Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 PLC - Unboxing | DigiKey

We take a look at the SIMATIC S7-1500 PLC from Siemens. It provides high-performance processing and precise control to automate complex industrial processes, with a modular structure to scale and adapt to new challenges. Inside the box, you’ll find the SIMATIC S7-1500 PLC, two front connector push-in terminal blocks with cable ties, two labeling strips, two infeed elements, two shield clamps, two shield terminals, and an info DVD. In this demo we’re going to setup the hardware and set an IP address on the S7-1500 so we can connect to it using Siemen’s TIA STEP 7 programming software. Remove the pluggable terminal block on the bottom, connect a 24 volt power supply, and plug it back in. Plug an ethernet cable into one of the PROFINET connectors to connect to your network. The S7-1500 includes a 2 port switch, so you can daisy chain additional PROFINET devices for easy installation. You’ll also need a Siemen’s SIMATICS memory card to program the PLC. The use of a memory card allows you to easily replace a PLC or duplicate a program across multiple PLCs. Install the terminal blocks into the on-board analog module and on-board digital module. There is a pre-wiring position you can use for easy wiring before moving to the final installation position. Then slip the label strips into position on the module doors. Once complete, power it up. Go to the wrench icon and change the IP settings to match your network configuration. In TIA STEP 7 we’ll create a new project, select configure device, add a new device, then click through to the appropriate CPU. In this case that’s the CPU 1511C-1 PN with 1CK01 in the article number. We can skip or follow the security setup steps. Then we’ll see our hardware setup and can view the analog and digital modules, add additional modules if needed, and create the PLC program. We can also view accessible devices and find the device on our network. Now I can see the online status and diagnostics for this particular PLC, which it shows as stopped and an error flashing, because we don’t have a memory card installed.