Thrown in at the deep end.....?

Hi all,

I have been selected by my company to take a course in base level CIMPLICITY at the end of November, with the ultimate aim of my becoming involved in the programming of PLC's on our shop floor ( i work for a contactor at a UK General Motors site)

I have received today a book i ordered on basics of PLC's, which has blown my mind a little as i have no real knowledge of the workings of electrical circuits!

Jumping to my point, what would any of the experts out there recommend i do prior to going on this course (if i should go at all?!?!), or will all i need to know be covered by the course i'm set to attend?

Sorry for my 'Rabbit in the headlights' entrance here btw!

Cheers.

Take a walk around your shop floor. See if you can identify the components that operate automatically and how they are controlled. Can you recognize limit switches, proximity sensors, photoelectric sensors, pressure sensors, level sensors, and any other devices that tell the PLC what is happening with the process?

Can you recognize the motors, hydraulic actuators, pneumatic actuators that move things around? Can you recognize the valves that control the flow of the air and hydraulic fluid?

Do you know how to make a motor run? How to make it run in the opposite direction? How to make it speed up and slow down?

These are some of the basics of automation. Get familiar with how they work. They are the components that are going to be controlled by your PLC programs.

Hi II75,

This forum is a great place to start, Phil has done a great job in putting together some great PLC tutorials, just click the "Learn PLC" tab at the top of the page.

As for your question regarding your suitability for the job, it is a great help if you understand the workings of the machinery that you wish to control by PLC for obvious reasons. On the other side of the coin a PLC is basically a processor with I/O to interface with real world plant, since the electrical maintenance of this plant has traditionally fallen into the hand of technicians/electricians, the programing language "Relay Ladder Logic" has been developed to represent a pictorial view of the schematic prints of the relay control wiring which the advent of PLC's replaced. So if you have a programing back ground it would help with understanding the binary aspect of PLC programing and with a keen interest in reading all the rest should fall into place over time.

What is your current role at the moment?

Lance.

Hi guys, thanks for your replies!

I am curently in a roles within Network operations, providing support to users on terminals with scanners, and configuring LAN services, HUBs etc.

The proposed move to the PLC side is due to the company (EDS) having a large number of staff due to either retire or leave within the next 6 months, so staff are being 'fast-tracked' into other roles that are becoming available. Steve, thanks for your advice, i'll head out shortly and have a look at the machines!