I don't know much about PLCs at all. Does anyone know any book(s) useful for beginners like me? The PLC type I am working on is AB PLC 5E. My primary objective is to connect input/output sensors. Please help.
If you want basics, I would either talk with a local distributor in your area for help or talk with universities that do the classes for that. I know of two schools that are pretty good for this: Purdue and Texas A&M.
There are numerous aftermarket training companies who teach classes all the time on AB products. And of course AB does themselves.
As for going to a college class, why waste the money. I've taught PLC classes for PLC vendors for the last 8 years, and I can cover in a week of class what it takes a semester to go over at 3 hours a week. Add to that the fact that most universities are still trying use ancient hand-me-down donated hardware and DOS software, and what's the use?
This is absolutely true. We teach classes in out training lab as well, and one week in our class will blow away two years of college classes. However, you don't get any credits towards a degree. We'll give you a certificate for
CEUs, but now degree credit hours.
A Technician's Guide to Programmable Controllers by Richard Cox is pretty good too. http://www.nerdbooks.com for about $55. I agree about the training, a lot of colleges have older equipment (but many have really nice equipment too). Most of the short courses are expensive, but they usually have state of the art equipment, and instructors who still work in the field. I'd call the college or training center and ask what PLCs and software they use and then talk to the instructor and find out if they have any real PLC experience.
The big key to PLC training is practice and you can’t practice if you don’t have 'hands on' time. If you have access to a PLC to play around with when the class is over then the short vendor or boot camp classes can be great, take your information back home with you and practice.
If you don't have a PLC to play with once class is over then short courses are like drinking from a fire hose... lots of information in a very short period of time.
Here is where a longer college courses can be good (or bad depending on how you look at it) in that they go much slower, but hopefully you will get more time on the PLC.
I’ve taken and taught both kinds of classes, but it really boils down to whether you can get the hands on time or not.
You said that your primary goal was to connect input and output sensors and with that in mind, I would say you are probably better off with a couple of good books, some practice time, and a friend or two who can answer questions should you get stuck. (Or maybe just post your questions here at control.com)
Michael is dead on the money here about getting hands on time with equipment. We offer one of those "fire hose" week long courses, and if you are *NOT* going back to a plant where you will use it, then you will loose it. The old cliche is correct.
One thing we tell a lot of people who contact us looking "to start with PLCs" is go to eBay and get either a little MicroLogix or one of the cheap Fanucs that are there. Many of them will come complete with programming software sold as a "training package" for far cheaper than our week long course. Obviously we prefer the AB MicroLogix since we train on AB equipment, and a guy familiar with a MicroLogix is going to be a far better potential student for us one day for a SLC500 or ControlLogix class. But the Fanuc is a popular PLC and the ones I see on eBay are as cheap as the MicroLogix.
So you wind up with a little PLC in hand, and if you'll take the time to make a garage door opener or a hot water heater controller or a home alarm system you'll learn far more than you'll learn just reading a forum or a book. The forum should be your resource for when you get stuck, but your primary learning experience is your own work whether thats in a classroom or in your spare bedroom. It's like learning to play the piano/violin/guitar/saxophone/whatever; you can't read a book and learn to play the instrument. You have to put your hands on it and try it.
That differs from most of our customers in that when a plant sends a maintenance tech to us, he's going to go back Monday morning and probably start doing some of it in his real job. Sure he'll forget some of what he learned in the week of class, but once he gets in the plant what's going to get reinforced is the stuff that is an issue in his plant, which is exactly what he needs to be strong on, anyway.
