Wainbee's Practical Automation Technology course is a 4½-day overview of digital automation concepts, components, and controls. This hands-on course consists of about 25% lab time as students gain a working knowledge of automation practices. This course will focus on "digital" or "sequential" automation as opposed to "analogue" or "motion control." 75% of the automation used in industry today is sequential in nature.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

In this course participants will learn:

• be introduced to a broad range of automation components and be knowledgeable of their use and operation;
• use several methods of developing and communicating automation concepts and ideas;
• design, build, operate, and debug control circuits in pneumatic logic and relay or PLC ladder logic.

MAJOR TOPICS COVERED

• A generic presentation of the construction, uses, and control sensors, actuators, motors, and control hardware used in sequential automation.
• The use of Grafcet and Sequence charting in developing and communicating automation and logic concepts and designs.
• The use of logic in switching sequences, ladder diagrams, and pneumatic circuits.
• The use of ladder logic in the Windows® based PLC programming of a laboratory board using a PLC controlling a number of cylinders with a variety of common sensing techniques.
• Similar logic problems solved by designing and building pneumatic control solutions.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

Maintenance, designers, and any personnel involved with the development and/or maintenance of sequential automation machinery.

FEES & SCHEDULES

Classes are limited to 9 people per class. Tuition fee is Cdn $975.00 plus GST per attendee per course.

Special Offers: 10% discount applies to all regular course fees for companies registering for two or more courses at the same time. Prepaid packages of 5 courses are $4,000.00 and 10 courses are $7,000.00. (Packages exclude Wainbee's Electrohydraulic courses.)

For current year's schedule, please click here.

Please call our Training Assistant at 905-568-1700 ext. 2275 or send us an e-mail should you have further query.

COURSE OUTLINE

Day One

1. Introductions
2. Discussion of various automation concepts and terms and overview of the agenda.
3. Generic discussion of mechanical, electrical, and fluid power actuators.
4. Discussion of binary vs. analogue sensing.
5. Generic study of contact and non-contact sensors including photoelectrics, proximity, ultrasonic, limit switches, fluidic sensing, reed and hall effect switches and many more.

Day Two

1. Switching theories including logic gates and logic circuits.
2. An introduction to "Grafcet" and its use in communicating logic concepts.
3. Review of switching elements including electronic logic gates, relays, pneumatic valves, and a comparison of switching element applications.

Day Three

1. A practical explanation of ladder diagrams including the use of sequence charts, ladder symbols, ladder diagram design (cascade method) and multipath ladder systems.
2. Pneumatic control systems and circuit design.
3. The "cascade" method of circuit design.
4. Hands-on pneumatic lab stressing schematic development, circuit design, construction, and debugging.

Day Four

1. A review of the applications and operating parameters of encoders, timers, counters and various types of registers.
2. A discussion of semi-flexible automation using Drum Programmers and programmable counters.
3. A practical hands on review of the construction and programming requirements of PLC's.
4. A discussion of ladder diagrams and the changes necessary to become compatible to PLC use.
5. Hands-on PLC programming lab using a Windows® based program on classroom computers to program and download to a PLC simulation lab driving a variety of cylinders, valves, and sensors.

Day Five (class adjourns at noon)

1. An overview of feeding and orienting devices, their uses and limitations.
2. A study of parts transfer systems.
3. How parts design can make automation simpler and more practical.
4. An introduction to Robotics including manipulators and numerical control.