Intelligent Control and Automation, 2011, 2, 330-339
doi:10.4236/ica.2011.24038 Published Online November 2011 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/ica)
Ethernet Control AC Motor via PLC Using
LabVIEW
Nader N. Barsoum, Pin Rui Chin
Department of El ectri cal and C om puter Engineering, Curtin University Sarawak Campus,
Miri, Malaysia
Received July 5, 2011; revised July 26, 2011; accepted Sept em be r 3, 2011
Abstract
Remotely control applications over a wide area had been commonly used in the industries today. One of the
common applications requires remote control and monitoring is inverter fed induction drive system. Drive
system has various types of controller, in order to perform some actions such as control the speed, forward
and reverse turning direction of the motor. This approach can be done by Programmable Logic Controller
(PLC), and with the rise of the technology, Ethernet module will be used in order to achieve the remote con-
trol system. Plus the PLC today can be controlled not only using its original software, but 3rd party software
as well, such as LabVIEW. LabVIEW is a human machine interfaces design software that is user friendly. It
can be easily communicate with different hardware.
Keywords: LabVIEW, PLC, Ethernet, Induction Motor, OPC Servers, Inverter
1. Introduction
In the past, engineers had been designing the engineering
systems that require a lot of hardwares. It is merely im-
possible to design distance control of the system as more
hardwares and wiring were needed. In addition, if engi-
neers wish to improve the design, all the unrelevant
hardwares need to be scrap away, which is not sustain-
able.
With the rise of the technology, programmable logic
controller (PLC) have eased the engineering design and
lessen materials required, it is because the entire design
is implemented in software programming paradigm. PLC
had been commonly used in the industry, including con-
trolling induction motor inverter fed variable drive sys-
tem. Design distance control machinery is now possible,
even by using Ethernet as the communication device
between the computer and the PLC [1].
Apart of design the program structure by its own pro-
prietary software, the convenience part of PLC is the
accessibility and controllability by other softwares. Note
that such softwares must have driver utility of the par-
ticular PLC. Therefore engineers can use LabVIEW [2],
which has various types of industrial applications which
are in virtual instrument (VI) instead of the real and
heavy instrument, to control the PLC.
2. Project Design Configuration &
Preparation
2.1. NI OPC Server
NI OPC Server has OMRON FINS Ethernet driver that
allow the communication between OMRON CJ1M-
CPU11-ETN21 PLC with LabVIEW. OMRON origi-
nally supplies their customers with FINS gateway, inter-
facing software that communicates with the PLC and its
proprietary software, OMRON CX-Programmer over the
Ethernet network [3].
With the OMRON FINS Ethernet driver in NI OPC,
users can setup the server by just a few simple setups and
create variable tags that can be linked directly to the
PLC’s registers. These tags are named as OPC tags. The
NI OPC Servers also have NI OPC Quick Client that
enable users to monitor the status of the PLC in real-time.
[3].
As long as the OPC tags had been created, the com-
munication between the LabVIEW and PLC had been
simplified as the driver can automatically apply the rele-
vant FINS commands provided the tags are correctly
configured [3]. Meanwhile in LabVIEW, the program
can be design by using Shared Variables which is link to
the OPC tags.

N. N. BARSOUM ET AL.331
2.2. LabVIEW
LabVIEW is the acronym for Laboratory Virtual Instru-
mentation Engineering Workbench and is a graphical
development environment for generating flexible and
scalable design, control, and test applications rapidly at
minimal cost. With LabVIEW, engineers and scientists
are able to interface with real-world signals, analyse data
for meaningful information, and share results through
intuitive displays, reports, and the Web. Regardless of
programming experience, LabVIEW makes development
fast and easy for all users [3].
The programming style used in LabVIEW is G
programming, which is abbreviation for graphical pro-
gramming. It is also known as dataflow programming as
it is depending on the structure of the graphical block
diagram to execute the user-designed program. Com-
pared to text-based programming, LabVIEW is user
friendly as the user can design the program by simply
arrange and wiring the relevant icons together [3].
LabVIEW programs are named as virtual instruments, or
VI, because their appearance and operation mimic the
physical instruments, such as oscilloscope and multi-
meters [4]. Similar to other conventional programming,
LabVIEW has standard features such as looping struc-
tures, data structures, event-handling, object-oriented
programming. LabVIEW also has an extensive library of
math functions similar to MATLAB libraries and also
formula nodes that allow text-based programming for
certain sections of the code that require complex logical
structures. Besides that, LabVIEW also has networking
library functions that can easily allow users to reference
[3].
Compared to other softwares like Microsoft Visual
Basic, LabVIEW is a better option as it comes together
with a library of functions included Shared Variables
Project Library, which is bound to the OPC tags, that
allow server and client communication by connecting
relevant icons with the Shared Variables. If Microsoft
Visual Basic (VB) is used, the OMRON FINS Ethernet
driver must be developed using the MS Comm function
and this would require more time to develop the code [3].
LabVIEW has front-end interface applications that al-
low user to design and then use for controlling systems.
In general LabVIEW has three main elements: the front
panel, the block diagram and the connector panel. The
front panel allows the user to build the controls and in-
dicators. The controls are including knobs, push buttons,
dials, and other input mechanism. Indicators are graphs,
LEDs, and other output displays. Meanwhile, the block
diagram let user to add code using VIs and structures to
control the front panel objects. The connector panel al-
lows user to represent a single VI as a sub VI icon that
can be called in another VI. The elements are illustrated
in Figure 1.
Shared variable is a library function variable that al-
Connector Panel
Front Panel
Block Diagram
Figure 1. Three main elements of LabVIEW software.

N. N. BARSOUM ET AL. 332
lows sharing of data between applications or different
data sources across a network. There are many existing
data sharing method in LabVIEW, such as UDP/TCP,
LabVIEW queues, and Real-Time FIFO. Compared to
Datasocket Communication, using shared variable is user
friendly as the configuration can be done by simple setup
in the library instead of writing URL and perform more
wiring in Datasocket Communication [3,5].
2.3. Programmable Logic Controller
The PLC used for the implementation is OMRON CJ
series. There are 4 units used in this PLC, namely Power
Supply Unit (CJ1W-PA202), CPU Unit with Ethernet
function (CJ1M-CPU11-ETN21), Basic Input Unit
(CJ1W-ID211), and Basic Output Unit (CJ1W-OC211).
There is an End Cover for the PLC unit. All these
units can be connected by assembled them together and
lock the sliders by moving them towards the back of the
units. The End Cover must be connected on the far right
hand side of the PLC. Otherwise fatal error will occur
[6].
Figure 2 demonstrates the arrangement of the PLC
units.
In order to let the PLC to operate through the Ethernet,
the PLC must be given an IP address with a destination
node number (DA1) that is not a duplicate of DA1s of
other IP addresses in the network. The destination node
number is also known as the last octet of an IP address.
The PLC node number is configured by turning the dials
on the CJ1W-ETN21 module as illustrated in Figure 3
the PLC must also be given a unit number in the network
besides a destination node address (DNA) [3].
Node No × 161 is the most significant bit (MSB) of the
node address whereas ×160 is the least significant bit
(LSB) of the node address. IP addresses are in decimal
form therefore any reference made to the DA1 of the
PLC Ethernet module in software configurations must be
in decimals. To convert any hexadecimal number to
decimal, the following example can be applied [3]:
The PLC is configured with the IP address 10.1.136.46,
for the implementation described in this paper. The
router is for personal home network. Therefore the IP
addresses associated with the devices in the network is
classified under Class C.
2.4. Variable Frequency Drive
OMRON SYSDRIVE 3G3MV-A2007 inverter is a varia-
ble frequency drive can be used to alter the frequency of
the electrical power supplied to the motor so in order to
change the motor speed [6].
Figure 2. Connection for PLC units in this project [7,8].

N. N. BARSOUM ET AL.333
Figure 3. CJ1W-CPU11-ETN21 hardware configuration.
The SYSDRIVE 3G3MV-A2007 inverter is suitable
for a variety of applications as it incorporates many con-
venient controls and I/O functions that are easy-to-use as
well as open loop vector control function. The advan-
tages of vector control function are that it ensures a
torque output that is 150% of the rated motor torque at an
output frequency of 1 Hz, allows powerful revolution at
low frequencies and restrains the revolution fluctuation
caused by the load [6].
The list of function parameters of the 3G3MV inverter
need to be configured in order to control the 3 phase
squirrel cage induction motor effectively.
3. Implementation
3.1. Implementation Process
The Ethernet control systems presented in this paper is to
control squirrel cage three phase induction motor. In
order to achieve the objectives, the establishment of the
communication between PLC and LabVIEW is crucial as
LabVIEW is 3rd party software instead of using the
software implemented in the PLC itself. Thus, the im-
plementation used LabVIEW to perform the start and
stop operation of the motor, either in forward or reverse
direction, and varying the speed by changing the
frequency of the motor. However, this system is not a
supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) since
there is no practical data measurement acquire from the
actual output of the motor.
The system has three-layer network architecture illu-
strated in Figure 4.
As illustrated in Figure 5, user gets the authority to
control through the host computer, which is a laptop.
Then the input data by the user will convert into Boolean
data and send to CJ1M-CPU11-ETN21 Programmable
Logic Controller through Ethernet cable and router. Once
the Boolean data have been processed by the PLC, the
relevant address in the basic output of the PLC will be
turned on. This process allow the 3G3MV Inverter/
Variable Frequency Drive to operate the Three Phase
Squirrel Cage Induction Motor according to the input
data given by the user. In addition, 3G3MV Inverter/
Variable Frequency Drive also serve as inverter between
the power supply unit and the motor as the input power is
single phase power, while the Squirrel Cage Induction
Motor is operate in three phase power.
3.2. Implementation of VI Design
The objective of the VI program in this paper is to allow
user to make the decision of the start and stop operation
of the motor, either in forward or reverse direction, and
varying the speed by changing the frequency of the
motor, by perform two simple step. Firstly select the
turning direction by press the push button in the VI Front
Panel, which is either forward or reverse. Secondly, vary
the speed by turning the Frequency knob to the value of
the frequency that the user desire. Figure 6 illustrate the
I Front Panel. V

N. N. BARSOUM ET AL. 334
Figure 4. Three layer network architecture.
Figure 5. Actual network configuration.
Before running the VI, make sure all the hardwares
have been switched on and configured correctly, and
launch the NI OPC Quick Client so that the OPC tags
can be browsed by the shared variables in this VI.
There are 5 OPC tags was created and used in the im-
plementation, and the details of the tags have been tabu-
lated in Table 1.
By referring to Figure 6, the Green push button is the
switch to determine the motor is turning in forward di-
rection. Meanwhile, the Orange push button is the switch
to determine the motor is turning in reverse direction.
Both Green and Orange light indicators at the right hand
side show whether the push buttons have been switched
ON. The knob labelled as “Frequency” is the key pro-
gram to control the frequency as well as the speed of the
motor. The push button labelled as “Stop” function to
stop the program execution.
Figure 7 illustrate the VI Block Diagram, which the
programming part of the VI. By referring to the Figure 7,
the Red colour square boxes with dotted lines are the VI
components that are visible in both Front Panel and
Block Diagram. For Example the push buttons, knob,
light indicator. Meanwhile, the Red colour square boxes
without dotted lines are the VI component that is visible

N. N. BARSOUM ET AL.335
Table 1. The details of OPC tags and its connection to inverter.
3G3MV Inverter
OPC Tag name PLC Address Connected Terminal Terminal Name
Outputbit 1 CIO0001.01 S1 Multi-function input 1 (Forward/Stop)
Outputbit 2 CIO0001.02 S2 Multi-function input 2 (Reverse/Stop)
Outputbit 5 CIO0001.05 S5 Multi-function input 5 (Multi-step speed reference 1)
Outputbit 6 CIO0001.06 S6 Multi-function input 6 (Multi-step speed reference 2)
Outputbit 7 CIO0001.07 S7 Multi-function input 7 (Multi-step speed reference 3)
Figure 6. VI front panel of the project.
in Block Diagram but they are not visible in Front Panel,
which are essential VI to structure the program. For
example, shared variables, formula node, number to
Boolean converter (consist of number to Boolean array
and index array) and the While loop. The While loop,
which is similar concept with the While loop in C
Programming, is used in this VI to ensure the program
execute continuously until the stop button is triggered.
The VI block diagram consists of two parts of the
program. First part of the program is to allow user to
switch on either Forward or Reverse direction of the
squirrel cage induction motor. The second part of the
program is to vary the frequency of the motor by changing
the knob value.
By referring to Figure 8, if the user has switched on
the Forward button, the signal will be transmitted to the
“outputbit1” shared variable, which is in write mode, i.e.
the signal will be written into the PLC. Then once the
signal has been successfully written to the PLC, the light
indicator of the output address 1.01 of the PLC, and the
“Forward” direction indicator in the LabVIEW’s Front
Panel will light. This process identical to the reverse di-
rection as well.
By referring to the Figure 9, the Red colour square
boxes indicate the VI named formula node, where the
language used in the formula node is C. After the user set
the value of the frequency by turning the “Frequency
Variable” knob, the value will be sent to the formula
node, where it is denoted as “a”.
The output of the formula node has been divided into

N. N. BARSOUM ET AL. 336
Figure 7. VI Block Diagram of the project.
Shared variables Shared variables
(Write Mode) (Read Mode)
Figure 8. VI block diagram program (motor orientation switching part).
x, y and z, in which the number is either 0 or 1. In order
to be readable by the shared variables, it is necessary to
convert the number into Boolean format. When the
signal is in Boolean format and sent to the shared
variable, the information will be written into the PLC,
and the light indicator of the output address 1.05, 1.06,
1.07 of the PLC will light up according to the desired
output.
Table 2 below describes the relationship between the
multi-step speed references 1 through 3 and frequency
references 1 through 8.
The concept of frequency varying in Table 2 is crucial
as the PLC communicates with the variable frequency
drive in Boolean format. The value of each frequency refe-
rence can be set in the function parameters of the vari-
able frequency drive. In this paper, the value of each
frequency reference has been tabulated in Table 3.
By referring to Table 3, as long as the user has set the
input frequency according to any of the condition, the
number will be converting into Boolean in which it will
arrange according to the relevant Multi-step speed refer-
ence. Then this Boolean number will trigger the variable
frequency drive and determine the frequency and as well
as the speed of the squirrel cage induction motor accord-
ing to the output condition listed in Table 3. For example,
if the user set the input as 8 Hz, in which the input range
of this value is within 7x14

. Therefore, the Boo-
ean number of Multi-step speed reference 1 is 1, and l

N. N. BARSOUM ET AL. 337
Formula node Number to
Boolean Converter
Shared
Va ri ab les
(Write Mode)
Figure 9. VI block diagram program (motor frequency varying part).
Table 2. Relationship between multi-step speed references and frequency reference [6].
Frequency reference Multi-step speed reference 1
(Set value: 6) Multi-step speed reference 2 (Set value: 7) Multi-step speed reference 3 (Set value: 8)
Frequency ref. 1 OFF OFF OFF
Frequency ref. 2 ON OFF OFF
Frequency ref. 3 OFF ON OFF
Frequency ref. 4 ON ON OFF
Frequency ref. 5 OFF OFF ON
Frequency ref. 6 ON OFF ON
Frequency ref. 7 OFF ON ON
Frequency ref. 8 ON ON ON
Table 3. Conditions of input frequency in LabVIEW for varying f r e quency reference.
Frequency input range
in LabVIEW (Hz) Multi-step speed reference 1 (Outputbit 5) Multi-step speed reference 2 (Outputbit 6) Multi-step speed reference 3 (Outputbit 7)
Output frequency of
squirrel cage
induction motor (Hz)
x < 7 0 0 0 0
7 ≤ x < 14 1 0 0 7
14 ≤ x < 21 0 1 0 14
21 ≤ x < 28 1 1 0 21
28 ≤ x < 35 0 0 1 28
35 ≤ x < 42 1 0 1 35
42 ≤ x < 48 0 1 1 42
x > 48 1 1 1 49

N. N. BARSOUM ET AL. 338
the rest are 0. Then, this signal triggers the variable fre-
quency drive to deliver the frequency of 7 Hz.
4. Testing and Verification
After the implementation, test is performed in order to
verify that the system is working smoothly. Figure 10
shows the front view of the system.
Figure 11 shows the PLC Ethernet Module light indi-
cators that light up when the project VI is executing. And
Figure 12 shows the snapshot of the Squirrel Cage Three
Phase Induction Motor when it is running.
5. Conclusions
In conclusion, the objective, scope and fundamental re-
quirements of the project had been achieved. But there
are some defects in this project. Firstly, there is a delay
of time during the execution, which every decision made
by the user through LabVIEW will take about 30 seconds
in average to send the signal to the PLC. The delay
mainly caused by the poor specification of the Laptop
used for implementation, that leads the LabVIEW to take
long time to execute the program and generate the Boo-
lean data to send to the PLC.
Secondly, the Ethernet connectivity between the Lap-
top and the PLC is easily disconnected. This problem
arises also due to the poor specification of the Laptop
used. This problem happen when the Laptop had used up
too much RAM, causing the laptop lag and unable to use
temporary. Therefore user cannot make too many actions
and changes at the same time as it will crash the program.
Thirdly, there is limitation in the speed control as there
are only 3 multi-step references in the VFD. The fre-
quency changes in this project cannot perform in smaller
steps unless there are additional multi-step references
provided.
In overall, choosing LabVIEW as the human machine
interface for the implementation is a proper decision as it
has various types of applications and functions that are
easy to understand and use. Additionally, this approach
is more economical as the objectives of the system im-
plementation have been achieved with only basic func-
tionality of the LabVIEW toolkits used, which are shared
variables and NI OPC Servers.
OMRON CJ1 series PLC is easy to install and setup.
Both hardware and software configuration can be easily
done. It can carry out additional functions by simply add
more units with various functions, like the Ethernet unit.
The 3G3MV inverter is a user friendly VFD that al-
lows the user to configure the function parameter easily
and the circuit wiring can be completed easily.
6. Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Daniel Wong and Jacintha Roland for
Figure 10. Front view of the project.

N. N. BARSOUM ET AL. 339
Figure 11. PLC ethernet module light indicator status.
Figure 12. Induction motor running in forward direction.
their remarkable advice throughout the design and im-
plementation of the system.
7. References
[1] W.-F. Chang, Y.-C. Wu and C.-W. Chiu, “Design and
Implementation of a Web-Based Distance PLC Labora-
tory,” Proceedings of the 35th Southeastern Symposium
on System Theory, Morgantown, 16-18 March 2003, pp.
326-329. doi:10.1109/SSST.2003.1194584
[2] M. Rodrigues, J. Mendes and J. Fonseca, “Application of
a Web-Based Monitoring and Control System in Plastic
Rotational Moulding Machine,” IEEE International Con-
ference on Industrial Technology, Hammamet, 8-10 De-
cember 2004, pp. 819-823
[3] N. N. Barsoum and J. A. Roland, “Ethernet LabVIEW
Control,” Undergraduate Thesis, Curtin University Sara-
wak Campus, Sarawak, , 2010.
[4] National Instruments, “Getting Started with LabVIEW,” Na-
tional Instruments, Technique Report 373427F-01, 2009.
[5] National Instruments, “Using the LabVIEW Shared Vari-
able,” 2010.
http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4679
[6] N. N. Barsoum and Y. Y. Ng, “PLC Humidity Control In-
verter Fed Induction Motor,” Undergraduate Thesis, Cur-
tin University Sarawak Campus, Sarawak, 2009.
[7] OMRON Industrial Automation, “SYSMAC CJ Series
Programmable Controller,” OMRON, Technique Report
W393-E1-14, 2009.
[8] OMRON Industrial Automation, “CJ1M CPU Units with
Ethernet Functions,” OMRON, Technique Report, 2005.