Arduino PLC IDE Blends the Worlds of Programmable Logic Controllers and Arduino Sketches

The Arduino team has announced a new piece of software for its Arduino Pro range, aimed at the upcoming programmable logic controller (PLC) engineer: the Arduino PLC Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

"With the demand for PLC programming rising due to the spread of automation in a wide range of industrial fields, we felt we had to step up for our community of budding and experienced engineers," the company writes of its latest software release. "That's why we have just launched a dedicated Arduino PLC IDE, which supports the five languages defined by the IEC 61131-3 standard: Ladder Diagram, Functional Block Diagram, Structured Text, Sequential Function Chart and Instruction List."

The software, available to all, is designed to combine traditional PLC programming and Arduino sketch programming in a single environment. A range of libraries are included, supporting features including embedded machine learning and no-code Fieldbus configuration for CanOpen, ModBus RTU, and ModBus TCP.

The launch comes a month after Arduino launched Opta, its first-ever "micro PLC," based on the STMicro STM32H747XI and designed for use in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). "We designed [Opta] specifically with PLC engineers in mind," the company said at the time, promising features that would appeal to "professional users." At launch, however, the Opta won't be supported in the Arduino PLC IDE — with the team promising compatibility to come "in the near future."

"With the Arduino PLC IDE," the Arduino team promises, "automation is easier to achieve even for mission-critical tasks, and promises the best improvements in efficiency and productivity thanks to advanced monitoring and debugging tools, as well as zero-downtime program changes thanks to its hot swap functionality."

More information on the Arduino PLC IDE, which uses a more detailed interface than the traditional Arduino IDE, is available on the Arduino Pro site; the IDE is available to download now for Windows, with no word yet on support for other operating systems — and, unlike the mainstream Arduino IDE, no public source code.