Industrial Automation, PLC, VFD, and Troubleshooting
In PLC troubleshooting, one of the most powerful and dangerous tools is forcing.
A PLC force allows a technician or programmer to manually override the normal state of an input or …
Read MoreIn PLC programming, not every instruction directly turns on a motor, counts a box, or starts a timer.
Some instructions are used to control how the PLC program executes.
These are called …
Read MoreIn the previous post, we covered standard PLC counters such as:
CTU = Count Up
CTD = Count Down
CTUD = Count Up / Count Down
Those counters work well for many basic counting …
Read MoreIn industrial automation, PLC counters are used when a machine needs to count events.
A counter can count:
Parts
Boxes
Bottles
Cycles
Machine strokes
Rejects
Pallets
Sensor pulses
Production totals
A counter does not count time.A counter counts how many times …
Read MoreIn the previous post, we covered the basic PLC timer instructions:
TON = Timer On Delay
TOF = Timer Off Delay
RTO = Retentive Timer On
Now we are going one step deeper.
In real …
Read MoreTimers are one of the most common instructions used in PLC programming.
A timer allows the PLC to use time as part of the control logic.
In simple words:
A PLC timer waits …
Read MoreAn interlock is a condition used to prevent two incompatible or unsafe actions from happening at the same time.
In simple words:
An interlock blocks an action when another condition makes that …
Read MoreIntroduction
Every industrial automation system is built on four fundamental electrical concepts:
Voltage
Current
Resistance
Power
These four concepts explain why a sensor works, why a relay energizes, why a motor turns, and why electrical components …
Read MoreSeal-In Circuits Explained
A seal-in circuit is one of the most important basic patterns in PLC ladder logic and relay logic.
It is commonly used when an operator presses a momentary Start …
Read MoreIndustrial automation depends completely on electricity.
A PLC cannot read a sensor without electrical power. A VFD cannot control a motor without a three-phase supply. A solenoid valve cannot move without …
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