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PLC for beginners: the basics, in plain English.
Never heard of automation or a PLC? You are in the right place. Twelve short chapters explain how machines do jobs by themselves, and how people write the rules they follow.
Begin chapter 112 chapters · about 43 minutes
- Every new word is explained
- Something to try in every chapter
- About 3 minutes each
How every automatic machine works
- 1 NoticeA sensor spots a person walking up.
- 2 DecideThe PLC checks its rule: someone is close, so open.
- 3 ActA motor slides the door open.
Then it checks again, about 50 times every second.
What is inside
Four parts, twelve short chapters
- Part 1
What is automation?
Machines that do a job by themselves, and the people who set them up.
3 chapters · 9 min - Part 2
Inside a control system
The box that decides, the signals it uses and the screens people watch.
4 chapters · 14 min - Part 3
Writing the rules
From a plain-English rule to your first line of code.
3 chapters · 12 min - Part 4
Before your first lab
The two big brands, and the four ways to write a rule.
2 chapters · 8 min
By the end
What you will be able to do
- Spot automation in everyday life, and say how it works.
- Name the parts of a control system and what each one does.
- Read a simple PLC rule and say what the machine will do.
- Choose Siemens or Rockwell, and know what to learn next.
After the basics