P1AM Industrial Arduino GPIO Inputs and Outputs

The P1AM-GPIO is an industrial rated shield for the P1AM-100 Arduino system. It provides a connection from most of the P1AM-100 GPIO pins to the front 18 position terminal block connector. We will be looking at the wiring and programming of this input and output industrial rated shield that mounts on the left side of … Read more

Click PLC to Stride Modbus TCP Remote IO

We will now look at the Click PLC Modbus TCP remote io. The Click PLC can use remote inputs and outputs from Stride. The Stride Field I/O Modules are simple and compact. They provide an economical means to connect inputs and outputs to an Ethernet Modbus TCP communication network. Every module operates as a standalone … Read more

Wiring 3 Wire DC NPN and PNP Sensors

Wiring 3 wire DC sensors can be confusing. I recently received a question on PNP and NPN sensors. They wanted an explanation of what a sink is and how to wire one. Confusion over the Normally Open and Normally Closed function of the sensor is also a common question. Several diagrams will show a resistor … Read more

Universal Signal Conditioner and Isolator

Signal conditioners are used with analog current and voltage signals. They have the ability to change your input analog signal to another output analog signal. As an example, we can have 4-20mA analog input and change it to a 0-10VDC output signal so we can wire this into our PLC. Typically signal conditioners will also … Read more

Wiring an Ultrasonic Proximity Sensor

An ultrasonic sensor (switch) is able to detect object presence without physical contact (limit switch). No physical contact means that the switch has no parts that will wear out. The life span of the sensor is increased with less maintenance. An ultrasonic sensor will use sound waves to detect objects. These sound waves are at … Read more

Wiring an NPN PNP Sensor to the Click PLC

A proximity sensor (switch) is able to detect object presence without physical contact like a limit switch. No physical contact means that the switch has no parts that will wear out. The life span of the sensor is increased with less maintenance. A capacitive proximity sensor will detect ferrous and non-ferrous objects. The sensor works … Read more