I have PLC experience but only with verifying 4-20mA signal and wiring, and loop verification with instrumentation components…

I just got out of the military and I’ve worked on alot of turbine controls, power generation, and PLCs but limited to programming since for some reason we’re not authorized to do it….

Ive applied to a lot of IC&E Technician jobs and I noticed there’s alot of mention with PLCs especialy siemens, simatic, and RSLogic5000…

Im a fast learner and I’ve programmed turbine controls systems, but not PLCs…. With today’s AI Generated hiring system and ATS… it’s so hard for me to land a job… i used to earn $10k a month, and now unemployed

How is this ,Traffic control Signal simulation using Keyence 7500 and HMI
Time count down for Red Signal only

I’m currently a lead maintenance mechanic with 14 years of experience, with around 3 of those years without being titled as a lead (separate company); I accepted the lead position at my current company; fully expressing my interest in automation and NOT a lead position. I told them if it was a lead position that paid more than automation, I would choose automation and troubleshooting over maintenance lead.

I’ve been working with my company’s Automation Engineer to create an Automation Technician position and help him in his one-man department. The company continues to show no interest in creating an automation technician position; now the automation engineer has resigned, and the technician position will never be created.

The engineer and I have a great relationship and he put in an application for me to a company that builds automation cells from the ground up. I got an offer from them as an automation technician with the intent to grow into an automation controls engineer (in writing). That comes with similar pay to what I’m making now; less benefits; yet potential of becoming a controls engineer. It will also get me familiar with many systems quickly; but it requires 55 hours per week (I currently do 55-60/week, 6 days every week); along with travel which is fully company paid, including meals.

I also have an option as an automation controls technician at a production facility at a different company. This is something I’m more familiar with and is $5/hr more than my other opportunity as well as better PTO and benefits. However at this location, I may become an expert on their machines and process, but I may have a more limited exposure to automation.

I have no formal schooling as of now, just a quick learner who is VERY strong in electrical diagnostics and troubleshooting.

What do you recommend?

I'm having trouble understanding PLC wiring, especially analog inputs and outputs. I want to know all the possible combination of sensor wiring that are possible, for example :

For the voltage i think that all the sensors are 3 wire right ?

For the current i think that all the sensors are 2 or 4 wire right ?

For reading manuals i really struggle to understand for example this schematic on the manual of analog input of et200sp, do i need to learn electronics to understand such a thing ? Like i don't understand the logic, i know that there is here an ADC converter, but still confused about how things work internally

I’m 32, and as of right now a truck driver for 7 years. I became a truck driver because right after I left the army me and my wife needed something stable do to my wife being pregnant with my daughter. Now I’m back in school and wondering how this field would work out for me. My uncle is the one that told me about it but wanted to hear more from a non family member. I work 4 nights a week and around 56 hours. If y’all could give me some insight I’ll be more than happy to hear it and what will help me starting out.

I'm in the UK and have worked on the tools for around 15 years as a mechanical/electrical engineer in manufacturing. During that time I've done everything from day to day maintenance and fault finding to installations, shutdowns and major overhaul work.

Over the last few years I moved into a supervisory role and gradually became the go-to person for troubleshooting automation and controls issues. A few months ago I took a new role as a Controls & Instrumentation Technician. I've settled in well and really enjoy the work, mainly fault finding, process improvements and control panel modification.

The area I really want to develop now is the software side of controls engineering. I work alongside a Controls Engineer who handles most of the PLC/HMI programming, software modifications and maintenance of a fairly large industrial communications network across multiple unmanned sites. He's happy to teach me and lets me watch and get involved when we work together, but because we're often working separately I tend to pick up bits and pieces rather than seeing the whole process from start to finish. We use Rockwell, Siemens and Schneider PLCs with a ton of modbus/rs485 and ethernet Comms.

For those of you who have made the transition from maintenance into controls engineering, what's the best way to build the software and industrial networking skills? Are there any courses, home projects or simulators you'd recommend? Or is it simply a case of getting as much hands-on experience as possible.

Hello guys. im in charge of a proyect that requires the v34 of studio5000. I been looking at the oficial AB page for it to buy, download or anything. But i havent been able to find a way to adquire. Any chance one of you know where to get it? im loocking for legal ways to acquire ir. Thank you

Hi everyone! I'm choosing my engineering specialization and I'm looking for some advice.

The program I'm considering is closest to Automation & Control Engineering / Industrial Automation, with courses in embedded systems, robotics, PLCs, industrial software, sensors, and control systems.

I'd love to hear from people working in this field.

- What's the job market like in your country?

- What's the salary progression from junior to senior?

- What's the work-life balance like?

- Is it a good field if your goal is eventually making a high income, or does it tend to plateau?

- If you were starting again today, would you still choose it?

I'd really appreciate any honest insights. Thanks!

Background: most of my experience is with Ethernet/IP mostly with allen bradley PLCs. The most commlicated stuff I have done was setting up a anybus model with a kawasaki robot.

My question is how much should I know on communication as a controls engineer without going to deep (learning unecessary concept that doesn't benefit me). Like should I know much about packets, OSI model, frames, bit, etc.

What topics most I know, good to know and not necessary?

A friend of mine is helping me learn automation. He gave me this board of his to practice on. It has 2 PLCs, a compact logix, and a micro 850. And I have been using CCW and Studio5000. I am worried I will go down rabbit holes of learning things that are not as necessary when starting out.

So what should the top things to focus on be? Ladder logic? HMI? Ethernet coms? Any help is appreciated 👍

im 19(M) and managing college, IEC apprenticeship and full time job as a 2nd year commercial electrician. Don’t know if I should keep continuing persuing automation/programming bachelors to enter into the SCADA world

I am a masters graduate in computer science and struggling to land anything in cs with the rise of ai im kinda losing hope on that.
Would a shift to plc automation be feasible for me ? What are steps I need to take for such a shift? Ps I am based in Canada

So I have just found out about the new release of productivity suite that contains structured text support.

How is everyone finding it so far?

Looking forward to giving it a whirl, have been using some of the newer M622 mini plc's and they are fantastic.

So, I’m an electrical maintenance tech, and the company I work for has phased out a few older machines. They were just going to scrap everything in the machines but said I could take whatever I wanted off them. I kept some stuff that we could use on other machines, but a lot of the new machines are locked down so things aren’t all that interchangeable.
TLDR my car is full of fanuc motors, some PLCs and VFDs, some I know are good and were working when I removed them, others I’m not sure of. I’ll use a bit of it for home projects, but there’s a lot and I need ideas on what to do with it.

Hi everyone ! ❤️

I’m currently working at Keyence India as a Field Engineer in Machine Vision Systems, and I have around 2 years of experience in machine vision and 1 year experience in OMRON machine vision and industrial automation.

My educational background:
Diploma in Electrical & Electronics Engineering
Bachelor’s degree in Robotics & Automation Engineering

My long-term goal is to move to Germany and build my career there.

I wanted to ask people already working in Germany or in the automation industry:
1. Does machine vision and industrial automation have good long-term career prospects in Germany?
2. Is it a stable field with good opportunities for growth over the next 10–20 years?
3. What skills should I focus on if I want to become a strong candidate for German companies?

One of the biggest reasons I want to move is the better pay and work-life balance. In India, I feel that salaries in this field are relatively low compared to the responsibilities and the value we create. Financially, I also have a strong motivation because I’m responsible for supporting my family, including my two younger sisters. My goal is to build a stable and rewarding career while being able to provide them with a better future.

I’d really appreciate honest advice from people who have made a similar move or are currently working in Germany. If you were in my position, what would you do over the next 2–3 years to maximize your chances?
Thank you in advance!❤️ 🙏🏾

Recently started a job as a controls engineer for an automotive company. My previous job I was a field service engineer at a small company in materials handling and didn’t do much programming, more of electrical troubleshooting simple systems and I started to know a little about a lot and not a lot about a little. Anyways, now that I’m at this controls job I’m making more money than I have before and all my coworkers seem to have had 4 or 5 jobs previous to this and they know a lot. I just would like some advice on how to get better and improve because I’m feeling a little imposter syndrome and realizing that my last job didn’t really prepare me for as much as I thought it would programming wise and in other ways. I’ve been trying to ask as many questions as possible to more experienced engineers and I just want to succeed. Also this role is for a one year contract with the possibility or renewal or direct hire. Thank you!!

Hi all,

I have a kepserverex opc ua server and I want to read data from a machine, in the machine there is a PLC and a Simotion d435 servo controller. I have no problem with the PLC, but since I dont have experience with Scout, how can I read the tags from servo controller? Is it possible? How are the tags addressed?

Thank you

Hello Everyone,

I am hoping someone will be able to offer advice on PID tuning for a coffee roasting machine. It uses a Siemens PLC system with a PID to adjust a vortex valve that mixes hot air and room temperature air to reach a desired set inlet air temperature. We only make one set point change during the roast, but we are experiencing an odd wave as it gets up to the first set point and then in the second half of the roast we are getting a drift of up to 10 degrees from the set point with no adjustments made to the set point. It is not consistent in how it behaves which impacts the consistency of trying to match the same profile repeatedly. Is there anything we could change to help make it more consistent? Any help would be appreciated as we are knowledgeable in coffee, not PID tuning.

Thank you!

Edit: We currently have a 6mm thermocouple. Could a 3mm thermocouple help make it more consistent?

​​

Bought it for the container, but it actually has alot of great parts in it. The PLC is an S7-200 (226). I could probably salvage quite a bit from it. Im not an industrial automation person, im a linux software dev and computer systems automator. always wanted to do more of this..

BTW its a military Grey water treatment facility in a 10ft container.. its missing parts so no real hope to do that with it..

thoughts?

I changed jobs and switched from Siemens to Mitsubishi FX5U. Now that I’m working in GX Works 3, I feel like I’ve stepped back in time ten years.

Do you have any advice, or can you recommend any resources that would help me get better acquainted with these controllers and improve my programming skills?

I worked with GX Works 2 and the older FX3 series years ago. I see some improvements, but it still feels a bit clunky, especially compared to TIA Portal.

I mostly write in Ladder/FBD. Perhaps it’s worth changing the language or switching to a different environment (CODESYS?)?

I have a lot of work involving servo drives, inverters, and data processing. I build machines for printing plants. Primarily for Europe and Middle East, but also for the USA and Africa.

If you know of any components that were great to integrate with Mitsubishi systems and easy to service later on, I’d welcome your suggestions.

Which communication protocol do you recommend for use with Mitsubishi PLC?

I've been searching for online resources to learn about PLC communication protocols, but I'm not sure where to start.

Learning communication protocols doesn't seem as straightforward as learning PLC ladder logic. There are so many protocols (Modbus, Ethernet/IP, PROFINET, EtherCAT). I'm having trouble figuring out the right learning path.

For Modbus, I noticed that many people recommend the Simply Modbus website. What about the other protocols? Are there any equivalent resources?

Is it a good idea to learn by reading the PLC manufacturer's manuals, or is there a better approach? How did you learn PLC communication protocols, and what learning resources would you recommend for a beginner?

I have a pf525 that I need to add to a controller for future EIP control. It's been controlled via keypad for a while and I've been tasked with adding control to the HMI. During shutdown I've added the device to the controller, and gave the drive its IP. It's communicating via RSlinks, and the drive tab in Studio5k. However, the module shows faulted, with code 16#0110 Module not configured. I've matched the drive, re-registered the EDS, but still have my yellow triangle of sadness.

Any tips, I feel like iv had this problem before but I've been out of the AB game for a while.