so how'd you find yourself programming PLC's?

[gbradley]

(and lost that gig due to raising saftey conerns)

It takes a better person to not look the other way.

 

[mrtweaver]

Mine started out as most on this forum. When I was quite young my dad worked for National Cash Register. He started out for them when it was nothing more than buttons, switches and springs. As things progressed they would send him to school in dayton ohio. He would always bring things home and I took to it like a fish to water. I was always ripping things apart putting them back together, fixing, remodeling, etc.

When I got into high school I wanted to take electronics in vo=tech but they said there was not enough support for it so they dropped it and i was forced to take electrical tech. I liked it, it was a good learning experience.

went from there to college got an assoc. degree in electronics with minors in food prep, accounting and computer science. Hind site is always 20/20. At the time of taking classes I did not think those fancy languages would take hold, I mainly concentrated on assembler.

anyway graduated and started looking for employment in electronics. Most places were like we want people already skilled not fresh out of college.

So looked around and found a nice machine operator position within a company. about a year in the maintenance engineer noticed I had some skill and was willing to learn. told me to apply, he took me in and I learned machine operation, welding, and more. Company went belly up but I learned a great deal and moved on.

Took position with a machine shop in maintenance. Soon was pestering the techs and learning their skills with programing PLC's, G code and X code CNC's and more. toook to this like a fish to water. Loved the technology.

Fast forward to now and I work as a kind of integrator. Doing things I never was formally trained for. One of my biggest assets??? or curses?? might be my strong desire to learn and my inability to say no. They come to me tell me what they would like and then say can it be done and of course I take it on and learn everything i can.

So far I know AB, GE, Festo, B&R, eberle, opto22, omron, and one or two others. Currently learning S7 and Mitsubishi.

So while I wanted to initially go into electronics I just sort of fell into this and have been doing it ever since. Use to think I knew alot but after reading some of the articles on this site realized just how little I do know.

 

[uptown47]

I ended up in PLC's by accident really. I left the armed forces after 9 great years and was struggling to get a job in 'civvy' steet. A friend of mine told me about a job at his work. I got an interview and the main question was "Do you mind working in Beirut?"

I didn't..

Next thing you know I'm over there with a laptop and a programming lead. Not a clue about anything. Had never even seen "ladder" before.

I'm quite a quick learner and so I did just that - learnt.

I've not stopped learning since then. I use every available resource I can get my hands on. Manuals, books, internet (specifically this site) and experimentation. I love learning new things and really enjoy PLC's.

When I was a kid I used to program a Spectrum in BASIC. I also progressed on to STOS for the Atari ST. I loved being able to "make things happen" and I suppose PLC's really appeal to that part of me.

You always learn better if you are enthusiastic about the subject.

Interesting thread.. well done that man!

 

[alanMICS]

President Clinton was paying people to get out of the military. After 10 years in the airforce the combination of $40K and my boredom at the time made it to good to pass up.
I started working for a small company installing control systems. When they fired thier programmer I looked at what he had been doing and having 15 years computer programming experiance i told the boss, I can do that.

My old boss always told me if you are not having fun, its time to find a new job. I've been at for about 15 years now and can't imagine myself ever doing anything else.

 

[buhnen]

my personal case

I guess my story it's quite unsual. Everybody gets a bit shocked when checking at my CV.
When I was 18 I wasn't quite clear in my mind about what proffessional way should I follow. In the secondary school I was good at biologics and my relatives had a farm and I liked animals.

So I decided to join the veterinarian career in the University. The two first years for this training are very generalist. We deal with lot of general subjects (from statistic maths to biophysics, Chemistry...). The third year when we go more in depth with the clinic subjects I realized that profession wasn't made for me ( Or I wasn't made for it). It took a lot of years to complete my studies as I didn't feel motivated for it and I already knew at that time that I wasn't interested in working as a vet in the future. I was only interested in industrial farming (also called zootechnics) and food processing industry (milk processing plants, milking parlours, automatic cattle feeders, automation of slaughterhouese...). I met a professional colleague who was as well a freaky of electronics, computering...and he somehow persuaded me to give a try to the PLC's as he had got to complete a vocational training of two years and eventually, in the face of the good laboral conditions offered (some years ago), he decided to move to the profession of PLC programmer (though nowadays he has coursed a Master program in SAP management and he works into that, which is very well paid).

Though I had no idea on PLC's and computers (only like a level user of Windows OS) I quickly felt captivated for it and increasingly interested both in PLC programming and Wiring schemes design (I'm and advanced user of Eplan). In few words: the engineering allowed me to find to myself professionally

Officially this vocational training is named: " Systems of Indutrial automation and control". It's not a an engineering with university level ( we are considered like "advanced tecnicians") and we quickly get some slight A,B,C of ideas on several fields (PLC programming with Siemens s7-200,LOGO, S7-300; neumatics (not much of it); wiring logic design...) for endow us with basics of a electrotechnical background and later keep self-training ourselves through our professionally chosen ways.

My intention was to come back to the industrial farming area but due to some personal circumstances I hadn't much choice (keeping into account how the laboral market is nowadays)and finally arrived to a company (the company where I'm currently working) oriented to water treatment engineering and renewable energies.

 

[creativepaper]

Chemical Engineer by trade but current job I was 'encouraged' to look after the drive system. After 7 years of fixing these drives (Ansaldo) and changing boards on the PLC the company had faith in me to replace the system with AB and write the drive program. Basicially this was the only way forward as we could not afford a new system and it was a great success.
Being that I learnt so much from this, my 2nd project was to replace the DCS system since our current supplier forced an upgrade onto us that we couldn't afford. All in all, I have a blast with PLC's, we have a in-house system that we FULLY own, no maint contracts, etc.
A Chem Eng background is VERY focused on safety which was a great asset when approaching programming the system due to the large and fast moving nature of a paper machine.

 

[texasbirds]

I am the fifth son of seven boys - the older boys learned how to take things apart - I learned how to put them back together and work again. Eighth grade found me with car batteries in my bedroom and my very own personal stereo. High school taught me all of the neat stuff that it takes to operate a commercial building – so I failed Latin. Ten years in the Marine Corp as an Aviation Electronics Technician taught me how to be out front and still retain all of my body parts intact. My first shot out in the civilian world was in the sleepy city of Spokane, WA where I picked up a Master Electrician License and a HVAC Contractor License. Everything was well until Mount St. Helens blew her top. Moseyed down to warm and quiet Texas where there was work and built a few houses from the ground clearing stages to the peak of the roof – and all points in between. Early in my marriage I came extremely close to a divorce because I really wanted an IMSI 8080, had to wait until Texas before I got my first computer (which I still have) a Corona 8088 with 512k of RAM, two floppy drives, a ten Meg hard drive, modem all built into a 'portable' package. Since then life is a blur of reading materials, toys and jobs. I can't imagine claiming any one PLC as a favorite or one programming language / style – they are all so neat. I'm sure I'll never program a machine that will function down in the one micron range, and while I'm sure my first code looked similar to Goody's – it worked safely! The future is for those 23 and 24 year old youngsters – but I can say: “Been there, done that and I have all my body parts in old, but good condition.”


Safety is all that matters.........

 

[Paul B]

Well this thread just popped up to the top and gave me a chance to see it. I enjoyed hearing your stories so I thought I’d add mine.

Fresh out of the Army in 1986 I went to work for a large textile mill, 19 acres under roof with 1200 employees. It also had its own wastewater treatment facility. (It’s all gone now of course, the doors shut two years after I left.) I doffed ring-spinning frames for five years and then entered the maintenance department. Given a choice of mechanical or electrical, I chose the latter. I’d never used a meter but they gave me six months on-the-job training and then turned me loose. I was the solo electrical troubleshooter on a 12-hour swing shift. I had a wonderful electronics tech on the same shift and his knowledge of theory was invaluable. You would be amazed at how much you can learn when something goes down two hours into a 12-hour shift and you want to fix it before the next shift arrives. The “partial open” was a lesson I’ll never forget. A pushbutton had two strands of a 14-gage wire left connected. Press button, starter kicks in, voltage drops, starter drops out. Everything ohms out… Wonderful lesson.

Most of my troubleshooting was on relay-logic and motor controls. We had some PLC’s, but not many. The European relay logic controls were quite elaborate and I was exposed to many types of circuits. Of course most of the machines had board-level proprietary controls. With 19 acres of trouble calls I saw a lot - all the way from 12kv power distribution to board-level troubleshooting. In the middle were 480v chiller controls with Wye-Delta starters as large as a small table. There were constant-tension center-wind DC drive applications. Other than a lack of process control instrumentation experience like flow-meters, etc. it was a well-rounded experience.

After five years of troubleshooting I knew the plant like the back of my hand. I started designing controls upgrades and caught the eye of some people and moved to first shift. I began supervising all electrical controls installations. I handled a medium voltage compressor installation as well as chiller upgrade installations. My tasks were to ensure all controls were integrated properly. Of course PLC’s were trickling in and the plant purchased a laptop which I was able to spec out. There were battles with IT but in the end I was left alone to manage my own computer. Thank goodness for that. The IT was in left field! I had experience with an 8088 and DOS operating system which helped a lot. Dual-boots were the norm back then.

I worked with integrators who were installing PLC’s in my plant and made sure I had the software and programs. After they left if changes needed to be made, I made them, often working with the original integrator over the phone as I made online changes.

I began designing my own PLC control panels and after a few of these I realized I’d went as far as I could go at the plant level. I left and went to work for a systems integrator in ’98 and have been programing PLCs, HMI’s, and SCADA ever since.

One of the posts in this thread said he learned the craft before there was an internet - it was RTFM. Absolutely! Of course back then there were paper manuals, I hate reading PDF’s on a screen, though you can search a PDF. There also wasn’t tech support – I don’t ever remember calling tech support until after I went to work for a systems integrator.

What I miss about working at a plant is the ability to take as much time as needed and being able to see the results every day as you walk through the department. As a systems integrator you have to finish the job and move on. What I don’t miss about working at a plant is the politics and infighting. As a systems integrator I can be nice to anyone and everyone for a few weeks, then move on.

Another post in this thread (Jesper?) said as things became more complicated the workload went up but the number of people didn’t. How true! The work I do now is far more complex than what I did ten years ago. Ten years ago we wrote programs the plant electrician could open and go online with LM90. UniOP operator interfaces were very simple. The software we use today is very powerful and along with that comes complexity – and job security!

 

[TConnolly]

Even though its an old thread, I'll add mine.

I was always interested in electronics. When I was ~11 I built a crystal radio, then migrated on to other electronics projects. By the time I graduated from HS I was designing and building my own stereo amplifiers.

I was 21, putting myself through college studying Electrical Engineering when I landed a job working the night shift at a local factory operating CNC machines. When I started one of the machines was down and the economy was tough so they didn't have the money to bring in a repairman. One slow night when I had been there about two months I was reading through the CNC manual and came across a detailed troubleshooting procedure. So I followed the procedure and narrowed the problem down to an encoder on one axis. I remembered seeing a used one in a box of parts and and swapped it out. Next morning the bosses came in and found their CNC machine humming away making parts. They were impressed (I didn't tell them how simple it really was) and put me in charge of keeping up all the CNC machines. Three of the machining centers had DEC PDP8As as the controller and the idea of using an ordinary computer to interface with mechanical actuators to automate a complicated manufacturing operation really intrigued me. As I learned more about all the different kinds of machines in the factory I came across PLCs. One day an old grinding machine caught fire and burned up the control panel so they asked if I could repair it. I convinced the boss to let me replace the burned up relay panel with a PLC, and that was my first PLC project: A GE Series One.

After that I knew I wanted to focus on controls - however back then the EE curriculum didn't focus on controls much. I took what classes I could, a class from the Chem. E. dept that focused on process control theory and a few programming classes, and learned as much as I could on the job.

I have to say, for the most part I haven't regretted it. It has been an adventure. Except that some nights I look up and wonder what would have happened if I had pursued my other interest: astronomy.

But come the weekend I prefer the scream of the table saw or hum of the router, the tap-tap and scraping of a sharp chisel, and the smell of linseed oil and sawdust as a great way to unwind. I might have been just as happy as a furniture maker. Ironically, my hobby in woodworking got its kick-off from my electronics hobby. I was putting my rather sizable Disco collection to use DJ-ing dances (it was the late '70's) and I asked a neighbor down the street with a shop if he would help me build some really big speakers and case for an amplifier I had built and he agreed and taught me how to build nice solid cabinets.

I guess I just like making things.

 

[Dua Anjing]

Like Alaric said ..I'll add mine.

I was working as a "Customer Service Engineer" (Service tech) on Credit card production equipment and doing night school just for the sake of it (and before that a Telecom. Tech.). Went Shopping with the wife and bumped into a co-worker who had recently left the company. he said he was working for an Electrical Contractor programming PLC's, he suggested that I would like it as it was basically AND or OR logic anyway. I took a job with teh firm he worked for that was in 1990 (ish) Still doing the same stuff now. It has taken me to Malayasia, Indonesia, China, Thailand, and USA Houston). What I like best is the commissioning (eventually standing back and watching the equipment do what it is supposed too) , including spending an entire week in a remote jungle camp witing for a 5 cent glass fuse so that I can hand-over the plant and start again somewhere else.

 

[Johnster]

another navy guy

Hello - my story and my story only =)

1994-2000 - US navy, nuclear Electronic's Technician on a submarine. Learned a lot of "I&C" systems and theory there.
I got out, went to school for Industrial Engineering, but could not pass the weed-out calculus course. I switched to Mechanical Engineering Technology- Loved it.
I graduted with a BS in MET in 2005 (did some Military reserve stuff in there too) and realized that I didnt have a job lined up yet. I started looking around the local City (Cincinnati Ohio) and found a new Conveyor company selling turn-key warehouse conveyor systems. They Were looking for a guy who knew as much about hardware as he/she knew about Electronic design- they took a chance on me.
I miss that job, but my family changed (I now have 2 little guys and one on the way) and I couldnt keep jet-setting, so in 2008 I lucked into a position at a local Coal-fired power plant. Their Engineering office is more of a construction-project management position, but as I found yesterday- when the tech's run out of ideas (how do we flash this 1757-SRM module ?) they call Engineering.
I don't like the idea of turning 10k tons of coal into dust every day, but since no one has built a better option in this area, I am gonna do what I can to help.

-John

 

[Bobbias]

Warning: wall of text approaching. (I didn't realize it'd end up being this long, lol.)

Well, since it's here, and I've been posting here for a while, I might as well post what I have. Of course, this story is still being written, since I'm only 21 (nearly 22 now), and just startng out

I've always been fascinated by computers. My family bought our first computer in the summer of '95, just after windows 95 came out. I was 7 at the time. I was immediately drawn into it, and have loved computers since then. In fact, I think the longest time I've ever gone without a computer was when we had to send that thing away because I'd managed to get it stick rebooting every time windows was supposed to load, and that took about 6 weeks for them to fix. Other than tht, I've had a computer pretty much all my life.

When I was about 12, I became interested in programming. I tried learing C++, but wasn't interested in making those useless little programs like "hello world" but didn't really know enough math to do very much. So I gave up on it till I was 14. Since then, I've dabbled in C++/Java/Turing/VB/Assembly/PHP and probably another couple lanauges I can't remember. I've also been interested in learning Haskell and other functional lanuages, but those are another beast entirely.

Anyway, by the time I finished highschool, I'd been thinking my original idea of being a computer programmer wasn't the right choise. I just didn't feel like I could handle something like that all day long. So I asked my dad, who does mechanical design (even though he's technically not a mechanical engineer) if I could see some of the things they do at the place he's working. He did own his own company, but this was right when the recession was hitting the industry (yea know, about 2 years beore it hit everything else...) and he was forced to find work at another company.

Anyway, I went there, looked around, saw the CNC stuff (which is what I was initially interested in) and ended up seeing one of the guys working on a small PLC based project. If I remember correctly he was building a small table station to pneumatically rivet something. The idea of PLCs fascinated me immediately. I understood that there was some sort of computerized control for industrial processes, but didn't know anything at all about PLCs before this point. By the time I decided to go to college (about 1 year after my already 1 year late graduation) I decided that wanted to take the program at my college called "Electrical Engineering - Automated Systems".

And after 2 years, here I am on my first co-op position (we're supposed to have one every year, but last year a good portion of us didn't get positions thanks to the recession). I still don't know much about PLCs, but I'm learning. The company I work for specializes in process control and such. We're a relatvely small company (about 10 people right now), but because of that, I get experience with a lot of different stuff. I know most companies have an in-house division for this sort of thing, but that's part of why a lot of the work we get is kinda unique. We do all sorts of stuff, from fitting a basic drill press with an encoder/counter for higher precision positioning, to safety upgrades, to full out process automation jobs. And because we're small, we have to do everything from the design, to the assembly ourselves. So instead of being stuck somewhere relegated to drawing on autocad all day, or being stuck in the back wiring things up all day, I get to do a little of everything. In fact,t he philosophy of the company is that you should always understand the whole process, not just one aspect. Even if all your doing is programming a PLC, you should understand how the thing is wired up, how the panels need to be built, how the design and layout process works, etc. etc.

Anyway, I'll sum everything up by saying that this co-op position has been an extremely good chance to learn about the industry, and a real eye opener as to what really happens out in the field, rather than just theory stuff at school. In fact, I haven't even had my first PLC class in school yet, lol. Though we have done some PLC programming. Our first controls class dealt with relays, timers, etc. individually and ended up programming a small micrologix with a pendant, and our robotics class had up program a pneumatic pick n place whose brains were a SLC5/02.

 

[Paul B]

I get to do a little of everything. In fact, the philosophy of the company is that you should always understand the whole process, not just one aspect. Even if all your doing is programming a PLC, you should understand how the thing is wired up, how the panels need to be built, how the design and layout process works, etc. etc.

Anyway, I'll sum everything up by saying that this co-op position has been an extremely good chance to learn about the industry, and a real eye opener as to what really happens out in the field, rather than just theory stuff at school.

Wonderful! Very well said. There is no substitute for real-world experience. When your school classes present you the theory it will mean so much more. It takes both.

 

[Bobbias]

I completely agree. I've alwys thought that you needed to truly understand the whole system to truly understand any single part of it. Just because you understand how to program a machine doesn't mean you understand the machine. You simply understand the process that the machine must go through. Similarly, if you only understand the wiring or the physical construction of the machine, you only understand the machine's electrical system, or the machine's mechanical system, not the whole machine.

Too bad that the schools don't teach an aproach that heavily integrates all the concepts.

 

[buhnen]

I completely agree. I've alwys thought that you needed to truly understand the whole system to truly understand any single part of it. Just because you understand how to program a machine doesn't mean you understand the machine. You simply understand the process that the machine must go through. Similarly, if you only understand the wiring or the physical construction of the machine, you only understand the machine's electrical system, or the machine's mechanical system, not the whole machine.

Too bad that the schools don't teach an aproach that heavily integrates all the concepts.

I'd like to expose here one unclear point to my understanding. I'd truly like to hear the opinion of other experienced programmers:

I work both as an wiring scheme drafstman and a programmer in the company. Our main PLC providers are basiclly Siemens,Allen-Bradley and Schneider . Our Production Department is structured in such way that any of us need to get a good command both in wiring scheme elaboration and in programming under the afore mentioned brands. We also go to the worksites (water treatment plants) and perform the start-ups (which may take us away from the office for several weeks, or even months depending on certain cases). It's a well-rounded work experience as it involves almost all the steps from design to final implementation on field (excepting the HMI programming/design which is carried out by one specialized employee). But, from a team viewpoint, do you think this is an efficient way to distribute tasks? Generalization or specialization, what strategy to be followed? what's your take on this issue?