Book Image

Industrial Automation from Scratch

By : Olushola Akande
Book Image

Industrial Automation from Scratch

By: Olushola Akande

Overview of this book

Industrial automation has become a popular solution for various industries looking to reduce manual labor inputs and costs by automating processes. This book helps you discover the abilities necessary for excelling in this field. The book starts with the basics of industrial automation before progressing to the application of switches, sensors, actuators, and motors, and a direct on-line (DOL) starter and its components, such as circuit breakers, contactors, and overload relay. Next, you'll explore VFDs, their parameter settings, and how they can be wired and programmed for induction motor control. As you advance, you'll learn the wiring and programming of major industrial automation tools – PLCs, HMIs, and SCADA. You’ll also get to grips with process control and measurements (temperature, pressure, level, and flow), along with analog signal processing with hands-on experience in connecting a 4–20 mA transmitter to a PLC. The concluding chapters will help you grasp various industrial network protocols such as FOUNDATION Fieldbus, Modbus, PROFIBUS, PROFINET, and HART, as well as emerging trends in manufacturing (Industry 4.0) and its empowering technologies (such as IoT, AI, and robotics). By the end of this book, you’ll have gained a practical understanding of industrial automation concepts for machine automation and control.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
1
Part 1: Learning the Concepts and Skills Required to Get Started
8
Part 2: Understanding PLC, HMI, and SCADA
14
Part 3: Process Control, Industrial Network, and Smart Factory

Exploring PLC types

Based on the hardware specifications, there are two basic types of PLC:

  • Compact
  • Modular

Let’s have a look at each of the types.

Compact PLC

In this, the CPU, input module, output module, and sometimes the power supply are integrated into a single module.

It has a fixed/limited number of I/O by default, but some are designed to support expansion modules, which can be added to increase the number of inputs and outputs. A compact PLC can also be referred to as a fixed or integrated PLC. S7-200 and S7-1200 are examples of compact PLCs by Siemens, while FX 1N, FX2N, and others are examples of compact PLCs from Mitsubishi. Other PLC manufacturers also have their compact PLC series/models.

The following figure shows a compact PLC from Siemens (S7-1200, CPU 1211C, AC/DC/Rly):

Figure 7.7 – Compact PLC from Siemens

Figure 7.7 – Compact PLC from Siemens

The credit for this figure goes to Showlight Technologies Ltd. (www.showlight.com.ng...