PLCkel

PLCkel is a fictional open-source platform for programmable logic controllers, designed to unify traditional PLC programming approaches—ladder logic, structured text, and function block diagrams—into a single, extensible development and runtime environment.

The core consists of a lightweight runtime, a modeler, and a plug-in driver interface. It supports cross-platform execution on Windows, Linux, and bare-metal targets via small runtime builds. The modeling language allows mixed-language projects; simulation mode provides step-through execution and test benches; real-time behavior is achieved with a deterministic scheduler.

PLCkel ships with a library of drivers for common sensors and actuators, and offers bindings for Python and Lua to script test sequences and rapid prototyping.

Origin: In the fictional history, PLCkel arose from a community-driven initiative in the mid-2020s to lower barriers to PLC education. License: MIT-like.

Applications include educational labs, research projects, and small automation tasks in hobbyist settings. The project is praised for simplicity and portability but cautioned that it is not intended for safety-critical industrial control and lacks formal certification.