Programmers used flowcharts in the past to organize their thought processes before converting to another language. Now, flowcharts are used directly as a language for control programming. Examples of machine applications running with flowchart control are transfer machines, conveyor systems, and high-pressure deburr machines.
Today's flowcharting techniques are the process of designing and controlling machines as a replacement to the older ladder logic based control systems. With current control architectures becoming more complex, users are looking for a better control method that is graphical in nature, yet easy to learn and understand.
Ladder logic systems are not intuitive, but are legacy systems originating from the original relay systems that PLCs replaced in the early seventies. Just as the PLCs replaced ladder logic-based relay systems, PCs with soft logic control are replacing them. Why should these new systems be limited by this legacy ladder logic programming language?
The continuous improvement capability inherent in flowchart based control differentiates itself from ladder-based programming methods by providing a complete system with the operator's needs in mind. The patented flowchart technology for machine control is a system that provides the user with an advanced methodology for machine operations that result in higher performance. As the market for PC-based controls becomes the standard, the usage of new control languages optimizing softlogic-based systems are following. PC-based control needs a language that is as universal as the system it supports and that has an open systems concept. When design attributes between these two control programs are compared and contrasted, flowchart programming significantly leads in overall machine performance and design.