ISA Interchange

Welcome to the official blog of the International Society of Automation (ISA).

This blog covers numerous topics on industrial automation such as operations & management, continuous & batch processing, connectivity, manufacturing & machine control, and Industry 4.0.

The material and information contained on this website is for general information purposes only. ISA blog posts may be authored by ISA staff and guest authors from the automation community. Views and opinions expressed by a guest author are solely their own, and do not necessarily represent those of ISA. Posts made by guest authors have been subject to peer review.

All Posts

IEC 6-1131-3

The IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) 6-1131-3 Standard is a widely recognized international standard for the programming of a PLC.

How many ‘Graphical languages’ are there in the IEC  6-1131-3  ?

a.  2

b.  3

c.  4

d.  5

The correct answer is A.
They are Ladder Diagram (LD) and  Function Block Diagram (FBD).

Ladder Diagram

 

Function Block Diagram

 

Programming Languages

1. Graphical

1. Ladder Diagram (LD)

2. Function Block Diagram(FBD)

 

2. Textual

1. Instruction List (IL)

2. Structured Text (ST)

 

3. Program Control Flow

1. Sequential Function Charts (SFC)

Sequential Function Charts are considered by many to be a graphical language.

IEC 61131-3 is the third part of the IEC 61131 family. This consists of:

•Part 1: General Overview

•Part 2 Hardware

•Part 3 Programming Languages

•Part 4 User Guidelines

•Part 5 Communication

•Part 7 Fuzzy Logic

• Part 8 Application Guidelines

Benefits

  • Standard will provide greater uniformity between PLCs
  • Does for the process world what OPC (OLE2) did for the computer world
  • Reuse work
  • Reduce amount of retraining
  • Enables programmers to integrate multiple languages within the same application
  • Does not…–
    Specify physical I/O–
    Memory  address mapping
Mark Weisner
Mark Weisner
Mark Weisner is a technical specialist at ISA.

Related Posts

Ask the Automation Pros: Achieving the Best Feedforward Control

The following discussion is part of an occasional series, "Ask the Automation Pros," authored by Greg McM...
Greg McMillan Jan 17, 2025 7:00:00 AM

Methods Manufacturers Are Adopting to Enable a Scalable, Low-Cost IoT Connected Factory

Manufacturers are implementing scalable, low-cost IoT-connected factories using wireless sensor networks ...
Sunthar Subramanian Jan 14, 2025 7:00:00 AM

The Flaws of Flow Meters: Part 2

Introduction Pipelines in every process industry are outfitted with flow meters to detect the actual amou...
Abhishek Sharma Jan 10, 2025 7:00:00 AM