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Control and communication between PLC S7-1200 and ATV310 drive via
modbus protocol

Article in Journal of Thu Dau Mot University · October 2020

DOI: 10.37550/tdmu.EJS/2020.03.066

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Phạm Hồng Thanh, Nguyễn Thành Đoàn  Volume 2  Issue 3-2020, p 289-297.

Control and communication between PLC S7-1200 and

ATV310 drive via modbus protocol
by (Thu Dau Mot University)
Article Info: Received May 25th, 2020, Accepted Aug. 20th, 2020, Available online Sep.
15th,2020
Corresponding author: thanhph@tdmu.edu.vn (Đặng Hồng Thanh)
https://doi.org/10.37550/tdmu.EJS/2020.03.066

ABSTRACTS
Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) are electronic power controllers that allow
for accurate control of the speed of alternating current (AC) induction motors that
used in many kinds of machines including fans, pumps and compressors. These
motors are used in most heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems
and account for a significant percentage of the total HVAC energy consumption.
More efficient operation of these motors using VFDs can result in significant
energy savings. Besides, the communication between VFDs and PLC for
Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) is also important. Modbus
protocol has many kinds as RS485, RTU, Profinet,...In this paper we will present
the communication between a PLC Siemens S7-1200 and an ATV310 Drive
(Schneider) via Modbus RTU protocol which is supported.

Keywords: Modbus, Schneider, Siemens, industry communication protocol

1. Introduction
Some of the largest opportunities to save energy and reduce operating costs in buildings
and industrial facilities come from optimizing electric motor systems (Concordia and
Ihara, 1982). The key is to choose the right-sized, energy-efficient motor and to
integrate it into an optimized drive power system.

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Schneider ATV310 is a compact-sized drive that is diverse and powerful in terms of

control features. The use of drives ATV310 helps to tackle a good variety of purposes
and different needs. Moreover, with integrated intelligent functions, Modbus RTU
communication, ATV310 allows users to do more than expected compared to other
common open loop controllers.
The Modbus RTU protocol is an open protocol, which uses a RS-232 or RS485 physical
transmission line and a Master-Slave model (Hittanaga, Ramesh, Kumar and Mahadeva,
2017). This is a protocol widely used in many fields such as BMS (Building
Management Systems), automation, industry, electricity... (Geogre and Champa, 2018).
You'll probably wonder why this Modbus protocol is so common, where to go, hitting
on what device is almost also this protocol? Well, the answer to the above question must
just wrap in few words: stable-simple-easy to use.
Modbus is considered the operational communication protocol on the "Application"
floor, which provides the ability for Master/Slave communication between connected
devices through buses or networks (Robinson, 2017; You and Ge, 2019). On the OSI
model, Modbus is placed in grade 7 (Pavlou, McCarthy, Bhatti and Knight, 1995).
Modbus is defined as a protocol that works under "Q/A" and uses the corresponding
"function codes" to inquire (Luo, Zou, Jiang, Gao, Jioa and Sun, 2019).
In this paper, the system with the Schneider-ATV310, a Siemens-PLC S7-1200
connected via Modbus RTU to controlled and supervised an 1HP 3 phases motor. The
next part was referred to theoretical of Modbus RTU protocol and specify of ATV310
Modbus function. After that, the paper would be presented technique to setup the
communication between PLC S7-1200 and ATV310 Drive via Modbus to control,
supervise parameters shown on the SCADA monitor. The conclusion and future work
will be present in the last part of this paper.

2. Theoretical principle
Modbus RTU
Modbus RTU is an open serial protocol derived from the Master/Slave architecture
originally developed by Modicon (now Schneider Electric). It is a widely accepted serial
level protocol due to its ease of use and reliability. Modbus protocol the grandfather of
industrial networking. It truly is as old as the hills and has the whiskers to prove it. In
today’s age of Internet connectivity and Web Services, Modbus’ unconnected message
and simple request-response communication structure are almost quaint. Almost as old as
the first Programmable Logic Controller. Modbus is used widely by many manufacturers

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throughout many industries. Modbus is typically used to transmit data from control
instrumentation to a logic controller or a system for archiving data.
The Modbus RTU protocol uses a Master/Slave technique to communicate between
devices. Meaning, any application that utilizes the Modbus RTU protocol will have a
Modbus Master and at least one Modbus Slave. A Modbus Master is typically a host
supervisory that will communicate with one or more Modbus Slave devices.
In RTU mode, messages start with a silent interval of at least 3.5 character times. This is
most easily implemented as a multiple of character times at the baud rate that is being
used on the network (shown as T1–T2–T3–T4 in the figure below). The first field then
transmitted is the device address.
The allowable characters transmitted for all fields are hexadecimal 0–9, A–F.
Networked devices monitor the network bus continuously, including during the ‘silent’
intervals. When the first field (the address field) is received, each device decodes it to
find out if it is the addressed device. Following the last transmitted character, a similar
interval of at least 3.5 character times marks the end of the message. A new message
can begin after this interval.
The entire message frame must be transmitted as a continuous stream. If a silent interval
of more than 1.5 character times occurs before completion of the frame, the receiving
device flushes the incomplete message and assumes that the next byte will be the
address field of a new message.
Similarly, if a new message begins earlier than 3.5 character times following a previous
message, the receiving device will consider it a continuation of the previous message.
This will set an error, as the value in the final CRC field will not be valid for the
combined messages. A typical message frame is shown below (Robinson, 2017).

START ADDRESS FUNCTION DATA CRC CHECK END

T1-T2-T3-T4 8 BITS n x 8 BITS 16 BITS 16 BITS T1-T2-T3-T4

Figure 1. Typical Message Frame

RS 485

RS485 is the most versatile communication standard in the standard series defined by
the EIA, as it performs well on all four points. That is why RS485 is currently a widely

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used communication interface in data acquisition and control applications where

multiple nodes communicate with each other (Xinjian, 2005; Kumar, 1995)

Figure 2. RS485 Communication Interface

In the picture above, noise is generated by magnetic fields from the environment. The
picture shows the magnetic field lines and the noise current in the RS485 data lines that
is the result of that magnetic field. In the straight cable, all noise current is flowing in
the same direction, practically generating a looping current just like in an ordinary
transformer. When the cable is twisted, we see that in some parts of the signal lines the
direction of the noise current is the opposite from the current in other parts of the cable.
Because of this, the resulting noise current is many factors lower than with an ordinary
straight cable.
Network topology is probably the reason why RS485 is now the favorite of the four
mentioned interfaces in data acquisition and control applications. RS485 is the only of
the interfaces capable of internetworking multiple transmitters and receivers in the same
network. When using the default RS485 receivers with an input resistance of 12 kΩ it is
possible to connect 32 devices to the network. Currently available high-resistance
RS485 inputs allow this number to be expanded to 256. It is the reason why RS485 is
so popular with computers, PLCs, micro controllers and intelligent sensors in scientific
and technical applications (Xinjian, 2005; Chen, Jin and Chen, 2016).

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Figure 3. RS485 Network Topology

3. Hardware configuration and installation

Hardware Configuration

In this paper, we proposed a system included 1 PLC S7-1200 DC/DC/DC and an

ATV310 Drive to drive a motor 0.75KW-3 phases 380V 50Hz in open loop. The
Equipment list is below Figure 4.

PLC S7-1200 DC/DC/DC CB 1241

Digital Input: 8 Max Length transmission: 1000m
Digital Output: 6 Support: Modbus RTU, USS,
Analog Input: 2 ASCII, Freeport
HSC support
Bit Memory: 4096 bytes

Schneider ATV310 Motor 3 phase

Power: 3 kW Power: 0.75KW
Input Voltage: 3 phases Voltage: 3 phases 380V 50Hz
220v 50/60 Hz
Output Voltage: 3 phases 0-
220 V
output Frequency: 0-1500 Hz

Figure 4. Equipment

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Modbus RTU

View from underneath

~ 380V

3-phase
motor 8........................1
Pin out of the ATV310 RJ45 Connector

Figure 5. Equipment Connections

The communication Modbus protocol with RJ45 Interface would be connected to

CB 1241 Module with a pair twisted cables as table as follows instruction
(Electric, 2014a):
Pin Signal
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 D1 (1)
5 D0 (1)
6 -
7 -
8 -

Figure 6. Pin Signal

Algorithm Flowchart

Initially when starting the

program, the PLC initial-lizing
Modbus. Then the program will
jump into the loop of reading and
writing data. Without the change
of control para-meters, the PLC
will continuously read data such
as voltage, current, frequency and
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speed... However, when any

control parameter is changed,
the PLC immediately stops
reading and advances data into
the drive. After PLC determined
that the data is finished to the
drive, the new evolution is
returned to the next read and
displayed on the SCADA
monitor.

Figure 7. Algorithm Flowchart of Modbus Communication Program

Communication Drive Parameters Configuration

We must configure the communication parameters on ATV310 before it can be

connected to the PLC. The parameters from 701 – 704 can be configured by
button on drive (Electric, 2014a). This menu is accessible as follows Figure 8.

Figure 8. Communication Drive Parameters Configuration

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After done, the drive was ready to be full controlled by PLC via Modbus connection by
parameters logic address referred in (Electric, 2014b). In PLC program networks, the
main function blocks and parameters were set as follow picture for connecting with
ATV310 drive via Modbus RTU protocol.

Figure 9. Modbus Function Block in PLC Program Network

4. Result and conclusion

We had established the wire-connection of a PLC S7-1200, an ATV310 Drive and an
Electric Motor for testing with PLC program for Modbus RTU and SCADA simulation
with TIAPortal V14 of Siemens. The final production was shown in the below picture.

Figure 10. Demonstration Equipment and SCADA Simulation with TIAPortal V14

The result showed that with a simple hardware of communication of Modbus protocol, PLC
can fully controlled and collected data from the Drive beside the HMI monitor of SCADA
system also could supervise all data we need and control many functions of the Drive easily

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by programming. This research was valuable in automation field also it could be applied in
teaching the industry network protocol subject at Thu Dau Mot University.
In future, we will establish a complex Modbus network with many kinds of equipment
such as multi-meter, many Drives,….to evaluate the ability of Modbus RTU. We also
may be present a research about other Industry Network Protocol.

References
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transactions on power apparatus and systems, 4, 969-977.
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control using Modbus RTU communication for selected applications of sugar mill.
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