Preface

CODESYS is an independent programming tool for PLCs. It consists of a programming tool, which is running under Windows, and a runtime, which can run on a real PLC or an open Linux Device, like the Raspberry Pi.

Why?

The glue for hobbyists is, that the programming system is free and the runtime is available as a 2h demo.

There are generally a few major advantaes of using CODESYS over using C, python or s.th. similar:

• It is by far easier to access I/Os
• The graphical languages are easier to understand
• You can use an easy to use WebVisu
• You can easily use secure OPCUA communication to exchange variables through the internet

Download

To get CODESYS, you need to register yourself for free at http://store.codesys.com. After the registration you can download the progrmaming system.

Linux

As for now, the programming system is sadly not running under Linux. For those of you, who don't have a Windows system available, you can use a trail VM from microsoft here:
https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/tools/vms/

hints

• Please make sure that you save your projects and stuff outside of the VM when using the trail version.
• If you use "bridged" networking, you can easily scan your devices. Otherwhise you might need to enter the IP address in the "communication" dialog.