Learn how to do IEC 61131-3 PLC Programming
Are you are an electrician, an instrument tech or engineer from another specialty than automation and control – maybe you
find yourself in a similar situation: As a chargehand electrician working in a pretty advanced large sawmill in the central Rocky Mountains, I was stuck. Nowhere else to advance to in the mill. More and more new equipment came with electronics, and little documentation. I needed control specific training. But I really could not afford to move to the big city, to sign up for the college training that I felt drawn to. Then, one Monday morning the decision was made for me. I was near the top of a large distribution power pole, it broke off at ground level, and I had to decide to jump or ride it down into my truck – maybe get squished. Time in hospital, and five months in a long cast – then a workers compensation payout let me make the move. Wouldn’t recommend this method though.
In any case, I know how hard it is to go from a decent position in the trade to learn the next thing you know you that need, to get to the opportunities you see around you. For me it’s now many decades later and I’m very grateful for the life my decision to go for training has allowed me to live. Near the end of my career, I’m ready to share the underpinnings of my success, operating my own industrial automation firm with you. And the good news, with today’s technology you don’t have to move.
Since 1985 I have trained in person many hundreds of my client’s people. From electricians, instrument techs to mechanics. Entire pipeline companies engineering departments, maintenance departments. But those week long training courses are expensive. Because the PLCs cost in the order of $10,000 each, the software $4,000, the computer and auxiliary modules and racks add another $5,000. So, at about $20,000 per workstation – no wonder the course fee is about three grand for the week.
But there is a real change coming along recently: The major PLC manufacturers have for some years abided by the IEC 61131-3 standard in the provision of the languages and instructions with which you program their PLCs. That same IEC standard has just been made available to run on the Raspberry Pi computing platform! What that means is that I can now put together what has been a dream for many years: A comprehensive training course from introduction to advanced, where you can try stuff out for yourself, experiment with the hardware and software on your own desk! And what you learn will then directly be applicable to the larger industrial PLCs like the ControlLogix.
Matter of fact I will contrast, at the end of each segment of my new courses, what the solution looks like on a real ControlLogix PLC!
Would that interest you? Go ahead, kick me in the but to get this happening, and sign up for the waiting list. It lets me know there is interest, and it lets you stay informed how things are progressing. It also gives you the opportunity to comment and influence the direction the training will go.
Take the initiative, change your life, and change your world with hardware and software on your desk!