PLCs learning

[mircea961]

I worked about 20 years with 20 kV distribution systems in Romania. There, PLCs as SCADA, DCS and other, are pretty new in power distribution. Now, I'm here in UK to learn on my own about PLCs, SCADA and DCS for electrical power distribution. I've just installed this kind of equipments.
I've seen there are a lot of PLC courses, on site, on-line, on CD-ROMs,training, free-downloads books, etc.
Question: Wich is the best way to get theese skills and a recognized certificate?

 

[pooslinger]

I get a lot of training from my equipment suppliers. Mcnaughten Macay is a big supplier in the States and I think they are in Europe now as well. They have quite extencive training programs. But of course it only on the equipment that the supply (AB, GE etc...)

 

[TheMcNasty]

Programming PLCs will be different from brand to brand. You pretty much get training on the job or from a PLC manufacturer. I would suggest you simply learn some Structured text and know the general idea behind ladder logic but don't waste too much effort on ladder as it is getting phased out.

SCADA packages normally involve programming in Visual Basic or Visual .NET. The .Net language of choice depends, most prefer C# but some guys stick with Basic. You can get the free Express editions of Visual .Net from the microsoft website, along with a free book in pdf form called something like "Start making applications in C# now!" that will get you started. You should also read about OPC but how/if it is used depends on the brand of PLC and the SCADA package.

Don't worry about DCS as the placement of controls is normally dictated by cost and redundancy. They all program the same whether there's 2 or 20 and whether they're in the same room or different towns.