Motor sequence with interlocks
Deliverable: A three-motor sequence programmed in ladder with start permissives, emergency stop and interlocks that prevent an unsafe combination, demonstrated on a panel.
Course
PLC and SCADA Automation
Industrial automation taught on real hardware — ladder logic, analogue I/O, HMI and SCADA — with the interlock and safety discipline that separates a working panel from a dangerous one.
- Duration: 4 months
- Classroom
- Level: intermediate
What you will be able to do
- Read a control narrative and turn it into working ladder logic
- Wire digital and analogue I/O correctly and scale a sensor input
- Build timers, counters and sequence control that behave predictably
- Design interlocks so an unsafe combination cannot be commanded
- Build an HMI screen an operator can actually use
- Commission a panel and fault-find it under time pressure
Who this course is for
- Electrical, electronics and instrumentation diploma holders and graduates
- Maintenance technicians and panel wiremen
- Plant and production engineers
- Basic understanding of electrical circuits is expected
Syllabus
7 modules · 4 months
Module 1. Industrial control fundamentals
- Relay logic and what the PLC replaced
- PLC architecture, scan cycle and I/O
- Sourcing, sinking and wiring digital inputs
- Panel layout, earthing and noise
Module 2. Ladder logic
- Contacts, coils and the scan
- Latching, set and reset
- Timers and counters
- Writing logic somebody else can read on site
Module 3. Analogue and process control
- Analogue input cards and 4-20mA loops
- Scaling raw counts to engineering units
- PID control and tuning by observation
- Alarms, deadbands and nuisance trips
Module 4. Sequence and interlocks
- Sequence control and state logic
- Interlocks, permissives and emergency stop
- Why an interlock belongs in hardware as well as software
- Failure modes and safe states
Module 5. HMI and SCADA
- Screen design for an operator, not for a demo
- Tags, alarms and event logging
- Trends, historians and data collection
- Communication — Modbus, Profinet and Ethernet/IP
Module 6. Drives and field devices
- VFD parameters and motor control
- Sensors, transmitters and their signals
- Calibration and loop checking
- Documentation for a commissioned panel
Module 7. Commissioning and fault-finding
- Point-to-point checks before power on
- Dry running a sequence safely
- Diagnosing from the ladder and from the panel
- Handover documentation
Tools and technologies you will use
- Siemens and Allen-Bradley PLCs
- TIA Portal and RSLogix
- HMI and SCADA software
- VFDs, sensors and control panels
- Multimeter and process calibrator
Projects you will build
Analogue loop with alarms
Deliverable: A 4-20mA transmitter scaled to engineering units with high and low alarms and a deadband, verified against a calibrator across the range.
Operator HMI
Deliverable: An HMI screen set with status, control, alarms and a trend, judged by another student operating the process without instruction.
Fault-finding exercise
Deliverable: A working panel with three planted faults — a wiring error, a scaling error and a logic error — all three found and documented within a time limit.
Where this course can take you
- Automation Engineer
- PLC Programmer
- Maintenance Engineer
- Instrumentation Engineer
- Commissioning Engineer
Duration, modes and fees
- Duration
- 4 months
- Delivery modes
- Classroom
- Fees
- Share your details for the current fee
- Fees vary by batch. Panel, PLC and instrument time is included. Classroom mode only — commissioning cannot be taught remotely.
Placement assistance
Every student gets placement assistance — that is what 100% placement assistance means. It is support for all, not a job for all. We do not promise a specific salary, a specific number of interviews, or placement at any named company, and you should be wary of anyone who does.
What is included
- A place in the monthly placement drive, held every third Saturday
- The readiness programme every second Saturday — mock interviews and preparation
- CV review against the specific roles you are targeting
- Portfolio review, so your project work is presented the way a reviewer will read it
- Access to the vacancy pool employers send directly to the Samyak network
- Guidance on which roles realistically fit your background and which do not
- A place in the next drive, with coaching, if you are not selected in this one
What is not included
- Any guarantee of a job, an interview, or a particular salary
- Placement at a named or partner company
- Applying to jobs on your behalf
- Support before you have completed the course and its project work
- Visa, relocation or overseas placement assistance
Safety is not a module you can skip to
The logic that starts a motor is easy. The logic that makes sure it cannot start while somebody has a guard open is the job.
Interlocks, permissives, emergency stops and safe failure states get a full module, and every project is checked against them. A sequence that runs beautifully and permits an unsafe combination is a failed project here, however elegant the ladder.
The interlock belongs in hardware as well
Software can be stopped, bypassed during commissioning, or edited by somebody under pressure at two in the morning.
A hardwired emergency stop that drops the contactor works when the PLC does not. This is the point in industrial automation where corner-cutting eventually injures somebody, and the course is blunt about it rather than polite.
Write ladder for the person after you
Your logic will be opened by a maintenance technician during a breakdown, at night, with production stopped.
Unlabelled tags, clever nested branches and undocumented rungs cost that person an hour they do not have. Readability is graded here, because in this field it is a safety property rather than a style preference.
Fault-finding is the employable skill
Anyone can follow a working panel. Being handed a stopped one and finding the cause methodically is what plants actually pay for.
The last project plants three different classes of fault — wiring, scaling and logic — and gives you a time limit. It is uncomfortable and it is the closest thing in the course to the real job.
Questions
PLC and SCADA Automation — frequently asked questions
Do I need an electrical background?
Yes, in practice. You are wiring panels and working with live equipment, and the analogue module assumes you understand current loops. Electrical, electronics and instrumentation diploma holders take this comfortably. It is not a course to enter from a purely software background without some electrical grounding.
Siemens or Allen-Bradley?
Both, because Indian plants run both and which one you meet depends on the employer. The logic concepts are identical and only the software differs, so learning two makes the third — Mitsubishi, Delta, Schneider — mostly a matter of finding the equivalent instruction.
Why does the course insist an interlock be in hardware too?
Because software can fail, be bypassed during commissioning, or be edited by somebody in a hurry. A hardwired emergency stop that drops the contactor works when the PLC is stopped. Safety that depends only on code is not safety, and this is a point where cutting corners eventually hurts somebody.
Is this course practical or theory?
Practical, and classroom-only for that reason. Every project runs on a real panel with real I/O. Fault-finding especially cannot be taught from slides — the skill is a procedure carried out under pressure with a meter in your hand, and it has to be practised.
Enquire about PLC and SCADA Automation
Three details is all we need. A course advisor will call you back.
Related courses
- Electrical AutoCAD
Electrical drafting for panels and installations — schematics, layouts, cable schedules and wire numbering — built so the person commissioning the panel can trace every circuit.
- Embedded Systems
Firmware written close to the metal — registers, interrupts, timers and buses — debugged on real hardware, because embedded bugs live where a simulator cannot show them.
- IoT (Internet of Things)
Connected hardware from sensor to dashboard — microcontrollers, wireless protocols, cloud ingestion and the power and reliability problems that decide whether a device survives deployment.
- Robotics
Robots built and tuned on a bench — drives, sensing, closed-loop control and ROS — because a machine that moves fails in ways no simulation shows you.
Next step
Talk to a course advisor
Tell us what you want to learn and we will help you pick the right course, batch and mode.