# I need ideas for my PLC trainer.



## dronai (Apr 11, 2011)

You need to practice programming: Here's one my employer gave me. Make a revolving shooting gallery, and every time you hit a light it goes out, but must stay out. 

You don't need to real objects to control. Just use your program, and simulate.


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## NC Plc (Mar 24, 2014)

dronai said:


> You need to practice programming: Here's one my employer gave me. Make a revolving shooting gallery, and every time you hit a light it goes out, but must stay out.
> 
> You don't need to real objects to control. Just use your program, and simulate.


I have a bit of practice programming using the trainers at school but when it comes to designing a PLC cabinet I am at a loss.

I have an AB simulator and I have access to directsoft, so I get to play around with two different programs for practice.

You are right though man, I do need practice. Designing and building this cabinet into a trainer is part of my employer's way of giving me PLC practice.


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## dronai (Apr 11, 2011)

All of our discrete inputs on the terminals, from the terminals to the I/O. Sky's the limit. Analog, I can't help you, but some of the others I'm sure can.


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## ScooterMcGavin (Jan 24, 2011)

I did something like this, although it ended up being larger than I originally planned. In my case I used one PLC as the "process" and one PLC as the trainer. The great thing about this is that you learn to program against a real process that fights back, instead of just turning some lights on and off. In my case it was a pump station that had moving valves with limit switches and the level in the tank would go up and down whenever the pumps or valves were in the appropriate state.

It doesn't sound like you have tons of resources, but at the very least I would add some relays that feedback to the PLC so that you can simulate "motor running" feedback instead of just some switches. I don't know if you have annunciators in your line of work, but programming a few annunciator points with flashing lights and a reset button is also a fun little adder that doesn't take much in the way of $$.

As far as the analogs, you could program an output to go up when a "pump is running" and go down when the drain valve is open or whatever and then feed it back in as an analog input to control tank level. With the HMI the whole process could be a virtual one that doesn't really require any IO, but I like to have the real world IO for people to work on because thats were the bulk of the trouble seems to take place.


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## just the cowboy (Sep 4, 2013)

*Motor starter*

I would add a motor starter with aux contacts to a input, and the motor contacts to a light to show it is on. A mechanical solenoid as a output, with a prox. switch looking at the actuator. For analog I would use a pot for the analog in and a LED for the analog out changing brightness.
The programming should start easy with basics, and relate it to something fun, like someone said a shooting gallery, or pinball, house automation or something that can be useful. I had a class do xmas lights for the outside, and some neat animations came out of it.


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## AK_sparky (Aug 13, 2013)

I did a school project a few years ago that simulated a sewage pumping station. 

Basically a bunch of float switches:
-Low level alarm
-Low level
-Pump level 1
-Pump level 2
-High level alarm

3 outputs:
-Alarm buzzer
-pump 1
-pump 2

Basic setup was a reservoir positioned above the "tank" container and slowly filling the tank. The pumps would pump the water back up to the reservoir. If the level got to the pump 2 float, both pumps would run. If level got beyond the high or low level alarm, the alarm buzzer would go off.

You can expand this quite a bit. Make the single pump alternate between the two pumps each time it turns on. Add an analog sensor to the tank and use it instead of the float switches. Require a float to be active for 15 seconds before starting/stopping a pump to avoid nuisance trips from waves/splashing.

Sounds like for this project you want to have pretty simple circuit/sensors/IO, but a complex process to really get your programming skills a workout, but keep the cost low.


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

just the cowboy said:


> I would add a motor starter with aux contacts to a input, and the motor contacts to a light to show it is on. A mechanical solenoid as a output, with a prox. switch looking at the actuator. For analog I would use a pot for the analog in and a LED for the analog out changing brightness. The programming should start easy with basics, and relate it to something fun, like someone said a shooting gallery, or pinball, house automation or something that can be useful. I had a class do xmas lights for the outside, and some neat animations came out of it.


The motor starter is a good idea. 
Add a Hand/Off/Auto switch and some safeties into the circuit with 2 proofs of run, 1 off the aux contact and the other a current sensor. 
Give people a feel for what they might find at an air handler.


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## John Valdes (May 17, 2007)

When I came up, we just learned on the job with operational equipment.
Vendors would bring simulators and when I was in the motor and drive business we purchased simulators to allow customers to use and to train our own guys.

Having a simulator in house allowed us to write the logic and test it before we took the program to the job site.


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## JRaef (Mar 23, 2009)

dronai said:


> You need to practice programming: Here's one my employer gave me. Make a revolving shooting gallery, and every time you hit a light it goes out, but must stay out.
> 
> You don't need to real objects to control. Just use your program, and simulate.


Ooooh, I like it. 

I once did a Digital "whack-a-mole" for a trade show using illuminated mushroom head PBs and a stack light. The lights in the PBs would light briefly, then you had to hit it before it went out. The more cumulative hits you got, the higher up the stack light you went, but at the same time the duration of the PB light flash would get shorter. Eventually if you got to the top one, it flashed like a slot machine and activated the sound module.

You could do that with just colored shapes on the touch screen, although screen lag might be problematic at some point.


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## NC Plc (Mar 24, 2014)

I'm really liking these ideas.

This cabinet is literally in house, it is sitting on a table in my apartment.


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