Student looking for further training

Hello,

I am looking for a product to help me better understand logic control systems. I have been working with Allen Bradley PLCs for about 3 years now in college. Most of my experience, however, has been stricly programming with some communication. I was just wondering if anyone knows of a training program that has helped them out a lot with wiring, communication, programming, etc. that would be worth buying. I really just dont want to spend a lot of $ for a product that just goes over basic programming or one that I do not understand anything that they are talking about. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hello back,

I think with 3 years of A-B study under your belt, your best move would be to piece together a home-made trainer. I'm not an A-B guy but look on e-bay for hardware that you are familiar with. The software might be the hardest to come by. If you can beg or borrow (but not steal) the components and software, there are lots of projects, many described on this forum, to keep you entertained and advance your understanding.

I know my reply may not be the most helpful but your query at least deserved a bump up.

Good Luck,

Brian.

After 3 years of college, some work experience in the field might be more valuable than any more training. There are work-study programs, summer work programs, internships, and cooperative engineering programs, where you can get some valuable experience with real conditions, not made-up classroom conditions.

Also, if you know someone at a company that hires interns or summer students, that can be an easy path to some work experience.

You will be hired on the basis of what you can do for the company, not how much training that you might have. Most people can complete a school course, but nowdays not everyone can do what they have been schooled to do.

If you want more training on communications protocols, sign up for Phil Melore's (this site's owner) PLC Tips newsletter. He has been covering the various communications protocols in recent issues. You could probably get copies of the back issues.

Greetings jasauno ...

I have been working with Allen Bradley PLCs for about 3 years now in college.

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so are you still attending the same college? ... more specifically, do you still have access to the college’s PLC hardware and software? ...

I was just wondering if anyone knows of a training program that has helped them out a lot with wiring, communication, programming, etc.

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just a “brainstorming” idea: why not write your own training program? ...



when I first got started in PLCs I was taking electronic courses at a local technical college ... I soon noticed that MOST of the school’s PLC equipment was NEVER used at all ... in fact, much of it was still stored in unopened boxes fresh from the factory ... I knuckled down and learned everything that I could in the “official” course - and then started asking my instructors for “extra” projects ... after I had proved that I could be trusted, they were EXTREMELY eager to turn me loose with all of those extra toys that had been gathering dust for the last few years ...



secret handshake: many (most?) instructors don’t have enough spare time or energy for taking on brand new projects like this ... they’re usually too busy teaching classes, grading papers, and MOSTLY attending meetings scheduled by their bosses ...



anyway ... I’d tackle something interesting and work on it enough to turn out a pretty impressive “demo” of what the equipment was designed to do ... then I’d write up a “student project” that the instructors could easily use as an assignment for future classes ...



this was a “win-win-win-win” situation ... the school got their equipment hooked up and utilized ... the instructor got a project ready to assign to his future classes ... the future students got exposure to equipment that they otherwise wouldn’t have even seen ... and I got to learn MUCH MUCH MORE than I would have if I had just “stayed-on-track” with all of the other students in my class ...



and it cost me nothing but my time ...



anyway ... just a thought ...

Thanks for the replies everyone:

I am still at the same college but I will be graduating in a few weeks. I wish I had more access to the PLCs at school but we have 10 automated stations each connected with ABB IRB140 robots, PLC units, conveyor systems, etc. so needless to say it is very hard to get any time to work on them seeing that I have already taken the courses. I purchased a cheap program, LogixPro, so that should keep me up with programming for now and I plan on seeing if my university has any old PLC stuff they don't need anymore. Other than that I plan on just continue reading about them to increase my knowledge and hope for a job offer in the field sometime soon. Thanks again, Jake

Jake,

Hang around this forum for a while (months, not days) and you may be surprised what bits and pieces of knowledge and perhaps even hardware you may pick up. Keep at it, it's a very rewarding vocation.



Brian.