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In this installment of our ongoing Practicing PLC Technician Series, we will expand on our knowledge of the virtual counterparts to real world field equipment already familiar to PLC technicians working in industry today.  The last physical device we will be examining is the counter.

In our last installment of the Practicing PLC Technician Series, we began to look at some of the similarities between relay logic control circuits and plc ladder logic programming.  Over the next few blogs, we will further examine some additional instructions that are based on real world field equipment or devices that have been included in the ladder logic programming approach available for programming modern PLC’s.

Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) are general-purpose control devices often used in plants or manufacturing systems. They provide both a useful and efficient control solution for a variety of applications, and can accept inputs from a variety of devices, such as motion detectors, joysticks and buttons, amongst others. In turn, PLCs are able to produce outputs that control lights, motors and sound effects, amongst others.

This is the first in a series of brief articles discussing important topics specific to PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) technicians and technician students preparing for a role in an increasingly automated workforce. In this series we will be discussing skills and knowledge unique to the understanding of PLC’s.