Motion control is typically a scan-based velocity or positioning application. Robotics is a path-dependent or event-based application. Technavio suggests that as applications continue to grow, two types of industrial controls – robotics and motion – are merging in terms of deployment. “Therefore,” he continues, “end-users are demanding robots, motion controllers, and PLC to be programmed in familiar PLC languages, so that it can be easily understood by machine-builder programmers and maintained by end-users’ service personnel.” “PLCs are programmed in ladder logic, motion controls with their wide range are programmed using a PC library or other proprietary language, and industrial robots are programmed in complex proprietary languages that are difficult for non-technical personnel to understand. “Traditionally, industrial robots, motion controllers, and PLCs were programmed separately,” explains Technavio automation research analyst, Bharath Kanniappan. The Global PLC Software Market 2016-2020 report predicts that PLC programming will merge with motion control and robotics programming, and forecasts that the global market for PLC software will be worth $684m by 2020 – representing a CAGR of more than 7% since 2015, when it was worth $485m. New research from Technavio suggests that Functional Block Diagram (FBD) programming represents just over 11% of the market, with other languages accounting for the remaining 7.24%. Ladder logic continues to be the dominant language for programming PLCs, accounting for more than 81% of the global market, despite the availability of several other languages defined in the IEC 61131-3 standard.
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