en.Wedoany.com Reported - Germany's Siemens has enhanced its engineering tool Simatic AX Logic Control Engineering (LCE) by introducing a ladder diagram programming language called XLad, the first graphical programming language in this tool, while adding support for the Simatic S7-1200 G2 controller series, making software-defined automation more applicable to industrial users.
These updates combine operational technology (OT)-friendly programming with IT-style workflows, helping engineering teams work more efficiently and opening up new application areas for basic automation projects where cost-effectiveness is critical. Previously, Simatic AX LCE was entirely based on a structured text (ST) engineering environment, primarily targeting software automation engineers. By adding ladder diagram programming, Siemens enables service and maintenance technicians, as well as engineers who prefer graphical logic representations, to handle control programs more intuitively, thereby reducing onboarding time, simplifying troubleshooting, and improving collaboration.
Rainer Brehm, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer of Siemens Digital Industry Automation, stated that by introducing ladder diagram programming, software-defined automation becomes more accessible to a broader user base in the operational technology field, bridging the digital and physical worlds more closely and creating new opportunities for efficient engineering, maintenance, and collaboration.
XLad is the first text-based ladder diagram programming tool integrated into Simatic AX LCE, bringing software development practices such as version control, automated testing, and continuous integration to the realm of ladder diagram logic. By integrating support for Git and CI/CD workflows (continuous integration and continuous delivery/deployment), users can manage changes in ladder diagram logic more transparently, collaborate across teams, and improve software quality in engineering. XLad seamlessly interacts with structured text (ST), allowing users to reuse libraries created in ST by integrating them into ladder diagram logic applications.
XLad supports bidirectional programming, enabling users to switch between graphical views and text-based editors. Its text representation is both human-readable and AI-ready, laying the foundation for future AI-assisted engineering use cases and serving as the basis for version management using Git.
Siemens has expanded the hardware support scope of Simatic AX LCE by adding support for the Simatic S7-1200 G2 controller, extending its application range from primarily focusing on Simatic S7-1500 controllers to engineering for basic automation controllers. Siemens will showcase these innovations at the Automate show in Chicago from June 22 to 25.
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