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Programmable Logic Controllers

Course Points
Certificate of Attendance
Course Duration
10 weeks
Course Places
10 Places
Course Start Date
Tuesday 3rd October 2023 at 7.00pm

Course Summary

This 10-week course is designed around industrial maintenance personnel, to help them diagnose and repair faults in Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) controlled production equipment.

Important notice about this course

COURSE CANCELLED


THIS COURSE WILL RUN AS AN MOSTLY ONLINE COURSE DURING AUTUMN SEMESTER BUT WITH ON-CAMPUS CLASSES RUNNING IN WEEK 4 AND WEEK 9 

This is a 20-hour module delivered over 10 weeks, designed to provide participants with an understanding of how sensors/ actuators are interfaced to PLCs and an opportunity to develop the skills required to write and debug PLC programs.


This is a very ‘hands-on’ course where participants will use industry-standard PLC programming packages to develop and debug PLC programs written in Ladder Diagram and Function Block Diagram languages. The programming examples used will be based on typical applications
found in industry. This course aims to provide the learner with a broad knowledge of automation systems, programming approaches, and industrial control applications.

General:
→ Outline of typical PLC hardware
→ Connecting sensors/ actuators to PLC digital inputs/ outputs
→ Configuring communications
→ Downloading programs to PLC
→ Using diagnostic tools to debug/troubleshoot


Programming Instructions:
→ Logic functions
→ Set/ reset
→ Timers
→ Counters

One class of two hours per week (Tuesdays, 7.00-9.00pm) for 10 weeks using Microsoft Teams.
Classes 4 and 9 will run on-campus in DKIT.

Participants should have basic computing skills and will typically have some mechanical/ electrical skills or have relevant industrial experience.

This course is designed for people in employment (or seeking employment) in the manufacturing or services sector who wish to understand PLC controlled systems and develop their skills to fault find on industrial production equipment.

The course is designed to give personnel the ability to diagnose industrial faults and to carry out repairs/replacement safely. The learner will typically have some mechanical or electrical skills or have relevant industrial experience. In essence, knowledge of PLC control is essential for anyone working with automated systems, whether in the production, the environmental or service sectors.

For specific Course Content enquiries please contact Nigel Clinton (Lecturer, School of Engineering, DkIT)
Phone: +353 42 9370200
Email: nigel.clinton@dkit.ie

For general Admissions queries please contact the Lifelong Learning Centre
Phone: 042-9370290
Email: parttime@dkit.ie

As the course is runing in online mode the following should be noted...

MINIMUM HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

Hard Disk: min 2 Gbyte
Ram: min 2 Gbyte
CPU: min 2 Ghz, x86 architecture 

MINIMUM SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

Operating system:

Windows 7 Professional SP1 (32-Bit/64-Bit)

Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (32-Bit/64-Bit)

Windows 8.1 Professional (32-Bit/64-Bit)

Windows 8.1 Enterprise (32-Bit/64-Bit)

Windows 10 Professional SP1 (32-Bit/64-Bit), as of Build 1511


Supported browsers
: Internet Exployer V.8 or later.

Course ID E01
Course Type Flexible & Professional
Study Mode Part-Time
Duration 10 weeks
Fees €295.00
Starting Date Tuesday 3rd October 2023 at 7.00pm
School School of Engineering
Department Electronic and Mechanical Engineering
Credits Certificate of Attendance
Awarding Body Dundalk Institute of Technology
Delivery Method Blended

Disclaimer: All module titles are subject to change and for indicative purposes only. All courses are delivered subject to demand and timetables are subject to change. Elective Module options will only run subject to student numbers. The relevant Department will determine the viability of each elective module option proceeding depending on the number of students who choose that option. Students will be offered alternative elective modules on their programme should their preferred elective option not be proceeding. Award Options for Common Entry Programmes: The relevant Department will determine the viability of each award option proceeding depending on the number of students who choose either option. If the numbers for one of the Award options exceed available places, students for this option will be selected based on Academic Merit (highest grades).