CODESYS isn't hardware — it's a system in two halves: the CODESYS Development System V3 (the IDE you program in) and the CODESYS Control runtime that vendors embed in their devices. On top sit optional add-ons — motion, safety, connectivity, HMI, cloud. Here's how it all stacks up.
You engineer in the CODESYS Development System V3 and download to the CODESYS Control runtime — and that runtime is embedded by hundreds of vendors. So the target isn't a single brand; it's a catalogue spanning the industry.
A few of the manufacturers shipping the CODESYS runtime:
Source : codesys.com
The base system does IEC 61131-3 logic. Everything beyond is an optional add-on layered on the same project and runtime — you add only what the machine needs. Tap each to drop it into the project.
Source : codesys.com
Skim the left panel for the plain-language version; dive into the right for what hardware-independence really buys you. The point is the same: one project, many vendors' boxes.
CODESYS isn't a brand of hardware — it's one programming system that runs on other companies' controllers.
Mental model: like a web browser — write one site and it runs on anyone's phone or laptop. CODESYS is the browser; the vendors' boxes are the devices.
Hardware-independence is the whole point: the same project retargets across vendors, with add-ons layered on the same runtime.
Selection rule: choose the device for the job (I/O, motion, environment), confirm it ships a CODESYS Control runtime, then enable only the add-ons the machine needs — nothing else in your project changes.
Source : codesys.com
What are CODESYS SoftMotion, Safety, OPC UA, Visualization and the Automation Server?