Developing PLC-based Pneumatic Lab Activities for an Undergraduate Course on Fluid Power

Abstract

Engineering. His industrial experiences include software engineering, systems engineering and analysis, and production optimization for private, governmental, and nongovernmental organizations. His research interests include complex systems modeling and simulation and systems engineering, and their application in aerospace, emergency response, and healthcare.

Design and Development of Portable Pneumatic Trainers to Teach Basic PLC Wiring and Programming

“…Table 1 shows the course contents in pneumatics. The third row relates to the design and build of pneumatic circuits, for which the authors have already developed some lab activities [1,2]. Yet, the developed lab activities revolve around utilizing Automation Studio to design and simulate some circuitries and building them on the pneumatic trainers in the lab (Figure 1).…”

“…The lab section is in a separate day. It is the authors' goal to utilize two lab sections to implement the PLC-based lab activities, outlined in [1], so that students can continue what they have learned in design and build more challenging pneumatic circuits.…”

PLC Training in a First-year Electrical Engineering Program

“…PLC programming is a part of engineering technology programs at many universities, and are commonly taught by experienced industry people or implemented as a module in industrial control [4], fluid power [5], manufacturing automation [1], and Applied Process Control Engineering [6] courses. Many PLCs manufacturers/providers also offer examples and practice to be used in PLC curriculum [7].…”