TOOL

FactoryForge: an open 3D factory simulator for learning PLC programming, wired to TIA Portal, OpenPLC, Node-RED and Ignition

Built as a free alternative to Factory I/O, it connects over OPC UA, Modbus TCP, S7 and PLCSIM, and a grader runs your program against 18 scenes while it cuts the E-stop and injects faults. A broken wire on the pressure transmitter reads 32767, so your logic has to tell a fault from a reading.

For automation students and instructors: the first-hour guide goes from download to OpenPLC driving a sorting line, with no Siemens licence needed.

More from The Feed

TOOL

Conpot 1.0, 1,536 stars: the free ICS honeypot is back after eight years, and it now speaks Modbus, S7 and IEC 104

Conpot pretends to be industrial gear and logs whoever tries to use it, and its 1.0 release on Sep 20 rewrote the platform after the last release in 2018. A decoy placed where nothing legitimate should connect turns any connection into a lead worth chasing.

For OT security and plant network teams: a cheap way to learn who is probing control system ports before agents and remote tools add more of them.

Found via Justin Middler's write-up