Questions about building my career

Hi there, I'm new to the PLC world and I'm going to be going all in soon and I was wondering if anyone could lend me insight or send any advice my way.

I'm a 4th year Electrical Apprentice at the moment and I live in Calgary, AB, Canada. I'll be finishing my apprenticeship in about a years time. I'm also looking at taking the first of five PLC courses at SAIT (Southern Alberta Technical Institute) in September. The course covers the following:

This course helps the students building a solid foundation with a basic knowledge of Contrologix and other Logix systems such as CompactLogix, FlexLogix, DriveLogix, and SoftLogix. Topics covered are: Logix family, ControlLogix system hardware and configuration, basic PLC instructions, Timer and Counters, and PLC project development. The students will design, connect, program and troubleshoot the operations of many practical industrial control applications.

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What I'm trying to find out is what I can do to maximize my chances of success in this industry. I'm currently reading through the PLC introduction on this website. Basically I feel like I'm sitting here wasting time until September.

Any information, stories, comments, tips, etc would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Well it looks like that in North America Allen Bradley is the gold brand, so making that course will put you in the same ship than a lot of people that know how to make it.

Getting experience in the PLC world is never a fast process, you'll face plenty of different situations in your everyday tasks and this will make you a better programmer each day.

From my point of view, the PC control technology is getting stronger every day as it looks like that conventional brands (allen Bradley, siemens, Omron, Schneider...) tend to make new devices based on PC tech. apart of course than other brands like Beckhoff, B&R, ... which are already doing that.

Try to keep you focused in what your environment demands, when programming try always to make it the best way, love your job and be lucky (this is something I'm afraid is also a must).

You come from the electrical world, therefore it would be good if you would try to get an approach to the IT world, then you would have a great starting point as you would understand perfectly the electrical details and at the same time you would know hoe to program using the best practices.

If you can choose, use ST to program, if you do that and you stick to the IECxxxx standards you will be able to copy and paste code from one platform to another one without problems... let they say what they want, but there are problems even passing code from one plc kind to another one from the same brand... using ST makes it easier to get the code copied to another device (and you could use any editor out there to program).

PS: this is all my opinion, it must not be the right path to follow, it is only here to "help" but of course you choose...

Good luck!

I am a journeyman electrician who has been in the field for 15 years and is just now getting into PLCs and programming. I have a pretty strong foundation in the elctrical world but my computer/networking/IT skills are thin at best. If appropriate for your skill set you may look into some classes that focus on some fundementals in those areas, you will need those skills as much as your electrical training. Best of luck, let us know how it goes.

One of the best programming classes I took in college that has helped in PLC (or any non OOP system) was a COBOL class. It was essentially used in the IT tracks to teach good procedural programming practice which will translate across all non object oriented environments.

Thanks for the replies guys. So it seems like the consensus is I should try to improve my IT knowledge.

Is there anything specifically I should be looking into as far as courses?


http://www.plccable.com/allen-bradley-micrologix-plc-trainer-plc-training-kit-with-lessons/
Is this training kit worth the money? Will I be able to make use of it without any PLC training whatsoever or should I wait until I get a course or two in?

Any answers would be great! Thanks again.

I would not start spending money on a small PLC neither on a small box to test things...

Why don't you start downloading a "soft plc" which would allow you to use your own PC as a PLC and check everything virtually without spending a buck on it?

I've been working for several years with Beckhoff and their software is free, powerful, allow you to simulate a PLC, put breakpoints, program in all the PLC languages FBD, ST, LD, IL...

You can use TWinCAT 3 or TWinCAT 2, both will make the job easily...

There are thousands of situations that you could simulate, I don't think you will need a guide here, simply think about situations, how would you do something...

Regarding OOP, TwinCAT 3 allows it to be implemented and this gives true power to extend codes and to be really productive.

Good luck with your learning!

Hi!

I am a heavy Siemens user, but really didn't start using it until after my Bs, which is about 7 years ago. During my Bs I played around with Labview but didn't really get it. I am currently finishing up my Ms, and did a LabVIEW orientated automation class and am really impressed. They offer a lot of free stuff for students, including full software packs and certifications. The software comes with loads of simulation options and is a great way to start going.
The programming is very graphical and is totally different from what I know in Siemens, but it is a great free resource.

Anyone care to share thoughts on this?

I wish I had gotten more experience with PLC's during my apprenticeship. Those courses sound interesting at SAIT.

http://www.sait.ca/programs-and-cou...ates/plc-–-hmi-certificate-of-achievement.php

The other guys are right, IT is a big part of our industry now. Networking and computers are everywhere.

Joan Murt said:

I would not start spending money on a small PLC neither on a small box to test things...

Why don't you start downloading a "soft plc" which would allow you to use your own PC as a PLC and check everything virtually without spending a buck on it?

I've been working for several years with Beckhoff and their software is free, powerful, allow you to simulate a PLC, put breakpoints, program in all the PLC languages FBD, ST, LD, IL...

You can use TWinCAT 3 or TWinCAT 2, both will make the job easily...

There are thousands of situations that you could simulate, I don't think you will need a guide here, simply think about situations, how would you do something...

Regarding OOP, TwinCAT 3 allows it to be implemented and this gives true power to extend codes and to be really productive.

Good luck with your learning!

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Hey there, thanks for your reply.

I checked out the TWinCAT software and I'm a little confused by it. I'm looking for something that could provide me with very basic ladder logic ability. Maybe I misinterpreted the program but I didn't see that available.

I've been searching for a free PLC simulator as you suggested. Still on the hunt. I'm very computer literate and I'm a little baffled that I can't find anything so far.

While I'm throwing out questions, does anyone have any specific IT skills that I should try to find in a course? I'm having trouble with the broad description of "IT".

Shameful bump.

Unitronics software is free, very basic and if I remember correctly it uses ladder:

http://www.unitronics.com/support/downloads

Don't know if you can simulate with it, I do know that the actual PLC are very cheap:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...unitronics&_nkw=unitronics&_sacat=0&_from=R40

We used them in the past, I just don't like the look of them. They look as cheap as they are.

My advice.....learn as much as you can about Hydraulics, Pneumatics,
Processing, and OSHA/Safety.

The ability to write decent code is useless without understanding what your are controlling.

boneless said:

Unitronics software is free, very basic and if I remember correctly it uses ladder:

http://www.unitronics.com/support/downloads

Don't know if you can simulate with it, I do know that the actual PLC are very cheap:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...unitronics&_nkw=unitronics&_sacat=0&_from=R40

We used them in the past, I just don't like the look of them. They look as cheap as they are.

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Hmm I think I'll stick with other poster's ideas of downloading a free simulator. Spending money on this probably isn't a good idea yet. Thanks for your suggestion though.

baldone said:

My advice.....learn as much as you can about Hydraulics, Pneumatics,
Processing, and OSHA/Safety.

The ability to write decent code is useless without understanding what your are controlling.

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Would you consider this a good class to take,

Industrial Hydraulics Level 1
Designed to introduce to participants basic hydraulic theory, components, and troubleshooting. Students will learn the functions of pumps, valves (directional, pressure and flow), piping, cylinders, and motors, as well as basic circuit construction and troubleshooting techniques. The course consists of both theory and hands-on practice in our fluids lab.

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I've been searching for a free PLC simulator as you suggested

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http://www.thelearningpit.com/lp/logixpro.html

baldone said:

My advice.....learn as much as you can about Hydraulics, Pneumatics,
Processing, and OSHA/Safety.

The ability to write decent code is useless without understanding what your are controlling.

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I concur here. If your machinery has moving parts, it is great to understand well how to deal with problems, and safety is everything.

I respectfully disagree about PC based control. I would argue that it has its place in some systems, but is still not widely used. It is wise to understand PC hardware but don't get lost in PC based programming which is a field unto itself.

Instead, I would also look at the lower end A/B PLCs. The Micrologix, SLC-500 series are everywhere at least in the USA. The software is similar to what you will learn about in your Logix5000 classes, but it is very different in enough ways to make understanding it very useful to your future as well. Definitely get some Siemens exposure, as I think they are growing fast. And there are tons of others too, but you will mostly need to become a nimble learner!

I have been in Maintenance and PLC programming for 17+ years, only here in Oklahoma, and Siemens is around, but not nearly as common. I see Micrologix and SLC everywhere. Newer stuff is usually Logix5000 (term used to lump together the CompactLogix and Controllogix systems).

I also think that doing some drafting classes will be an important feather in your cap too. Everyone in this field at some point or another will need to update a drawing or two, not limited to electrical stuff. It's so nice ice to be able to do it yourself.

These are just my opinions, the PC control peeps may rip me, but I still have not seen a PC based system that was reliable enough, accessible enough or flexible enough to suit me. They are definitely more securable, since you can hardly modify a field device or input point without the original programmer, but I am stirring a different pot now, so I will stop.