Siemens S7-300 to S7-1500 PLC migration using SIMATIC Manager and TIA Portal
Introduction
S7-300 PLCs have been a cornerstone of industrial automation for many years, but as technology advances, these trusted workhorses will become obsolete starting in October 2023. To keep your automation systems up to date and leverage the latest capabilities, it's essential to migrate to modern PLC platforms like the S7-1500.
The migration process becomes crucial as it allows you to harness the benefits of improved performance, increased functionality, and future-proofing your automation systems. The S7-1500 series offers enhanced capabilities, including faster processing speeds, improved diagnostics, and a more extensive range of communication options. By transitioning your existing S7-300 project to an S7-1500, you can ensure the longevity and efficiency of your industrial automation systems.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to initiate the migration from a pre-configured S7-300 station in SIMATIC Manager. You will take the first step by archiving the project to convert it into a zipped file. Then, you will explore the process of migrating the archived project into the TIA Portal, preserving your program's integrity and structure. You will also discover how to replace the unspecific CPU model with an S7-1500 CPU, reconfiguring the hardware to meet your specific requirements. Throughout the tutorial, we will emphasize the importance of manually adding missing signal modules to ensure the seamless functionality of the newly migrated S7-1500 PLC.
Prerequisites
To follow this tutorial, you will need an installation of SIMATIC Manager (Step 7) and TIA Portal. Here, we will be using versions 5.6 and 18, respectively. No additional hardware or software are required.
S7-300 project using SIMATIC Manager
For this tutorial, we will use a simple SIMATIC Manager project that contains an S7-300 station that is already configured. This station comes with its DI/DQ/AI/AQ modules and a simple program. We will execute the general steps of the migration so you can apply it to any other project. First, we need to check its hardware configuration. Open the project, select the station, and click on "Hardware."
Once the hardware configuration opens, take note of the modules used in the station and their I/Q addresses. We will need these later in the tutorial.
Now, let’s head to the station’s program blocks. For this example, the program will contain a motor control application similar to the one we programmed in the SIMATIC Manager programming tutorial.
The program contains three blocks:
- OB1: Main cyclic bock where FB1 will be called.
- FB1: Function block containing the motor control application.
- DB1: Instance Data block of FB1.
Archiving the SIMATIC Manager project
The next step is to archive the project to convert it to a zipped file. Inside this file, we will find all the content of the project so we can export it to TIA Portal later. First, open the “File” menu and select “Archive…”
An archiving window will open where you can select the project to archive. Select the current project and click on “OK.”
Next, select the location for the zipped file that will be created and click on “Save.”
After that, we have to select the type of data media. Simply keep it at “No.”
If you go to the location you specified earlier, you will find that the archived project has been created.
Unzip the folder inside the archived file in the location of your choice.
If you open this folder, you will find various folders and files essential for the project. Especially the .s7p file that will be required later in the tutorial.
Migrating the project to TIA Portal
Once done with the project folder, we can import it into TIA Portal. First, open TIA Portal and click on “Migrate project” on the start page.
On this page, we need to specify the location of the unzipped project folder. Click on the “...” button in the “Source path” section.
Browse to the unzipped folder and select the .s7p file. Then, click on “OK.”
Once done, the project is ready to be migrated. Right under the source path section, you will find a “Include hardware configuration” checkbox. Enabling it will include the hardware configuration in addition to the PLC program in the migration. However, doing so may cause some compatibility issues. Let’s try to see what happens if it is enabled. Click on the checkbox, then, on the “Migrate” button.
After that, you should be redirected to the “Info” tab of the project with multiple errors displayed indicating that the hardware of the project couldn’t be migrated. This is because these hardware components are not present in the TIA Portal catalog so they cannot be added.
The solution is to never include the hardware configuration when migrating and add it later manually. Go back to the Portal view and repeat the previous steps but without enabling the “Include hardware configuration” checkbox.
This time, the migration should happen normally. Wait for the migration process to be completed.
Once it is done, you will have a message indicating that the migration is complete with warnings.
The warnings simply inform you that the CPU has been replaced with an unspecific CPU model that you can change later. Also, you should find that a station has been added to the Project tree which is the actual migrated station.
Replacing the CPU model with an S7-1500
Next, we need to take a look at the hardware configuration and change the CPU model. Open the station in the Project tree and click on “Device configuration.”
Here, you will find the hardware configuration of the current project. As you can notice, an unspecific CPU is present in the rack configuration (displayed in white color).
Now, we need to replace this unspecific CPU with the S7-1500 CPU model you will use. To do this, right-click on the CPU and bring your attention to the two first options. “Change device” allows you to replace this CPU with another S7-300 CPU. Since 300s are being dropped by Siemens, doing this would not be relevant. In that case, we need to select “Migrate to S7-1500.”
A “Migrate to S7-1500” window will open where you can find the hardware catalog for the S7-1500 CPUs. Here, we can select the target 1500 CPU model we want to migrate to.
Browse the catalog until you find the CPU model you want to use in this project For this example, we will use a 1512-2 PN CPU. Once done, click on “OK.”
After that, a warning window will appear indicating that you will need to test the program after migration. Click on “OK.”
Another window will appear right after where you have to specify the communication instructions settings. Keep the “Use new PtP instructions for the integrated communication modules of the S7-1500” option enabled.
And the CPU migration is done.
You should find the newly selected S7-1500 CPU displayed in the rack configuration.
After that, we can open the PLC programs and compare them to the ones in SIMATIC Manager to check if the migration did not alter any of them.
Adding the missing signal modules
Now, let’s go back to the hardware configuration. As we mentioned earlier, there were four signal modules present in the original project (DI, DQ, AI, and AQ). Since we didn’t include the hardware configuration during migration, we have to add these modules manually.
The first module we need to add is the 16*DI module. Browse the catalog and add a similar module to the next available slot. After that, go to the module’s parameters and check its IO addresses. It must match the addresses of the original module.
Repeat this last step to add the three other modules. Be sure to always check the IO addresses of each module so it matches the addresses of the original modules.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, you learned how to migrate an existing S7-300 project in SIMATIC Manager to a cutting-edge S7-1500 PLC using the TIA Portal. We covered the key steps of this migration process, including archiving the project, importing it into TIA Portal, replacing the CPU model, and manually adding missing signal modules to ensure a seamless transition. By following these steps, you can successfully modernize your industrial automation systems, harnessing the enhanced capabilities and features of the S7-1500 series.
The importance of migrating old PLC systems cannot be overstated. As technology evolves, legacy PLCs, like the S7-300, face challenges such as diminishing support, limited spare parts availability, and reduced compatibility with modern communication protocols. Upgrading to newer PLC models, such as the S7-1500, not only ensures the longevity and reliability of your automation systems but also unlocks a range of benefits, including increased processing power, improved diagnostics, and enhanced connectivity options. Moreover, it positions your industrial processes for future advancements, making your operations more agile and adaptable to changing industrial requirements.
