Towards a taxonomy of errors in PLC programming

Based on previous studies on programming errors and their causes, the presented paper investigates errors that application engineers in the area of machine and plant automation make while creating either function block diagrams, plcML [an adaption of the unified modelling language (UML)] or modAT4rM...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cognition, technology & work Vol. 17; no. 3; pp. 417 - 430
Main Authors: Duschl, Kerstin C., Gramß, Denise, Obermeier, Martin, Vogel-Heuser, Birgit
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Springer London 01.08.2015
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Aerospace Technology and Astronautics
Apprentices
Automation
Automotive Engineering
Classification
Cognitive Psychology
Computer Science
Decision making
Diagrams
Educational programs
Errors
Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Languages
Medicine/Public Health
Original Article
Rules
Software engineering
Syntax
Technicians
User Interfaces and Human Computer Interaction
Variants
Errors
Automation
Human factors
Object-oriented methods
Software engineering
ISSN:1435-5558, 1435-5566
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Based on previous studies on programming errors and their causes, the presented paper investigates errors that application engineers in the area of machine and plant automation make while creating either function block diagrams, plcML [an adaption of the unified modelling language (UML)] or modAT4rMS code (a newly developed modelling language that adapts and combines aspects of UML and SysML). A laboratory-based study with 52 mechatronics apprentices and electrical engineering technicians with knowhow in manufacturing system design but comparably undeveloped programming skills has been conducted, in which the subjects’ errors and think-aloud statements during code creation were recorded. In a subsequent step, these data have been analysed by the cognitive causes of the coding errors applying the skill-rules-knowledge framework. As a result, a taxonomy of errors is presented. Results indicate that most of the errors in the subjects’ code are due to insufficient understanding of the notation’s syntax, problems with the rules of encapsulation, the creation of modules and finally with the creation of variants and aggregations, which are all located at the rule-based level. Errors at the skill-based level mainly occurred during behavioural modelling with modAT4rMS. It is argued that the provided insights can be used for improving education on programmable logic controller (PLC) languages and for the design of tools that support PLC programmers at detecting and fixing errors within their code.
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ISSN:1435-5558
1435-5566
DOI:10.1007/s10111-014-0307-x