Written by Tony Deane, Technical Manager

Question: Where are you looking to recruit your automation system / machine programmers of the future?

An interesting if not obviously pressing question, don’t you think?

For a clue to a good place to look, take a look at your smartphone. Look at the array of apps installed on your device. At the press of an icon you can order something online or even control your heating and security at home whilst you are out.

Do you realise that these apps, in a large part, are written by some of the brilliant young people graduating from our colleges and universities?

They are written in high level languages like C++, C#, Phython, Rust. These apps are a product of the open source community. The open source community is an untapped pool of talent, by and large locked out of the world of factory automation.

That is until now!

Phoenix Contact’s latest control platform, PLCnext has unlocked the door to this talent resource with its revolutionary Linux operating system- incidentally Linux is the preferred environment of the open source community.

PLCnext allows high level languages (for example C++, C#, Phython, Rust) to be combined with traditional IEC 61131-3 languages (FBD, STL, SFC, Ladder) and compiled on a common compiler. This means that Traditional PLC code and high level language programs can be run deterministically on the CPU and even combined in the same task.

As a Business owner /principal of a Systems Integrator or Machine builder this means you can now future proof your business by having the engineers of the present passing their knowledge on whilst working alongside the next generation of programmers, ensuring future innovation and success.

Please click on the link below for a comprehensive explanation from one of our experts, Martin Boers, based at our HQ at Bad Pyrmont Germany.

Martin is being interviewed by Shahpour Shapourina of the Youtube Automation Channel REALPAARS.