An array of PLCs. Image source
What I Learned
Around the same time I started learning about PCBs (which you can read more about here), I also began a course on PLCs. As someone who has always enjoyed being able to control things and press buttons, industrial automation has always interested me, which perhaps explains my many hours on Factorio!
To better learn more about this field, I found a course that first discusses the fundamentals of industrial automation and ladder logic. The course proceeded to implement the theory in five company software environments: Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Schneider, Omron, and Delta. This implementation started with showing how to implement the ladder logic for several fundamental functionalities (interlocks, timers, counters, registers, etc.) in each software, eventually moving to creating different mini projects. One such mini project included controlling the behaviour of a conveyor belt, controlling the start/stop behaviour, emergency control, and even sorting box heights depending on which sensor (a ‘low’ sensor and a ‘high sensor) was actuated.
Fortunately for me, I was able to use a simulator software for several of the PLC softwares. However, the software introduced for Siemens only ran on Windows XP—considering how widely used this software is used, I suppose it’s not an exaggeration to say that a large portion of the world still runs on Windows XP!
For the platforms where I could not use any simulator software, I improvised by writing the ladder logic in my notes and confirmed the validity of my implementation with the that of the video. Fortunately, I quickly came to notice that aside from some functional creature comforts and advanced functionality, the different software suites functioned on largely the same principles, making the jump between them fairly painless.
Finally, the course also briefly introduced me to the fundamentals of HMI software and its close relationship to PLCs.
Some pictures of the ladder logic implemented in the PLC software
Comments and Moving Forward
Learning more about PLCs was always something that I wanted to do. With school done, I had a perfect opportunity to capitalize on this desire and am now in a better position to learn even more about the intricacies of industrial automation. I look forward to expanding my knowledge in this area and perhaps even having the chance to implement my control knowledge to industrial automation problems!