ACC Automation: PLC & Industrial Control Learning
Practical Tips and Techniques
This offers ways in which you can learn PLC programming.
ACC Automation is growing — and part of that growth is bringing in voices from outside my own experience. I want to introduce you to Chris Urban, an automation educator and PLC trainer based near Montreal, Quebec, who has been teaching technicians and engineers for over 30 years. Chris reached out after finding the ACC PLC Simulator, and … Read more
The ACC PLC Simulator is a free, browser-based ladder-logic editor and PLC scan engine. There is nothing to download or install. You open it in Chrome, Edge, or Firefox and start programming immediately. I built this simulator so that anyone learning PLC programming can get hands-on practice without needing hardware. It uses standard PLC register … Read more
This article was written by Chris Urban, an automation educator and PLC trainer with over 30 years of hands-on teaching experience. Find Chris on YouTube and LinkedIn. — CU It’s a fair question — and there’s no simple answer. Let me give you an honest one. How the PLC Was Born The person who invented the PLC had a … Read more
If you’ve ever wanted to practice PLC ladder logic without buying hardware, the ACC PLC Simulator is built for you. It’s free, it runs in your browser, and it uses standard PLC register conventions. No downloads. No license fees. Just open the page and start programming. In this tutorial, I’m going to walk you through … Read more
This article was written by Chris Urban, an automation educator and PLC trainer with over 30 years of hands-on teaching experience. Find Chris on YouTube and LinkedIn. — CU A question that comes up constantly from beginners: if PLC control logic runs on safe low-voltage DC, how do you actually switch a 120V, 220V, or 460V AC load like a … Read more
We will now look at the tag numbering systems used with the Productivity Mini PLC P1-M622-16DR. The Productivity Suite Software allows us to use tags in the PLC. Tags are a method for assigning and referencing memory locations (numbering systems) within the programmable logic controller. They allow a more structured programming approach and are stored … Read more
One of the most powerful features of the Productivity Suite software is the built-in PLC simulator. If you don’t have the physical P1-M622-16DR hardware yet—or you’re developing logic at your desk before heading to the plant floor—the simulator lets you program, modify, and test your ladder logic without a single piece of hardware connected. This … Read more
The Productivity Suite Software allows us to modify our existing program and execute the new code without stopping the PLC scan. This is referred to as online editing. We change the ladder logic code, and when we save it to the P1-M622-16DR PLC, the current PLC scan is held until the new code is written … Read more
We will now look at wiring and testing our first ladder logic program with the P1-M622-16DR Mini PLC. Having created our start-stop motor circuit and learned about the monitoring tools in the Productivity Suite Software, it’s time to connect real-world devices and see our program in action. We will wire a start pushbutton, a stop … Read more
We will now look at monitoring and testing our Productivity Mini PLC program. The Productivity Suite Software provides powerful tools for us to monitor and test our programs. Last time, we created our first program—a simple start-stop motor circuit—and transferred it to our connected P1-M622-16DR Mini PLC. We will monitor our ladder using the ladder … Read more