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PLC Emulation

FlexSim can simulate programmable logic controllers (PLC) within the software—no physical hardware required. Are you interested in validating or optimizing the controls in your production processes? FlexSim’s PLC emulation functionality will help you do just that, and all in a virtual environment that doesn’t carry the risks of making experimental changes in the real world.

PLC system

How does it work?

1. Build a FlexSim model of your system and use our logic-building tool, Process Flow, to “draft” the proposed PLC logic for the system. You’ll have access to all the benefits of simulation modeling, so you can quickly test many different configurations to understand how the logic affects the entire system.

2. Share the simulation model’s PLC logic with your implementation engineer, who will code ladder logic based on what the simulation model shows.

3. Plug in the real PLC logic into your simulation model to validate. We’re now in emulation territory, and you’ll be able to clearly see how the logic will perform with your system before implementing it in the real-world.

FlexSim Emulation

Why use FlexSim for PLC Emulation?

  • Our flowchart-style logic building tool—called Process Flow—makes it simple and intuitive to both write and test virtual PLC logic.
  • Our PLC emulation is fully integrated with Process Flow, including the PLC connections.
  • One-click associations between OPC DA/UA tags, Modbus registers, or Allen-Bradley tags and the 3D objects in the model.
  • Does each machine in your facility have its own server with a copy of the PLC instructions? We can handle that using unique instances within Process Flow.

Ready to get started? Contact FlexSim today about your emulation project.