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Discussion on: I am an Industrial Automation engineer, Ask Me Anything!

 
bosepchuk profile image
Blaine Osepchuk

Very cool. Thanks for sharing.

Is there a book you'd recommend if I wanted to learn a little more about what you do?

Maybe not a super technical book but just an overview of the field so I know what's out there? Industrial automation for dummies? An introduction to industrial automation for business decision makers? Something like that?

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thefern profile image
Fernando B 🚀 • Edited

Yes, thanks for the interesting questions as well.

This book has been the golden standard for introductions to the automation world. Incredibly enough not much has changed since its first draft, and since Rev5 the book still pretty good and up to date.

Is a free book with gnu license.
pacontrol.com/download/plcbook5_0.pdf

Cheers!

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thefern profile image
Fernando B 🚀 • Edited

I've edited the article, but just so you know CodeSys IDE is free, if you want to poke around plc programming there are tons of tutorials on youtube, and you can simulate without hardware or you can even use a raspberry pi for an actual hardware project.

Though I have to say if you write in python, is probably not worth the hassle to use codesys unless you plan on interfacing with other things that are codesys compatible.

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andrumar10 profile image
Andrew Martin

Hey, thanks for sharing that book, it's a fantastic resource! I've been in the industrial automation field for about a year now, and I'm always on the hunt for new learning materials!

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thefern profile image
Fernando B 🚀

You're welcome. Which plc brands do you use?

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andrumar10 profile image
Andrew Martin

We've used Rockwell and in the past some Schneider Electric PLCs, though I hear rumors we have a European office that uses Siemens.