Industrial Technical
Programmable Logic Controllers and Industrial Controls Fundamentals
Develop PLC architecture, I/O, ladder logic, sequences, analog, HMI, documentation, troubleshooting, and change-control skills in a protected virtual lab.
Who this is for
Intended audience
Maintenance, instrumentation, controls, and automation personnel building foundational PLC competence in an isolated environment.
Relevant industries: Manufacturing, Automation, Petrochemical
Learning outcomes
What learners will work toward
- Explain the purpose and architecture of PLC-based industrial-control systems.
- Recognize control power, input, output, field-device, processor, memory, communication and HMI components.
- Explain the PLC scan cycle and the relationship among physical I/O, input image, program execution and output image.
- Distinguish discrete and analog signals and common sourcing/sinking concepts at a safe awareness level.
- Interpret relay schematics, ladder diagrams, tags, addresses and I/O documentation.
- Develop and test start/stop, seal-in, interlock, permissive, latch, timer and counter logic.
- Design simple sequences with clear normal, fault, reset and safe-stop states.
- Use comparison, arithmetic, move and basic data-handling functions.
- Explain analog scaling, range, resolution and alarm concepts.
- Create basic manual/automatic and local/remote operating modes without defeating safeguards.
- Recognize HMI objects, alarms, trends and operator-entry risks.
- Explain industrial communication concepts and the relationship between PLCs, HMIs, drives, remote I/O and networks.
- Create, document, back up, export and restore a controlled virtual project.
- Use systematic troubleshooting to distinguish field-device, I/O, logic, communication, power and processor faults.
- Explain the hazards of forces, overrides, bypasses, online edits and uncontrolled downloads.
- Apply change authorization, testing, rollback and documentation principles.
- Complete an original virtual-lab capstone and fault-diagnosis assessment.
Course outline
17 modules
Orientation, Safety, and Credential Boundary
Establish the separation between a virtual learning credential and permission to work on real machines. Review energy control, electrical-safety, machine-guarding, process-safety and cybersecurity boundaries. Explain that safety functions, interlocks and production changes require employer authorization and often specialized functional-safety competence beyond this course.
Industrial-Control System Overview
Introduce sensors, switches, transmitters, actuators, relays, contactors, drives, PLCs, remote I/O, HMIs, supervisory systems and industrial networks. Distinguish basic process, machine and motion-control examples. Explain open-loop and closed-loop control conceptually.
Control Power, Relays, Contactors, and Motor-Control Fundamentals
Teach control transformers/power supplies, fuses, breakers, emergency-stop awareness, relays, contactors, overloads, motor starters, pilot devices and solenoids using deenergized diagrams. Distinguish control logic from power circuits and emphasize that actual wiring/measurement is outside the online endpoint.
PLC Hardware and Processor Operation
Cover rack/chassis or modular architecture, processor, power supply, local/remote I/O, memory, real-time clock, communication ports, status indicators and common operating modes. Explain run, program, remote and fault states generically; exact terminology is vendor-specific.
Scan Cycle, I/O Image, Tags, and Addressing
Explain input update, logic execution, output update and background/communication tasks. Discuss scan time, asynchronous/vendor variations, retentive memory and first-scan concepts. Teach symbolic tags and legacy addressing without tying the course to one vendor.
Discrete I/O and Field-Device Interfaces
Cover dry contacts, solid-state sensors, PNP/NPN awareness, sourcing/sinking concepts, commons, isolation, relay/transistor/triac outputs, leakage current and load compatibility at a conceptual level. Teach normal state, fail state, diagnostics and simulated wiring without authorizing physical connections.
Relay Logic and Ladder-Diagram Fundamentals
Teach rails, rungs, examine-if-closed/open concepts, output instructions, logical continuity, branch logic, sequence of evaluation and the difference between physical device state and instruction truth. Use original symbols and neutral terminology compatible with IEC 61131-3 ladder diagram concepts.
Start/Stop, Seal-In, Permissives, Interlocks, and Safe Stop
Build three-wire start/stop, seal-in, jog, permissive and interlock logic. Explain fault reset, restart prevention and safe-state design at a foundational level. A standard PLC program is not a substitute for a safety-rated control system or risk assessment.
Latches, Timers, Counters, and Edge/One-Shot Functions
Cover set/reset or latch/unlatch, on-delay, off-delay, retentive timers, up/down counters, one-shots and edge detection using neutral functional descriptions. Teach reset behavior, power-cycle implications, overflow awareness and deterministic sequencing.
Sequences, State Models, and Program Organization
Teach step/state sequencing, transition conditions, initialization, hold, abort, fault and recovery. Compare simple ladder-state methods with function-block/state-machine concepts without requiring one vendor. Organize code into routines, programs or function blocks with naming, comments and interface definitions.
Analog I/O, Scaling, Comparisons, and Basic Data Handling
Introduce common current/voltage ranges, raw counts, engineering units, resolution, range checks, signal loss, noise, filtering awareness, comparison, arithmetic, move/copy and simple data structures. The course does not calibrate real instruments.
Operating Modes, HMI Fundamentals, Alarms, and Trends
Teach manual/automatic, local/remote and maintenance/test modes with explicit authority and safe transitions. Introduce HMI indications, commands, status, alarm acknowledgement, priorities, trends and setpoint-entry validation. An HMI button does not itself make an action safe or authorized.
Industrial Communications and Remote I/O Fundamentals
Introduce serial and Ethernet concepts, client/server or scanner/adapter relationships, remote I/O, PLC-HMI, drive and gateway connections. Include Modbus awareness and defer detailed protocol work to IMA-NET-701. Teach timeout, stale data, comm-loss states and safe fallback concepts.
Project Creation, Documentation, Backup, Restore, and Version Control
Create a project with hardware configuration, tags, routines, comments, I/O list, change record and test plan. Explain upload/download direction, offline/online comparison, backup/export, checksums and controlled restore. Never overwrite an unknown production controller without verified authorization and backup.
Systematic Troubleshooting
Start with the symptom, safety state and authorized scope. Verify power and status, inspect input and output evidence, trace logic, check modes/permissions, review communication health and compare to baseline. Avoid random changes. Injected faults include failed sensor, wrong tag, missing permissive, timer configuration, communication timeout, output module fault and processor mode.
Forces, Bypasses, Online Edits, Change Control, and Cybersecurity Boundary
Forces, overrides, bypasses and online edits can create latent hazards, defeat interlocks or leave equipment in an unexpected state. Teach authorization, affected-person communication, test planning, evidence, independent review, force/bypass inventory, removal verification, backup, rollback and post-change validation. Introduce least privilege and separation from production networks.
Virtual-Lab Capstone
The capstone controls a virtual pump-and-tank process or packaging cell. The learner creates the project, maps I/O, develops start/stop, permissive, interlock, timer, counter and sequence logic, adds manual/automatic modes and HMI/alarm functions, diagnoses injected faults, exports a backup, and submits I/O, test and change records. All safety-critical boundary items must pass.
Assessment and completion
Requirements stay explicit.
Assessment plan: 80-question protected staging QA assessment; 80% plus the critical-item rule. The 80-item draft seed bank must expand to 240 independently approved items before paid release.
Questions
Frequently asked
Is this an official OSHA or third-party certification?
No. IM Academi will identify the course provider and the exact completion outcome. It will not imply OSHA authorization, regulatory qualification, or another organization's certification unless the applicable authorization has been obtained and documented.
Does my employer still need to provide site-specific training?
Often, yes. Site hazards, procedures, equipment, emergency plans, supervision, and role authorization remain employer responsibilities. This page states course-specific boundaries but cannot replace an employer's hazard assessment.
What happens if a practical component is required?
The knowledge portion and practical evaluation are tracked separately. Final completion depends on the published course rules and a documented evaluation by an approved evaluator.
Need this course for a team?
Discuss assignments, delivery, practical coordination, and reporting needs.