinindustrialreqirement,asplcand
arduinobotharehavigmicrocontroller,whichworksaccordingtoprogramming.
ArduinoprogrammedinsimpleClanguagenotmorethan"if,else,than,for,while
etc"instructionseven7or8thstandardstudentcandoiteasily.
Resetisjustlikeon/offbutton,ifyoupoweroffplcitwillalsonotwork.
ifyoumaketemperaturecontrollerinindustriesusingplcitwillcostyounearabout
thousands$andifyouusearduinothiscostyouonlyfew$,sowhywepaymore.
Written2Nov2014ViewUpvotes

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