In my last few articles I’ve covered unboxing my new Siemens Starter Kit, assembling the hardware, connecting power, installing and licensing the TIA Portal software, and creating my first project.

In this article, I will continue with the journey by connecting to the CPU so I can add it to my new TIA Portal project.

Under the area of “online access”, I was able to find the S7 Controller (distinguishable by the MAC Address) and assign an IP Address to it. I assigned 192.168.1.2 to the CPU.

Adding the S7 1200 PLC to the TIA Portal Project

What I have found is that there are multiple ways to add a device (PLC/HMI/Drive) to the project.

Here I can add the CPU and I/O modules manually or I can upload the hardware information by selecting an “Unspecified CPU 1200” and then clicking the “Detect” link as shown in the next couple of screenshots. I went through this both ways, deleted the device and re-added it multiple times to get more familiar with the software.

  • After selecting the Unspecified CPU 1200, click the “Detect” link shown below:

  • Click the “Detect” button here to Upload the Chassis Configuration

  • I now have my chassis information as it is installed.

 Hardware Setup – Self Inflicted Issue that I ran into

Initially, I ran into an issue with the additional I/O Modules. They would not show up and when I tried to add them manually, they would not be recognized.

The modules displayed the error “not reachable”. The I/O Modules also physically only flashed a Red LED light. I had connected the modules together and it looked to be correct.

Finally, after looking at the manual and looking a little closer, I realized that each additional module needed 24 VDC applied to it.

  • After connecting 24VDC to each additional module, I was able to communicate with them easily.

Controller Properties

Initially, to get a successful compile and be able to download to the CPU, I had a couple of errors that were resolved in the CPU General Properties.

  1. I had to Enable F-activation for the fail-safe modules
  2. I had to select an access level for the PLC

 While in the CPU properties, I also gave the Controller a name: HOME_S71200

Compile

To compile the project, you can right-click on the CPU and select compile, then select hardware and software (only changes) as shown below

 Download the Project

In the same fashion as compiling the project, I right-clicked on the CPU and selected “Download to device, then Hardware and software (only changes ) to download to the CPU.

  • Here, I select the CPU that I wish to load to and select the “Load” button

Conclusion

Moving along with my “HOME” project, I was able to connect with the S7 1200 easily via my EtherNet adapter and assign an IP address.

I was also able to detect and/or manually add the modules to the project, compile the project and download the project to the CPU.

I will leave off here as this makes a stopping point for this article. My initial work with TIA Portal is very positive and the software is user friendly.

Written by Brandon Cooper
Senior Controls Engineer and Freelance Writer

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Brandon Cooper
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