Originally, VirtuaPlant included only one scenario, but later, an external contributor ( GitHub user prjpet ) added an additional scenario, further expanding its capabilities.

he simulation and HMI communicate using the Modbus protocol. The simulation acts as a basic PLC, handling both control logic and plant visualization.

Both the simulation and HMI are graphical applications developed in Python 2.7 using the Pygame library. Since they rely on Linux-based systems, both components must be run on Linux machines.

Installing the Simulation (PLC) Container

Before installing the scenario, ensure you have two Linux systems with Docker installed. I used the latest Ubuntu LTS version and followed the official Docker installation guide . Once the systems are ready, install the PLC simulation container on the first machine using:

docker run --name plc --rm -d -p 443:6901 -p 502:5020 -e VNC_PW=password dainok/virtuaplant-oil-refinery-plc:22

Continue reading the post on Patreon .