The new version of the Siemens TIA Portal V18 PLC programming software is now available. The new version is now available to be downloaded in demo mode (Trial) to be able to test its operation.
A few days ago we announced the launch of the TIA Portal V18, Siemens announced its launch during the celebration of the SPS 2022 fair
TIA Portal V18 – Highlights
In this 176-page presentation you can see the main innovations offered by this new TIA Portal V18 version when programming Siemens SIMATIC PLCs.
Download TIA Portal V18
In this Link you can download the latest version of TIA Portal V18 to test it.
Review of the main novelties:
TIA Portal libraries
The following functions are newly available with libraries in TIA Portal V18:
Library Management Area
As of version V18 of TIA Portal, it is possible to use the library management as a standalone editor. Improved usability allows users to use the library management in parallel with the project editors, eliminating the need to switch between library view and project view.
Comparison of global libraries
With V18 of the TIA Portal, the user has the option of comparing global libraries with each other or with the project library. Library types and master copies are taken into account for the comparison. The user also has the option of performing a comparison between the libraries.
Multiuser Engineering and global libraries
As of version V18 of the TIA Portal, it is possible to save global libraries on the project server and to edit them jointly in a team. The same Multiuser workflows are available for working with global libraries as for projects.
TIA Portal Version Control Interface
The Version Control Interface (VCI) enables the connection and use of any versioning system e.g. VCI, GIT together with TIA Portal. VCI offers the export or import of all program components, such as blocks, user data types, etc. from the TIA project and displays the current comparison status at the object.
The following new features are available in V18:
- Possibility to automatically derive the workspace structure from the project structure
- Display of new files in the workspace with a proposal for transfer to the project
- Pre- and post-processing for export and import to and from the workspace
- Support of TOs
- Exporting and importing STL blocks in source format
TIA Portal User Management and Access Control (UMAC)
The TIA Portal project offers integrated user administration. For consistent access protection, user roles can be configured with function rights for engineering and runtime. Users and user groups can also be managed centrally through the connection of TIA Portal to a UMC domain.
TIA Portal V18 includes the following new features
- Support for moving a protected TIA Portal project from a dedicated UMC domain to other UMC domains.
- Instead of the conventional user name from the TIA Portal settings, the logged-in user name can now also be used as the default for protected projects.
TIA Portal Openness
TIA Portal Openness is the uniform interface for digital engineering in TIA Portal.
It provides a user programming interface for automating TIA Portal engineering tasks and workflows in the value chain: Data exchange, automation of production planning, automation of product engineering, automation of project verification, and automation of execution and services.
A comprehensive overview can be found on the TIA Portal Openness topic page 109792902
Highlighted API extensions in TIA Portal Openness V18 are:
- Long-term support and compatibility
- Extended access to the hardware configuration
- Extended hardware data exchange
- Automated Safety Engineering
- STEP 7 extensions
- Station upload extensions
- Test Suite Advanced extensions
- New API functions in additional option packages: WinCC Unified, Startdrive, Sinamics DCC, CFC, Teamcenter Gateway
The complete list of all new features can be found in the TIA Portal Openness system manual, section “What’s new”.
TIA Portal Add-Ins
Add-Ins provide a convenient way to extend TIA Portal functionality via the Openness API. Add-Ins are written as .NET programs and can be conveniently distributed within a company and to third-party suppliers.
For V18, there are the following improvements in the area of Add-Ins:
- In V18, additional types of workflow Add-Ins are offered, which allow certain functionalities of the TIA Portal to be extended by user-specific operations.
- Simplified creation and debugging of Add-Ins is possible with the provided TIA Portal Add-In Development Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 and 2022 and Visual Studio Code. Templates for the existing Add-In types are offered to the Add-In programmer.
- The Add-In programmer has additional options for displaying alarms from their Add-In directly in TIA Portal.
- A bulk rollout mechanism can be used to distribute Add-Ins throughout the company. This is done using a service that allows an administrator to centrally administer the Add-Ins on the computers they manage.
Engineering options
TIA Portal Multiuser Engineering and TIA Project server
- Grouped storage structures for projects
- As of TIA Portal V18, it is possible to save projects grouped on the project server. For this purpose, the project server offers the possibility to create groups. TIA Portal projects can be assigned to these groups. Group names can reflect, for example, projects, plants or orders.
- Extended access authorizations
- With TIA Portal V18, extended project access protection is available, which makes it possible to configure access to projects and project groups for individual users or groups. Users of TIA Portal version V17 and lower also benefit from extended project protection. Access protection is limited here to the top-level project repository. As of V18, the project server is available for download via the SIOS entry “Download project server”. New project server functions are made available independently of the TIA Portal release.
- Global libraries
- As of version V18 of the TIA Portal, it is possible to save global libraries on the project server and to edit them jointly in a team. The same Multiuser workflows are available for working with global libraries as for projects.
TIA Portal Teamcenter Gateway
The Teamcenter Gateway enables you to save and manage TIA Portal projects and global libraries in Teamcenter. Operator control is integrated into the TIA Portal.
TIA Portal Teamcenter Gateway V18 offers the following new functions:
- Support for Teamcenter Gateway operation in Exclusive Engineering
Teamcenter Gateway supports operations such as connect, save, open, search etc. in the TIA Portal Exclusive Engineering environment. Exclusive Engineering allows you to work on your project conveniently as a “single user” on the project server. - Openness API for Teamcenter Gateway Workflows
As of V18, there is an interface for Openness API of Teamcenter Gateway Workflows for the integration of TIA Portal into your development environment and the automation of your engineering workflow tasks. Write your own applications with external development environments, for example for push and pull of your engineering projects from TIA Portal into Teamcenter to manage projects and libraries in TIA Portal as a whole in Teamcenter – for consistent versions and consistent release processes. You can find details in the TIA Portal Openness manual. - Updating modified linked TIA proxy objects in Teamcenter
As of V18, TIA Portal objects (FBs, FCs and PLC data types) can be exported as proxy objects to Teamcenter and linked with Teamcenter artefacts. As of V19, it is possible to update modified linked TIA Portal objects (FBs, FCs and PLC data types) in existing saved relevant artefacts in Teamcenter. - Compatibility
The Teamcenter versions V13.1/13.2/13.3/14() are supported. () – Support for TC V14 in TIA Portal is in process for V18.
TIA Portal Cloud Connector
The TIA Portal Cloud Connector makes it possible to access the local PG/PC interfaces and the SIMATIC hardware connected to them from TIA Portal engineering in a Cloud environment.
In addition to the previous protocols (TCP, HTTPS), TIA Portal Cloud Connector offers a new protocol “TIA Portal Cloud”. This protocol is optimized to access programmable controllers from TIA Portal packages in TIA Portal Cloud (as of TIA Portal Cloud V2.1). On the user device, the TIA Portal Cloud Connector offers the matching endpoint “TIA Portal Cloud Endpoint”.
TIA User Management Component
The User Management Component (UMC) provides the possibility of central user administration. Through the connection to the TIA Portal, users and user groups can be defined and managed across projects. Connection to a Microsoft Active Directory is also possible.
The following new features are available with the provision of the component for TIA Portal V18:
- Support for multiple “trusted” AD domains
- Support of larger infrastructures
- Extensions for simplified configuration via the TIA Administrator
SIMATIC S7-PLCSIM Advanced V5.0
With SIMATIC S7-PLCSIM Advanced, virtual controllers for simulating S7-1500-based controllers can be created and used for extensive simulation of functions.
The following functions are newly available with SIMATIC S7-PLCSIM Advanced V5.0:
- In PLCSIM Advanced, TIA Portal projects from versions V14 to V18 as well as CPU firmware versions V1.8 – V3.0 are now supported.
- The API now also supports reading and writing of the STRING data type.
- Optionally, all interfaces of a CPU can now be made visible on the network, via API or Control Panel. This allows communication between the PLC instances /TIA Portal to be established in Cloud application scenarios.
- The new CPUs S7-1514 SP /T/TF are now supported
- The R1/S2 configuration of the IO devices of a S7-1500 R/H is now supported
- NTP time synchronization is now supported.
- Testing of the backup and restore functions possible via the S7-1500 web server
- Data logs and recipes can be read and written
SIMATIC Visualization Architect
The SIMATIC Visualization Architect (SiVArc) enables simple, fast and flexible automated creation of HMI contents based on the STEP 7 user program.
The following functions are newly available with SIMATIC Visualization Architect V18:
Improvement in the Expression Resolver:
In the Expression Resolver, you get the result of the expressions for all instances of an S7 block. The auto-complete lists all parameters of an FC / FB for the expression Block.Parameters(…).
Additional expressions
Use “Block.DB.DisplayName” to get the name of the instances in quotes.
Better support for Unified devices
Generating the trend control and function trend control screen objects
Generating positioning fields
Generating alarms
Size width and height properties are available for Unified screens;
Assigning graphics or text lists to symbolic I/O fields via SiVArc properties
Copy rules support Unified scripts
Better support of the faceplates for Unified devices
Other properties in the faceplates generated by SiVArc
The following data types can also be used in the properties interface: Multilingual text, authorizations, graphics
Support of PLC and HMI user data types in the variable interfaces
Generating interface events
SiVArc rule tables
Use rule tables to create rules for SiVArc-supported objects. Rule tables are saved in the library in structured groups and can be versioned. The rule tables include a write-protected standard rule table that is created from projects that were configured with earlier versions and upgraded to the latest version. The names of rule tables can be used as keyword for the “Global search”.
Export
You can export the generated overview and open it, for example in Microsoft Excel.
SiVArc Openness
You can define the mode and the set of rules of the variable generation for the SiVArc generations initiated via TIA Openness.
Runtime options
SIMATIC ProDiag
As of TIA Portal V.18, WinCC Unified offers the following objects for displaying the current status and diagnosing process errors:
- GRAPH overview
The “GRAPH overview” object is used to display the current program status for executed steps of the GRAPH sequencer. Errors when running a program are displayed directly at the corresponding step.
The following information is displayed in the “GRAPH overview” object:
- Name and state of the function block
- Status of initial and simultaneous steps
- Number and name of the first currently executed step
- Operating mode for the execution of the GRAPH sequencer
PLC code display
The “PLC code display” object is used to display the current program status of S7 GRAPH in detail.
The following functions are supported in WinCC Unified as of version 18:
- Jump from the S7 GRAPH overview to the PLC code display
- Jump from the S7 GRAPH overview to the TIA Portal
SIMATIC OPC UA S7-1500 and S7-1200
For S7-1500 CPUs with firmware V3.0 or higher and TIA Portal version 18, you can benefit from the following extensions of the integrated OPC UA server with an appropriate runtime license:
- The editor for importing standardized OPC UA information models (so-called companion specifications) as reference and the possibility to automatically create new nodes for new instances has been further improved and extended. V18 enables import and export of the references incl. mapping. In addition, you can define your own hierarchical structure.