MCHE 514:

Programmable Logic Controllers

Chapter 1. PLCs Introduction

Instructor: Mohamad Darwiche, PhD.

What is Industrial Automation?

Mohamad Darwiche, PhD. MCHE 514 - Programmable Logic Controllers 2

What is Industrial Automation?

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Why Industrial Automation?
(Advantages of Automation System)
1. Increase Productivity
2. Improve Product Quality
3. Reduce Routine Checks
4. Raise the Level of Safety

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Hierarchy of an Industrial Automation System
Field Level Control Level
Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs)
are most widely used robust industrial
controllers which are capable of delivering
automatic control functions based on input
from sensors. It consists of various modules
like CPU, analog I/O, digital I/O and
communication modules. It allows the
operator to program a control function or
strategy to perform certain automatic
operation on process.

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Types of Industrial Automation Systems

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Types of Industrial Automation Systems
1. Fixed or Hard Automation
• fixed and repetitive operations to achieve high production
rates.
• Automate fixed sequence assembling or processing operations.
• Increases the efficiency with higher production rate and
reduces unit cost.
• Hard to change or vary the product design.

2. Programmable Automation
• Product changes and also assembling or processing operations
can be changed with the modification of control program in
the automated equipment.
Examples of this automation system are numerically controlled
machines, paper mills, steel rolling mills, industrial robots, etc.

3. Flexible or Soft Automation

• Automatic control equipment that offers a great flexibility for
making changes in the product design. These changes can be
performed quickly through the commands given in the form of
codes by the human operators.
This automation allows the manufacturers to produce multiple
products with different ranges as a combined combination process
rather than separate.

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Course by Chapters

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MCHE 514:
Programmable Logic Controllers
Chapter 1. PLCs Introduction
Lecture 2

Instructor: Mohamad Darwiche, PhD.

1. Controllers
A. What type of task might a control system handle?
1. Sequence of events,
2. Maintain some variable constant, or follow some prescribed change.

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1. Controllers
Example 1: A control system for an automatic drilling machine
 It can follows a sequence of events:
1. Start lowering the drill when the workpiece is in position,
2. Start drilling when the drill reaches the workpiece,
3. Stop drilling when the drill has produced the required depth of hole,
4. Retract the drill, and then switch off
5. Wait for the next workpiece to be put in position before repeating the
operation.

Figure 1.1 (a)

an automatic drilling
machine

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1. Controllers
Example 2: packing system + conveyor (Figure 1.1b)
 Maintain some variable constant, or follow some prescribed change.
1. It might be used to control the number of items moving along a
conveyor belt and direct them into a packing case.
2. The inputs to such control systems might come from switches
being closed or opened;

 Example, the presence of the workpiece

might be indicated by it moving against a
switch and closing it, or other sensors
such as those used for temperature or
flow rates.
 The controller might be required to run a
motor to move an object to some
position or to turn a valve, or perhaps a
heater, on or off.
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1.1 (b) a packing system
1. Controllers
B. What form might a controller have?
 For the automatic drilling machine (figure 1.1 (a)),
Wiring electrical circuits in which the closing or opening of switches would
result in motors being switched on or valves being actuated.
 A relay can be used (Figure 1.2) to switch on and off the current to
a motor and causes the drill to rotate (Figure 1.3).

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1.1 Relay-Controlled Systems
 Relay-controlled systems are hard-wired systems.
 When a current is switched on to flow through the relay coil, normally-
closed (NC) contacts open and normally-open (NO) contacts close.
 It can be used to operate an electric motor, and a pneumatic or hydraulic
valve.

 We can represent the situation by a control drawing.

 Figure 1.4 shows the standard symbols used for relays

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1.1 Relay-Controlled Systems
 The situation can represented by a control drawing.
 Figure 1.5 shows the control drawing with the vertical lines representing the
power rails and the horizontal lines to systems connected between them.

 The sequence of events is read from the top horizontal line downwards. Thus,
in the top line of Figure 1.5(a), when the Off–On switch is closed, the relay is
activated. This closes the contacts on the second line and so the solenoid
valve is switched on.
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1.1 Relay-Controlled Systems
 A more usual control drawing is shown in Figure 1.5(b)
• It has the relay switched on by a momentary NO push-button (start) switch.
• This closes two sets of contacts (relay contact 1&2).
• Contacts 1 latch the push button switch so that when the push stops there is
still connection of power to the relay.
• Contacts 2 switch on the solenoid valve.
• The relay, and hence power to the solenoid valve, is switched off when the
normally closed push-button switch is pressed.

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1.1 Relay-Controlled Systems
 Example: Relay circuit to control red and green lights
 When the start push button is closed,
 The relay coil is switched on and latches the push button switch so that the relay
remains on until the stop push button is pressed.
 The relay closes the NO contacts and opens the NC contacts.
 The green light is switched on and the red light switches off.
 When the stop push button is pressed, the current to the relay coil is switched off. This
results in the NO contacts opening and the NC contacts closing and so the green light
going off and the red light comes on.

The next stage in the relay circuit

might be a motor that is switched
on by NO contacts, so the green
light indicates when the motor is
running and the red light when it
is off.

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1.2 Microprocessor-Controlled Systems
It is difficult to hardwire each control circuit for each control situation

• Use a microprocessor-based system

• Write a program to instruct the microprocessor how to react to
each input signal from, say, switches and give the required outputs
to, say, motors and valves. Thus we might have a program of the
form:

Example: modern domestic washing machine uses a microprocessor system. Inputs to it

arise from the dials used to select the required wash cycle, a switch to determine that the
machine door is closed, a temperature sensor to determine the temperature of the water,
and a switch to detect the level of the water.
On the basis of these inputs the microprocessor is programmed to give outputs that
switch on the drum motor and control its speed, open or close cold and hot water valves,
switch on the drain pump, control the water heater, and control the door lock so that the
machine cannot be opened until the washing cycle is completed. 18
1.3 The Programmable Logic Controller
Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) Special Form of Microprocessors
• Uses programmable memory to store instructions
• Implement functions in order to control machines and processes such as:
1. Logic,
2. Sequencing,
3. Timing,
4. Counting,
5. Arithmetic.
• It is designed to be operated by engineers with perhaps a limited knowledge of
computers and computing languages.
• Designers of the PLC have preprogrammed it so that the control program can
be entered using a simple, rather intuitive form of language.
• The term logic is used because programming is primarily concerned with
implementing logic and switching operations
Example: If A or B occurs, switch on C;
If A and B occurs, switch on D.
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1.3 The Programmable Logic Controller
PLCs advantages:
• Can easily implement changes, as changes are implemented in software
rather than more complex hardware modifications that would be the case
with a relay system,
• Can be readily expanded by adding new modules to the PLC whereas
hardware changes are necessary with relay systems,
• Are more robust and reliable than relay systems with their large number of
mechanical components,
• Are more compact than relay systems,
• Require less maintenance than relay systems,
• Can operate faster than relay systems.

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2. Hardware
Typically a PLC system has the basic functional components of processor unit,
memory, power supply unit, input/output interface section, communications
interface, and the programming device. Figure 1.8 shows the basic
arrangement.

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3. PLC Architecture
A PLC typically consists of a central processing unit (CPU) containing the
system microprocessor, memory, and input/output circuitry. It can effectively
be considered to be a unit containing vast numbers of separate relays,
counters, timers and data storage units. These, however, do not exist
physically in the PLC but are software simulated.

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3.1. Input / Output Unit
The input/output channels provide isolation and signal conditioning functions
so that sensors and actuators can often be directly connected to them
without the need for other circuitry. Electrical isolation from the external
world is usually by means of optoisolators (the term optocoupler is also
often used)..

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3.1. Input / Output Unit
Figure 1.12 shows the principle of an optoisolator. When a digital pulse
passes through the light-emitting diode, a pulse of infrared radiation is
produced. This pulse is detected by the phototransistor and gives rise to a
voltage in that circuit. The gap between the light-emitting diode and the
phototransistor gives electrical isolation, but the arrangement still allows for
a digital pulse in one circuit to give rise to a digital pulse in another circuit.

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3.1. Input / Output Unit
The output channels enable the PLC outputs to be available in a form suitable for
direct connections to external circuits. Outputs are specified as being of relay type,
transistor type, or triac type (more details will be available in Chapter 3):

1. relay type
• The signal from the PLC output is used to operate a relay and is able to switch
currents of the order of a few amperes in an external circuit.
• The relay not only allows small currents to switch much larger currents but
also isolates the PLC from the external circuit.
• Relays are, however, relatively slow to operate.
• Relay outputs are suitable for AC and DC switching.
• They can withstand high surge currents and voltage transients.

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3.1. Input / Output Unit
The output channels enable the PLC outputs to be available in a form suitable for
direct connections to external circuits. Outputs are specified as being of relay type,
transistor type, or triac type (more details will be available in Chapter 3):

2. Transistor type
• The output uses a transistor to switch current through the external circuit.
• This gives a considerably faster switching action.
• It is, however, strictly for DC switching and is destroyed by overcurrent and
high reverse voltage.
• For protection, either a fuse or built-in electronic protection is used.
Optoisolators are used to provide isolation.

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3.1. Input / Output Unit
The output channels enable the PLC outputs to be available in a form suitable for
direct connections to external circuits. Outputs are specified as being of relay type,
transistor type, or triac type (more details will be available in Chapter 3):

3. Triac type
• Triac outputs, with optoisolators for isolation, can be used to control external
loads that are connected to the AC power supply.
• It is strictly for AC operation and is very easily destroyed by overcurrent. Fuses
are virtually always included to protect such outputs.

Thus, after signal conditioning with relays, transistors, or triacs, the output from the
output channel might be:
• a 24V, 100 mA switching signal; a DC voltage of 110V, 1A, or perhaps
• 240V; 1A AC or 240V, 2A AC, from a triac output channel.
• With a small PLC, all the outputs might be of one type, such as 240V AC, 1A.
With modular PLCs, however, a range of outputs can be accommodated by
selection of the modules to be used.
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3.2 Sourcing and Sinking
The terms sourcing and sinking are used to describe the way in which DC devices are
connected to a PLC:

Sourcing:
• An input device receives current from the
input module (Figure 1.13a).
• The current flows from the output module
to an output load (Figure 1.14a).

Sinking:
• An input device supplies current to the
input module (Figure 1.13b).
• The current flows to the output module
from an output load (Figure 1.14b).

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4. PLC Systems
There are two common types of mechanical design for PLC systems—a single box and
the modular/rack types.
The single-box type (or, as it’s sometimes called, compact or brick) is commonly
used for small programmable controllers and is supplied as an integral compact
package complete with power supply, processor, memory, and input/output units.
Typically such a PLC might have 6, 8, 12, or 24 inputs and 4, 8, or 16 outputs and a
memory that can store some 300 to 1000 instructions(Figure 1.15).

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4. PLC Systems
There are two common types of mechanical design for PLC systems—a single box and
the modular/rack types.
Systems with larger numbers of inputs and outputs are likely to be modular and
designed to fit in racks (Figure 1.16).
An example of such a modular system is provided by the Allen-Bradley PLC-5 PLC of
Rockwell Automation which, at a minimum, will consist of the power supply, a
programmable controller module and Input/Output (generally abbreviated to I/O)
modules.

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