hello. I am a mechanic with strong skills. However, I have 0 experience with PLCs. This seems to be where the industry is headed. where do I begin in order to self teach? I would appreciate your suggestions.
I self-taught with a DirectLogic 05 from AutomationDirect. The components are very inexpensive and you can get a demo version of the software for free. Demo version limits you to the amount of lines you can write, but it is enough to get going. They even sell self-learning kits. Good start into ladder logic.
I used to recommend AB because of their ubiquity. But now I recommend Automation Direct for their serious effort to provide no-cost education to expand their user base. Go to automationdirect.com and look for the links to myriad videos and tutorials. And you can get a PLC of your very own for $69 to play with. Software is free but you will need a $15 programming cable. You can also make that if you want, they provide drawings of all their cables.
PLC programming has a lot of Logic involved.
I would recommend you to start from there.
Start learning logical wiring diagrams with relays.
Once you are well versed with logical gates designing with relays. You could start learning some electrical wiring concepts and switch gears.
Once you have completed, go ahead with basic ladder Programming.
Download an open source PLC Ladder programming software of brands such as Keyence (for starters) and Delta (for functions).
You have the option to simulate your inputs and outputs and will be able to figure out how the logic works.
Go ahead with Industrial programs based on real industrial conditions.
Once you've done. need to learn basics of PLC wiring and addressing.
Do this and you are ready to buy your first PLC/Kit to test your programming and wiring skills.
The important thing is that, unless you get a certification on the same, its quite hard to get a good job in the Industry. Self - learning can only help for your personal use.
If you have never worked with PLC's I would recommend to take a look at PLC LOGO from Siemens. It is reasonably cheap and easy to understand. In this way you can learn the basic of logic programming by playing with it.
I personally would recommend the 1200 plc from siemens. It has the same advantage as the logo but you can also do some more advance programming.
>If you have never worked with PLC's I would recommend to
>take a look at PLC LOGO from siemens. It is reasonably cheap
>and easy to understand. In this way you can learn the basic
>of logic programming by playing with it.
1200 plc has some benefits against the LOGO. The s7-1200 is more expandable, more options and I believe an intern WebServer.
I think if you really want to start programming you should buy the s7-1200. the s7-1200 starts at a price around 200, were the LOGO's price is around 120. so there's is not much difference in price.
the only disadvantage for the s7-1200 is that you need software (like Tia Portal), and with the Logo, you can buy the software with the product (less expensive).
I have to agree with K93F. I think a LOGO PLC from Siemens is advanced enough if you have 0 experience. If you have more experience you can buy a better PLC.
I find it interesting that folks recommend anything from Siemens for a beginner. I think there are much better choices when you want to focus on learning fundamentals and not on platform complexity or peculiarity like that the three platforms mentioned don't use the same software or work alike. And I am not a beginner.
Yes there are other alternatives, I'm a student from holland and learned programming with Siemens. From my experience Siemens is just fine to start with and also the software is easy to learn and work with.
Knowing you present employment situation would help narrow the scope of any advice I might forward. Are you working in a facility where PLCs are common? If so, I would try to glean info from the electrical/engineering departments as to what platforms are used "in-house". If you can immediately apply what you are learning, it will reinforce the knowledge. Studying a Siemens based control language when you are surrounded by a different manufacturer's platform will retard the intellectual gains as you are forced to sort through the differences.
If, on the other hand, you are not exposed to PLCs on a regular basis, I would recommend starting with the very basics of PLCs. There are lots of "Intro to PLCs" type documentation available on the www.
Bowilly
> I am a mechanic with strong skills. However, I have 0 experience with PLCs. This seems to be where the industry
> is headed. where do I begin in order to self teach? I would appreciate your suggestions.
Well of course when you choose Siemens you need to choose a platform, and that's why I would avoid learning with a Logo. Then once you master one, you can easily switch among them (S7-300, s7-1200, PCS7).
I started with Siemens (S7-300 and Step7) and I do not regret it.
AutomationDirect looks like a great choice if you're going to pay your own money for the hardware and software. I would recommend choosing a good book or course, it is as important as choosing the right platform.
> I find it interesting that folks recommend anything from
> Siemens for a beginner. I think there are much better
> choices when you want to focus on learning fundamentals and
> not on platform complexity or peculiarity like that the
> three platforms mentioned don't use the same software or
> work alike. And I am not a beginner.
One of the few good things the necessity of supporting a crazy quilt of brands ages and models provides is a survey of what they have in common. There is a large body of PLC platforms that are similar enough that jumping from one to another, sometimes more than once a day, is not a nightmare. And then there are the outliers that work like nothing else. I maintain that working with one of the large body is perhaps time better spent, unless you happen to be in a part of the world where nothing but one of the outliers is acceptable for machine design. Someone from another part of the world may see things quite differently. So, what I think is most important, is to expend your effort on the group that is most prevalent in your part of the world. The reason I think this is most important is that the most valuable education is actually working with the products and solving problems and building things if you have the chance. I am amused by the seminars and week long classes that would have you think that running their software is all there is to it. Management in general loves this sort of thing because they can send someone or a whole crew to this nice schedulable event and you have experts. Now, if they were to work intensively with hardware and apply what they learned for a few months you might have a couple that get it and can go on to become proficient. But the usual case is that everybody goes back to their normal routine and 2 weeks later all is forgotten. That's why people think this is so hard to break into. It's almost impossible to learn what you need to learn and experience what you need to experience unless you work with PLCs very frequently. And only a lucky?:^) few get that opportunity. So really what you need to seek out is that opportunity, even if it means diving over your head and then learn the tools to do it. There are other ways, but for the working class that's about it. Electronics credentials help.
If you decide to buy yourself a PLC, try to use the one that is most common in your country and industry. For example, if you are in the US, Allen-Bradley (AB) is the most common manufacturer and is widely used in almost every industry, but if you are in Europe then Siemens is a better choice.
eBay is a great place to buy low cost used equipment also.
