Hello Ned;

TIA Portal is a suite of programming software developed by Siemens at a time when they introduced a new line of PLCs (S7-1200 family) and HMI panels to accompany them (Comfort panels). It is designed to eventually replace the Step 7 classic (v5.5) and WinCC Flexible, and allow programming of all Siemens PLC families and HMIs in a single package. It is still a work in progress…

Have a look at Siemens Industry webpage for a more complete and detailed description of the features of the TIA Portal:

TIA Portal - Industry - Siemens

As far as information onrelay logic is concerned (or LADDER language for PLCs), there are many ressources available from Siemens (check out what you can find by typing “LAD” in the search box at the right of this page, then specifying Manuals) and on the web.

I can suggest you look at Hugh Jack’s e-books, starting with “Automating Manufacturing Systems with PLCs”, that you can find in the following link. It is an excellent presentation of automation tasks and PLC logic. Open the first chapter, it is dedicated to relay logic.

http://claymore.engineer.gvsu.edu/~jackh/eod_redirect/index.html

Hope this helps,

Daniel Chartier