Trigonometric functions

As a PLC programmer, you will often have to use trigonometric principles to accomplish tasks. This means having a solid understanding of how to use trigonometric functions will be vital to your success as an automation engineer and, by extension, a PLC programmer. This section will explore the basic trigonometry functions that are supported by the IEC 61131-3 standard. To begin our exploration, we will look at the tangent function.

Note

For this section, a rudimentary understanding of trigonometry will be required and assumed. If you do not have an understanding of basic trigonometric functions, you should spend a little time brushing up on the SIN, COS, and TAN functions.

Anyone who has taken a high school-level trigonometry class will be familiar with the sine, cosine, and tangent functions. Essentially, these are angle properties that can be derived from the sides of a right triangle. As a PLC programmer, it is often necessary to integrate these...