Beckhoff TwinCAT PLC++ and CoAgent

2025-03-31 · Publisher : Beckhoff · Domain : Industry 4.0 & 5.0

At Hannover Messe 2025, Beckhoff unveils TwinCAT PLC++, a faster new generation of its software PLC, and TwinCAT CoAgent, a built-in conversational assistant that generates code and configures I/O.

What changes

The same control code runs up to 1.5 times faster on the TwinCAT PLC++ runtime.
The new compiler promises up to three times more performance (vendor figure).
TwinCAT CoAgent, successor to TwinCAT Chat, generates textual and graphical code.
The chatbot can also create HMI screens and I/O topologies.

### What changes In late March 2025, at Hannover Messe, Beckhoff Automation presents **TwinCAT PLC++**, a new generation of its software PLC with a new compiler and system structure. The architecture embeds **TwinCAT CoAgent**, a conversational assistant working directly inside TwinCAT projects. ### Key facts - Runtime: the same control code runs up to **1.5 times faster** than on previous TwinCAT PLCs. - Compiler: performance gain announced of up to **three times** (vendor figure). - CoAgent, an evolution of TwinCAT Chat, uses specialized AI agents: code suggestions and optimization, textual and graphical code generation, automatic documentation. - Direct access to Beckhoff documentation, help designing HMI controls, I/O topology creation by chat (renaming terminals, configuring modules). - Generated content is checked by the user before being added to the project. ### Why it matters Beckhoff is a leading proponent of PC-based control; building the assistant into the core programming environment, rather than a separate tool, confirms that generative AI is becoming a standard feature of automation software workbenches, beyond Siemens alone. ### Takeaway AI-assisted automation engineering spreads across several suppliers from 2025, with systematic human validation.

Beckhoff TwinCAT PLC++ and CoAgent

What changes

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