Simatic S5

The Simatic S5 PLC is an automation system based on Programmable Logic Controllers. It is manufactured and sold by Siemens AG. Such automation systems control process equipment and machinery used in manufacturing. This product line is considered obsolete, as the manufacturer has since replaced it with their newer Simatic S7 PLC. However, the S5 PLC still has a huge installation base in factories around the world.

The S5 line comes in the 90U, 95U, 101U, 100U, 115U, 135U and 155U chassis styles. The higher the number, the more sophisticated and more expensive the system. Within each chassis style, several CPU's are available, with varying speed, memory, and capabilities. Some systems provide redundant CPU operation for ultra-high-reliability control, as used in the pharmaceutical manufacturing, for example.
Each chassis consists of a power supply, and a backplane with slots for the addition of various option boards. Available options include serial and Ethernet communications, digital input and output cards, analog signal processing boards, counter cards, and other specialized interface and function modules.

The S5 product line is usually programmed with a PC based software programming tool called Step 5. Step 5 is used for programming, testing, and commissioning, and for documentation of programs for S5 PLCs.

The original Step 5 versions ran on the CPM operating system. Later versions ran on MS-DOS, and then versions of Windows through Windows XP. The final version of Step 5 is version 7.2. No further development of this product line has occurred since that time, due to its announced obsolescence.

In addition to Step 5, Siemens offerred a proprietary State logic programming package called Graph5. Graph5 is a sequential programming language intended for use on machines that normally run through a series of discrete steps. It simulates a state machine on the S5 platform.

Several third-party programming environments have been released for the S5. Most closely emulate Step5, some adding macros and other minor enhancements, others functioning drastically differently than Step5. One allows Step5 programs to be cross-compiled to and from the C programming language and BASIC.