PLC Communications
There are several PLC communication protocols (languages/structures) and your PLC communications training should include at a minimum the basics of the most popular PLC communication methods. This phase of your training is very important too, as there is no doubt you will be troubleshooting PLC communications at some point in your career. They are commonly one of the most difficult to troubleshoot and therefore cause more downtime costs.
You need to know the basics of PLC communication software for the PLC brand you will be working with. Like in our recommended source below, there is PLC communication training for RSLinx which is the AB PLC brand of communication software. In the PLC basics foundation, you learned why it is important to set up RSLinx manually, how to set up and how to troubleshoot drivers. But there are other commonly used PLC communication types you need to learn the basics of. They are RS232, Ethernet/IP, Fieldbus/Modbus, Devicenet, and ControlNet. We recommend you seek out basic tutorials like the DeviceNet one we recommended below, and later can come back and study each in more detail. Whenever you are talking about PLC communications, industrial network security knowledge is essential too.
Overview
Industrial Network security
RS232
Fieldbus
Ethernet/IP
DeviceNet - ControlNet - Modbus
We have color-coded this entire site based on Occupational titles. This is to help you decide what PLC training is most needed based on your relative occupation.
Recommended PLC training path by occupation...
Mechanic
Industrial Electrician
Industrial Engineer
Commercial Electrician
Instrumentation Tech
Industrial IT
Maintenance Manager
Mechatronics Tech
Software Programmer
PLC Communications Training Resources:
- AB PLC & Cables Drivers
- DeviceNet Industrial Networking
- Foundation Fieldbus, Profibus PA, HART And ASi Course