Visual Basic to PLC connection 1

[Fritzfrederix]

Hi there,

Is it possible to use VB as a front end and communicate with a Siemens S7-400 (CP443-1?)?
At our plant we are using WinCC for visualisation, now for a new application I should need about 8 new licenses of WinCC which is very expensive. That why I thought of VB.
The only thing we have to do, when a certain production line comes in stop mode, I need to send the date and Timestamp to a SQL-server and (were the plc connection comes in) let a light flashing.

Thanks in advance

 

[wde3477]

I believe there are several companies out there that have a VB-PLC communication interface. You might take a look at

http://www.softwaretoolbox.com's

INGEAR as one potential source.

 

[Eoai]

Using VB is quite simple and you could get some examples from the siemens A&D website. You will however need some OPC complient software Simatic net industrial ethernet, so that your PLC can communicate with your VB application. If you already have a winCC application you may already have this package installed. Hope this helps.