With the new version V18 of the TIA Portal , Siemens is focusing on specific customer workflows: In addition to more efficient engineering, teams should now be able to jointly create and manage libraries and roll them out company-wide.
Another novelty is the IT-oriented approach of Simatic AX, which expands the workflows. Although the TIA Portal is a classic tool at the OT level, engineering functions can now also be programmed in Visual Studio Code. Mechanisms such as Git versioning, unit testing or object orientation are thus available. The libraries created in Structured Text can be seamlessly integrated into the TIA Portal. Since Simatic AX is also cloud-based, it can be quickly and easily downloaded and updated anytime, anywhere.
Hardware updates are also increasingly supporting the connection between IT and automation. In this way, the medium-performance class of Siemens PLCs has more memory and more powerful communication so that data can be exchanged and used efficiently. In addition, the development environment in version 18 enables advanced engineering of kinematics (5D/6D). The reliability of the automated production is protected with an R1 redundancy. The latter is of particular interest for large infrastructure projects. In addition, version 18 focuses on new security standards.
The further developed Industrial Ethernet switches of the Scalance XC-/XR-300 series can also be seen at the trade fair. The Managed Layer 2 devices are available as both compact and 19″ models for network cabinets. They offer a high port density, which means that many devices can be connected within large network infrastructures. Ports with high bandwidths (up to 10GBit/s) also enable OT network applications for data, voice, video and Profinet. In addition to the basic functions, the models of the Scalance XCM 300 and Scalance XRM 300 series will also offer TimeSensitive Networking (TSN), edge functionality and seamless redundancy for increased real-time communication and operational reliability.