Ladder Logic Programming Tutorial   STEP 3     backbutton.gif (507 bytes)  nextbutton.gif (690 bytes)

We are ready to create Circuit #1 as shown below:

tutorial1c1.jpg (6929 bytes)

  1. With the circuit pointer (red color triangle) at Circuit #1, press the <Spacebar> to enter the "Ladder Edit" mode. You can also enter the circuit edit mode by double clicking at Circuit #1.

editla3.jpg (35044 bytes)


Once you enter the "Ladder Edit" mode, a row of ladder icons appear along the top of the main i-TRiLOGI window just below the pull down menu. The following is a description of each item. A yellow color highlight bar, which you can move to select an element in the ladder circuit, will appear.

tutorial1c3.gif (330 bytes)

<1> - Left click to insert a normally-open series contact. 
<2> - Right click to insert a normally-closed series contact.
tutorial1c4.gif (215 bytes) <3> - Left click to insert a N.O. parallel contact to highlighted element
<4> - Right click to insert a N.C. parallel contact to highlighted element
tutorial1c5.gif (209 bytes) <5> - Left click to insert a N.O. parallel contact to enclose one or more elements.
<6> - Right click to insert a N.C. parallel contact to enclose one or more elements.
tutorial1c6.gif (197 bytes) <7> - Insert a normal coil which may be an output, relay, timer or counter.
tutorial1c7.gif (209 bytes) <8> - Insert a parallel output coil (not an entire branch) to the current coil.
tutorial1c8.gif (219 bytes) <9> - Insert a special function coil which includes execution of CusFn
tutorial1c9.gif (223 bytes) <0> - Insert a parallel special function coil to the current coil.
tutorial1c10.gif (216 bytes) </> -  Invert the element from N.O. to N.C. or from N.C. to N.O.
contac9.jpg (1489 bytes) <^> -  Convert the element to a rising-edge triggered contact (one shot)
tutorial1c11.gif (145 bytes) Click to move the highlight bar to the right (same effect as pressing the right arrow key).
This can be used to move the cursor to a junction which cannot be selected by mouse click.
tutorial1c12.gif (153 bytes) Double-click to delete a highlighted element. This acts as a safety against mistake.
  1. Now insert the first element by left-clicking on the tutorial1c3.gif (330 bytes) icon. The icon will change to a bright yellow color to show you the element type that you are creating. At the same time, an I/O table should appear on the screen with a light beige-color background instead of the normal light blue background. The I/O table now acts like a pop-up menu for you to pick any of the pre-defined label names for this contact. 

Note: In i-TRiLOGI version 6.x,  if you pick any undefined I/O you will be prompted to enter the label name and what you entered will automatically be updated in the I/O table.

  1. The contents in the table are not normally meant to be edited at this moment . Scroll to the "Input" table and click on  the label name "Start" and a normally-open contact will be created at Circuit #1.

tutorial1c14.jpg (30070 bytes)

If you observe the highlight bar carefully, you will notice a dark green color square at the right end of the highlight. This indicates the insertion location where a series contact will be attached. You can change the insertion location to the left  or the right of the highlight bar by pressing the <SHIFT> key or <TAB> key (Note: <TAB> key only works on JRE 1.3.1 or earlier. It does not work on JRE 1.4.x)

  1. Next, create the contact "RUN" which is parallel to the "Start" contact by left-clicking on the tutorial1c4.gif (215 bytes) icon. The I/O table will appear again. Scroll to the "Relay" table and select the "RUN" relay.

  2. To insert the normally-closed "Stop" contact in series with the "Start" and "Run" contacts, you need to move the highlight bar to the junction of the "Start" and "Run" contact. First click on the "Start" contact to select it. Then click on the   tutorial1c11.gif (145 bytes) icon to move the highlight bar to the junction, as follow:

tutorial1c13.jpg (30625 bytes)     

Note: The highlight bar will move to the junction if you click on the dark green insertion point on the "Start" contact.

tutorial1c15.jpg (54795 bytes)

  1. Next, right-click on the tutorial1c3.gif (330 bytes) icon. It will change into yellow color normally-closed contact as shown in the above diagram. You are now inserting a normally-closed series contact at the location of the highlight bar. Pick the "Stop" label from the "Input" table to add the series contact.

tutorial1c16.jpg (34910 bytes)

  1. We will now connect a relay coil "Run" to the right of the "Stop" contact. Click on the tutorial1c6.gif (197 bytes) icon to insert the coil. Select "RUN" label from the "Relay" table. Remember that an input can never be used as a coil. Fortunately, i-TRiLOGI is smart enough not to call up the "Inputs" table when you are connecting a coil, to avoid unintentional errors.

Notice that the coil symbol ---(RLY)   indicates that this is a relay coil, which is helpful in identifying the function of the coil. i-TRiLOGI automatically places the coil at the extreme right end of the screen and completes the connection with an extended wire.

  1. Right below the relay coil is a parallel timer coil with label name "Duration". To create this coil, click on the tutorial1c7.gif (209 bytes) icon.  This allows you to connect a parallel coil to the existing coil. The "I/O" table will pop up for selection again. Since we want to choose a timer, scroll to the "Timer" table and pick the first timer with the label "Duration" to complete the circuit.

Press the <Enter> key once to complete Circuit #1

Congratulation! You have just successfully created you very own ladder logic circuit. It is that simple! It may be a good time to save your program now by pressing <CTRL-S> key or select "Save" from the "File" menu and give a file name for you new program.


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