LabVIEW and Siemens S7 – preferably via Profinet

It is by far the most widely used PLC in Europe – the Siemens S7. It is therefore not surprising that it is also used on many test benches for both central and peripheral tasks. And the number of communication variants is almost as large as the number of applications. Many proprietary solutions are used in existing systems in particular. As experienced LabVIEW users, we can of course also handle these, such as the ACCON-NetLink communication adapter from DELTA LOGIC, which we integrated during the modernization of a hydraulic test bench.

However, when we are asked about the optimum solution for a LabVIEW S7 interface, our answer is clear: Profinet via real-time Ethernet cards from Hilscher’s cifX family and LabVIEW libraries by müller+krahmer, which not only exchange data with the card, but also perform the necessary data type conversions. Thanks to the multi-bus capability of cifX, this communication also works for other PLC families via EtherCAT, SERCOS III and other real-time Ethernet buses. And whether the LabVIEW application is the master or slave in the network can be determined by the cifX firmware.

CONTACT:
Holger Mueller
Email: mueller@mueller-krahmer.de
Mobile: +49 160 / 287 7294