Increasing the abilities of an industrial controller by means of integration of additional interaction protocols

Background: Currently, industrial controllers solve numerous diversified tasks. One of the main tasks for the programmed logical controller (PLC) is data transferring to other controllers, devices and systems. The data can be stored in the controller or be obtained from external terminal devices, other controllers, sensors etc. Aim: Increasing the abilities of an industrial controller by means of integration of additional interaction protocols. Methods: Currently, data transfer protocols in automation, control and telemechanics systems are critical as they give an opportunity of data exchange between devices of all levels of automation. The device’s capability of sending and receiving the information allows using these solutions in the systems that require accumulation, analysis, processing and displaying the data demanded to the system. Results: Based on the problem related to the development of the integration of interaction protocols in an industrial controller, the interaction of the controller with external devices allows implementing control on mechanisms, data analysis for further information processing, accumulation and processing of the data for transferring to the upper-level systems like the SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems. Conclusion: As the result of the conducted study, domain analysis was conducted, main types of data transfer protocols, widely used in industrial controllers, were found, their purposes and main features were denoted. The method of integration of the interaction protocol into the controller’s programming environment obtained in this study allows for the complete implementation of the new data transfer method by following certain rules.