Industrial control programming and protocols on a Raspberry Pi
Small Industry
© Lead Image © Nelli Valova, 123RF.com
Create automation projects with ladder logic, function blocks, structured text, and Modbus TCP.
Home automation projects can take advantage of a number of good software packages (e.g., Home Assistant and Node-RED) to manage and monitor sensors and controllable devices. If you are interested in looking at an industrial controls approach to your automation projects, then OpenPLC [1] is a good package to consider. A programmable logic controller (PLC) is a hardened industrial hardware device that manages I/O and logic according to the IEC 61131-3 standard [2].
The OpenPLC open source software runs on a Raspberry Pi, Linux, or Windows PC, and it offers users a great way to learn industrial control concepts, programming languages, and communications protocols.
In this article, I introduce IEC 61131-3 programming by creating three small OpenPLC programs that use ladder logic, function blocks, and structured text programming languages. The programs in the projects presented here connect to the Raspberry Pi general purpose input/output (GPIO) pins for basic read and write functions; then, the PLC project passes data by Modbus TCP to a Node-RED [3] dashboard.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
KDE Linux Alpha Available for Daring Users
It's official, KDE Linux has arrived, but it's not quite ready for prime time.
-
AMD Initiates Graphics Driver Updates for Linux Kernel 6.18
This new AMD update focuses on power management, display handling, and hardware support for Radeon GPUs.
-
AerynOS Alpha Release Available
With a choice of several desktop environments, AerynOS 2025.08 is almost ready to be your next operating system.
-
AUR Repository Still Under DDoS Attack
Arch User Repository continues to be under a DDoS attack that has been going on for more than two weeks.
-
RingReaper Malware Poses Danger to Linux Systems
A new kind of malware exploits modern Linux kernels for I/O operations.
-
Happy Birthday, Linux
On August 25, Linux officially turns 34.
-
VirtualBox 7.2 Has Arrived
With early support for Linux kernel 6.17 and other new additions, VirtualBox 7.2 is a must-update for users.
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.
-
Debian 13.0 Officially Released
After two years of development, the latest iteration of Debian is now available with plenty of under-the-hood improvements.
-
Upcoming Changes for MXLinux
MXLinux 25 has plenty in store to please all types of users.