Hello everyone -

I have been programming PLC's for about 4-5 years now. All Allen Bradley. Mostly small Micrologix 1000 and a Micrologix 1500 here or there. I have learned by doing.

My question is this : Is there a book or a website that I can find that would take me to the next level? I often get frustrated with my own meager programming skills. I know that there is probably a better way to write a certain program (and probably faster too) but I just do not have the knowledge.

I work for a small company. There really aren't enough funds to send me to a school or anything like that. This is really for my own peace of mind. I must say that I have turned to this site many times to get ideas about how to do something. You are all a wonderful resource.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

Have you read Hugh Jack's PLC textbook? It's my favorite! He covers the basics plus goes into some of the more advanced topics of analog I/O & networking. He also has a lab book to go with it if you have a benchtop controller to play with.

http://www.eod.gvsu.edu/~jackh/books/plcs/

HTH!
Susan
20+ yrs of playing with PLCs and still learning

You have to kill the boss before you can get to the next level.

-sorry- couldn't resist

You have to realize that the PLC is just a tool. You should look at leaning new math skills, physics and possibly another programming language ( another tool ).

you can check samples in download section. there is lots to learn from them.

IMOP - I think you are experiencing the Small Company Syndome..Been there, done that...If you want some more action then get to a factory environment....Thats how I cut my teeth into PLC's...In my case I had the best of both worlds, electircal and electronics....I was involved in the maintenance dept and ran an electronic repair lab.

We were considered the "Prima-Donnas" of the maint group, and were the only ones allowed to trouble shoot PLC problems, and help the electrical dept when they got over there heads in troubleshooting...

Well, to make a long story short, go find a new job that will allow you to expand your knowledge!! there out there, read the employment board here!! and who knows, maybe you'll make more money as well!!!

I acually worked for less money but acquired more knowledge, so that was a trade off...In my case it worked!!

I am an EE working in an industrial engineering office (my company paid for all my tuition, and books to go back to school and learn, a good company wil do that) designing electrical and control systems and having fun at that....I felt the exact same way as you did but I did something about it..I quit...several jobs, until I found the right one!!!

my suggestion:

pick a project - one with some meat on its bones - and start by writing out the specifications - just as if you were going to build and program the whole thing from scratch to finish ...

then write a certain amount of code to "get started" (SOME code - but NOT all of it) ... post the code - and the specs on the forum ...

you'll get criticism - and you’ll get suggestions ... learn from both - and then keep refining things until that first step “looks loved” ... then move on to the next step ... repeat as needed ...

quick question: what would you expect to receive from an instructor if you paid a lot of money and went off to “Programming University” for a year or two? ...

quick answer: criticism and suggestions ...

my point: you’ll get everything you’ll need right here on the forum - for FREE and from the convenience of your own computer ... just get started - and then pay your dues (specifically: I’m talking about time and effort - not cash) ...

now then ... what comes next might sound like a “sales pitch” - but it is NOT ... keep in mind that I’ve already told you - point blank - to use the forum for FREE! ... so save your money ... but ...

click the link under my signature (below) to get to my website ... go to the “Complete Course List” and look at the very bottom ... pull up the course description for W5580 ... read that - especially the “Important” box note near the end ... then print out the PDF form (right sidebar) and use that for your initial checklist of “things to do” ... if you need more help than that, post a question on the forum ... I’ll help - or someone else will ...

reality check: this ain’t going to be easy ... I’ve suggested this same plan of attack several times before - on this and on other forums ... NO ONE so far has ever gone more than one or two steps along the path before falling by the wayside ... if you’re serious about this - get started ... make an honest effort and we’ll help you along ...

a good “before-the-first-step” idea would be to tell us what type of hardware and software you have available to work with ... we hope to hear from you soon ...

good luck - with all of your future endeavors ...

Thank you to everyone who replied.

Even though I work for a small company my job is very diverse. I do lots of different things from mechanical to electrical to programming to sales. I like it. I do understand where you are going with the branching out thing though.

I have downloaded the textbook and I am going to start looking at the downloads. Tht is how I have learned so far...looking at how somone else has done it and expanding from there.

I will come back to you with my next project. I am going to try to add some depth to my next program and that is where I will possibly need some help.

Thanks again for being there!

I have one warning though...

Be careful with the use of 'cute' techniques. Things like loop indexing, and remapping i/o. They will drive the next guy CRAZY. Or possibliy you, if it's been a while since you looked at the program.

Also, document, document, and yep you guessed it, document.

Comments are free in programing they do not effect scan time so use plenty of them. Also use them as a notepad while your learning a program.

Next: Save EVERYTHING you do. Since you will be really good at taking notes in your projects you can use your older ones to build from.

you're absolutely right... diff'rent programmer uses diff'rent techniques and some don't give you the soft copy of the plc.. if you upload the program, comments are missing..

you can download reference from AB website.. programming samples/demo are there also..
good luck and be safe..