PLC control and Matlab/Simulink simulations. A translation approach

This paper proposes a translation methodology to emulate PLC control program in the Matlab/Simulink environment. The translation package automatically translates the PLC control program into Matlab/Simulink software language. The PLC control program is translated into a Matlab function block, within the Matlab/Simulink environment, that will control the model of the industrial process as long as the simulation runs. The translation package inputs are: the type of PLC, the PLC's number of inputs and outputs and the PLC control program file. The translation package output will be a Matlab/Simulink compatible m-file with the correspondent PLC control program translation. Universidade de E¿vora students are successfully using this package, so that they can test their PLC control programs together with Matlab/Simulink process models.