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What is a PLC? Basics of PLCs
The Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is the key element behind today's Industrial automation. But, what exactly is a PLC? This video will walk you through the basics of what a PLC is, some of its practical uses.
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AutomationDirect thanks you, our customers, for propelling the new Do-more PLC to the top of the class as the category winner for Machine and Embedded Controls in the 2013 Engineers’ Choice Awards sponsored by Control Engineering magazine. According to their article in February’s edition, “Automation professionals from Control Engineering’s subscriber lists—all of whom are responsible for or influence technology purchases, or have hands-on day-to-day interaction with the technologies in each category— voted to identify the products they felt were the most exceptional based on technological advancement, service to the industry, and market impact.” The awards ceremony, held at the Chicago Sofitel hotel on March 18, was a gathering of some of the most innovative and trusted names in the automation industry. We were honored to accept the award, and brought it back to live with our PLC Product Manager, Sammy Natsui, who worked closely with the PLC’s designer and manufacturer, HOST Engineering, to bring the product to market in September 2012.
View the Control Engineering article and all the category winners here.
Get more hand tools
We’ve expanded our line of Wera hand tools to include ratchets and sockets, as well as combination wrenches, nut drivers, chisel drivers and additional screwdrivers. Seven-piece nutdriver sets ($33) made of chrome plated steel feature hollow shanks to allow access to nuts on long screws and are available in inch and metric sizes.
When regular screwdrivers are not quite enough, new chisel screwdrivers are ideal for the job. Suitable for fastening, chiseling, and loosening seized screws, chisel screwdrivers feature a hexagonal blade which goes through the ergonomic handle to an impact cap fitted with a ¼-inch square socket to allow adding a ratchet for extra torque. Available individually or in six-piece sets, prices start at $9.
Reduced diameter tip insulated screwdrivers feature a smaller diameter blade at the tip to allow access to recessed screws such as those used in terminal blocks. Guaranteed safe operation up to 1,000 volts, insulated screwdrivers are available in six-piece sets or individually starting at $7.50.
Additional standard screwdrivers include extra-long screwdrivers with 11.81-inch blades, ideal for those hard-to-reach screws. Designed with a laser tip for better grip, the extra long screwdrivers start at $6.50 each; a tamper-proof TX20 TORX screwdriver, ideal for safety switches, is available for $6.50.
Drive ratchet tools (starting at $61) are available in three sizes (1/4-inch, 3/8-inch, and ½-inch) and feature a swivel head that locks in five positions. Ratchets include an easy-to-grip free-turning sleeve for faster work when using the ratchet as a screwdriver. Also available is an extra heavy duty half-inch drive ratchet and hammer combination with a removable extension arm, rubber hammer face pad and durable cloth holster.
A wide selection of bit driver and sockets, in inch or metric sizes, is also available. Made of high quality chrome vanadium steel, sockets are available in six-piece up to 43-pice sets starting at $14. Click here to see the full selection of Wera ratchet tools.
All Wera tools are backed by a lifetime warranty. See the full line of Wera hand tools.
We continue to add to our library of Kickstart videos. Some of the latest videos include safety glasses, RUKO tools, pneumatic cylinders, temperature transmitters, and more. The short two-minute videos provide an up-close look at new products as well as product descriptions, features and tips.
We have also added more tutorial videos. Our newest Productivity3000 tutorials cover topics such as “How To Setup and Use the HSO Module with a Stepper Motor” and “How To Use the HSI Module with Encoders for Registration".
Subscribe to our YouTube channel or check them out on learn.automationdirect.com.
Doug’s latest continuing education course focused on PLCs is a “true” online curriculum offering continuing education credits. With over 70 online-study videos, each lasts an average of six minutes; the course includes quizzes, progress testing plus a final comprehensive exam. You will interact with the instructor by creating and uploading ladder programs to be evaluated and approved to ensure mastery in each section.
The Basic DirectLogic PLC Course topics include: sensors, inputs, outputs, programming instructions and more. PLC hardware is not a requirement for the course. However, to get hands-on experience, once enrolled, you will be offered a discount of $20 and free shipping on a DirectLogic PLC hardware trainer. Each student is allowed 120 days to complete the course of study. Upon satisfactory completion, you will receive three hours of continuing education credits plus the ability to print out a Certificate of Completion on your printer. This course is offered for a "limited time" for $195.00.
For more information and to register for this course, go to Doug Bell’s site.
Did you know that when you purchase either a new Do-more CPU or a Do-more startup kit you also get an enrollment key coupon for 30 day free access to online training videos from Doug Bell? Do-more’s new technology allows you to do more with your PLC to get the control you need for today’s most complicated machine control. More than 110+ pre-recorded videos (averaging six minutes each) are available.
For more information about Do-more, go here.
Jeff Foster is an electrician at Silver Creek Bottling in Streamwood, Illinois. One of the company’s cardboard tray making machines was in need of either replacement or an upgrade. Each machine produces thousands of trays daily; each tray accommodates a 24-pack of flavored bottled water. After receiving a quote from the original OEM, he considered retro-fitting the machine with a PLC to control the process with less than 10 functions.
Having no PLC programming experience, Jeff searched AutomationDirect’s technical forum and watched tutorial videos from the learn.automationdirect.com site and determined the CLICK C0-01AR-D PLC was ideal for the job. He says, “The Learn videos and forum provided a wealth of information. The software was easy to learn; after I grasped the basics, with lots of help from people on the forum and the free tutorial videos, I was off and running.”
The CLICK PLC, equipped with the C0-08NA input and C0-08TR output cards, is used with various sensors to control pneumatic valves in a four-stage process:
1. A cardboard tray blank is pulled from a stack using suction cups mounted to an air cylinder and is pushed forward to a gluing station.
2. Once a sensor detects the tray blank is present, it deposits a small amount of glue in four corners of the tray blank.
3. Next, the tray is pushed into the forming area. After a time delay, a forming ram pushes down on the tray blank to fold the ends,
completing the tray shape.
4. Finally, a timer activates two cylinders which push out small pads that press the now glued and formed tray to the form, thereby setting
the glue.
The cylinders retract, the forming ram raises, and the process repeats until a backup sensor installed on the conveyor stops the process or the stop button is pressed.
Jeff states, “With all the detailed information provided on the Web site and the very helpful people on the forum, I figure that in another year or two I will be able to do any project that comes my way with confidence.”
With the completion of this project, Foster is planning to upgrade another machine. Using the CLICK PLC for both projects will save Silver Creek Bottling several thousands of dollars. He adds, “I have gained so much confidence with completing the first machine upgrade that I have plans for a motion control upgrade to a bottle labeling machine and other packaging machines to follow … and AutomationDirect products will be used.”
Want to share your application story? Send it to us. It just might become a feature article in an upcoming enewsletter or in our Automation NOTEBOOK magazine.
You can check out our complete list of application stories here.
We’ve all seen it. People decorate for Christmas earlier and earlier each year. Some seem to take forever to pack their decorations away for the year. Still others decide to trash the old light strings and purchase new ones each year. But why throw away perfectly working lights? The mom of one of our team members came up with a unique way to recycle them…
Missy is a 16-year-old Shih Tzu. Because of her age, she has become blind and her hearing is beginning to fail. When her owner, Jean, opens the door to let Missy outside, the dog typically follows the edge of the sidewalk to the yard, circles the area and then makes her way back to the porch.
Because of her poor eyesight, Missy sometimes becomes lost, which means mom has to go outside looking for her. Now, Missy is solid black, making her difficult to find at times. Not anymore!
Jean decided to convert a dog harness into a mobile lightshow by duct taping a string of battery operated multi-colored Christmas lights to it. Now, when Jean adorns the blind Shih Tzu with the harness and hits the switch, Missy looks like a roaming Christmas tree. Now, if she becomes lost, she is quite easy to locate.
We always welcome your comments or suggestions concerning this newsletter. If you have any topics for future newsletters, please let us know.
Comments or suggestions for topics in future newsletters can be directed to newsletter@automationdirect.com
AutomationDirect is located at 3505 Hutchinson Rd., Cumming, GA 30040 (about 45 minutes north of Atlanta, GA)
