Online course | Industrial automation basics

Industrial automation basics
and electrical diagrams

Read and understand electrical diagrams
Know sensors, relays, contactors and drives
Understand how a control cabinet and a machine work

The foundation every automation engineer needs: sensors, actuators, relays, contactors, drives, control cabinets and how to read electrical diagrams, explained on real examples.

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Lifetime access, certificate of completion and instructor support on Discord. Price: €97.

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14-day money-back guarantee

Video lessons 80

Duration 7 hours

Level Beginner

Certificate Yes, after completion

Trusted by engineers from leading industrial companies

What you will learn in this industrial automation course

Read electrical diagrams for automation systems
Understand industrial automation and its key components
Get to know a control cabinet, from relays to circuit breakers
Work with electric motors and machine supply systems
Select enclosures for LV switchboards (IEC 61439)
Power PLCs and control circuits, with 24 VDC overcurrent protection
Learn machine design basics on a pallet wrapper (IEC 60204-1)

Why do engineers choose ControlByte courses?

Video lessons on our e-learning platform, available 24/7
Exercises based on ready project templates that you build step by step
Free simulators, so you do not need your own PLC to practice
Learn at your own pace, from any device, with lifetime access
Instructor support on Discord and feedback on your homework

Who is this industrial automation course for?

PLC Programmers
Automation Engineers
Electrical Engineers
Industrial Engineers

Maintenance Technicians
Control System Technicians
Instrumentation Technicians
This course welcomes beginners, making it an ideal starting point for aspiring PLC programmers to build confidence and skills in automation.

What you get after enrolling

80 practical video lessons (about 7 hours)
Automation Design Guide
Certificate of completion
Lifetime access and all future updates
Instructor support on Discord

Your instructor

Matthew Kurantowicz, MSc

Automation engineer · PLC programmer · Co-founder of ControlByte

“ In this course you will learn to work the way we do on real projects: step by step, with exercises you can repeat on your own, even if you are new to industrial automation.

Course modules and sample projects

Course project

Introduction to the project: pallet wrapper

Description of the industrial machine: pallet wrapper
Control cabinet presented on a 3D model
Automation devices you will use in the course
Project assumptions and list of drives

Course module

Selection of control cabinet protection

Connecting the machine to the power supply at the customer's premises
Selection of the disconnecting device
Protection of the switchboard power cable
Cable colors in automation

Course module

Basic elements in the control cabinet

Sockets and residual current devices
Temperature control in the cabinet: ventilator and heater
Circuit breakers and fuses
Disconnectors, switches and isolators: the differences

Course module

Electric drives

Induction motor: basic information
Motor start-up methods
Motor protection and contactors
Inverter and servo systems

Course module

Control circuits

Power supply for control circuits
Selection of a 24 V DC power supply
Connecting the PLC to the power supply
PLC in the electrical diagram

Course module

PLC inputs and outputs: connection

Digital input cards (sink, source)
Digital output cards (sink, source)
Transistor vs relay outputs
Protection of PLC outputs

Course module

Connecting input and output devices to the PLC

Buttons and switches
Sensors (PNP, NPN)
Analog sensors: 2-, 3- and 4-wire connection
Connecting the PLC and the inverter

Bonus module

Diagram drawing guide (PDF)

The most frequently used electrical symbols with explanations
Photos of equipment and how to read their terminals
Sensors, buttons, switches, disconnectors and fuses
Relays, contactors and the topology of the diagram

Bonus module

Functional safety in practice with Wieland Electric

Why safety technology: law and standards
How a machine becomes safe
Safety functions
What you need to know to modernize and service machines

Industrial automation course curriculum - full table of contents

1. Introduction 6 min · 1 lesson ▼

1.1. How to Use the Course? 4:51

2. How to get help? Join the Discord group for Automation Professionals and PLC Programmers! 6 min · 1 lesson ▼

2.1. How to get help? Join the Discord group for Automation Professionals and PLC Programmers! 2:00

3. Receive a PDF with the Automation Design Guide 24 min · 4 lessons ▼

3.1. Download electrical schematic in PDF file 0:43
3.2. Receive a PDF with the Automation Design Guide 0:55
3.3. Challenge: identify component symbol on the electrical schematic 1:19
3.4. Challenge: identify the device in the cabinet 2:25

4. Projects assumptions of a pallet wrapper machine Free lesson 12 min · 2 lessons ▼

4.1. Projects assumptions of a pallet wrapper machine Free lesson 4:54
4.2. How to read machine layout? 4:23

5. How To Read Electrical Wiring Diagram? Free lesson 36 min · 6 lessons ▼

5.1. Power Supply On Electrical Schematic 3:38
5.2. Non-Energiezed State Of Symbols 3:37
5.3. Wire Tags And Device Labels 1:13
5.4. Pages And Columns - How To Navigate Through a Diagram 2:46
5.5. 24 V DC Power Supply Free lesson 2:23
5.6. Challenge: Identify Symbol On The Part List 2:15

6. Standards and directives for machine design Free lesson 6 min · 1 lesson ▼

6.1. Standards and directives for machine design Free lesson 6:33

7. Electric motors Free lesson 1h 12min · 12 lessons ▼

7.1. Induction 3-phase motors - basic information 10:06
7.2. Induction 3-phase motors - current, speed, torque characteristics 8:04
7.3. Start-up methods - DOL, star/delta, soft-start, VFD 4:04
7.4. DOL (Direct-On-Line) startup characteristics 5:45
7.5. Contactors - selection criteria 5:39
7.6. Challenge: Selecting a Contactor for a 4 kW Blower 4:03
7.7. Motor circuit breakers - characteristics and coordination types 5:27
7.8. Challenge: Select a motor circuit breaker for the project 3:51
7.9. How to read nameplate for 3-phase induction motors - voltage and star/delta connection Free lesson 6:38
7.10. How to read nameplate for 3-phase motor - duty cycles (S1 - S10) 6:15
7.11. How to read nameplate for 3-phase motor - insulation classes (A-H) and temperature sensors 5:27
7.12. Motor nameplate - quiz

8. Machine supply system 18 min · 3 lessons ▼

8.1. Disconnecting device 1:37
8.2. Supply connection and areas of responsibility 3:41
8.3. Construction of isolating switch 4:05

9. Selection of enclosure and measurements in LV switchboards in accordance with PN-EN 61439 Free lesson 54 min · 9 lessons ▼

9.1. Selection of enclosures for control cabinet - catalog review 10:56
9.2. Measurements in LV control cabinets according to PN-EN 61439 7:56
9.3. Challenge: Enclosure selection 2:15
9.4. Cooling/heating systems in the control cabinet Free lesson 3:34
9.5. Climate control devices - theory 3:53
9.6. Climat control - calculations 2:53
9.7. Climate control - configurator 3:30
9.8. Challenge: select a fan and air conditioning 2:49
9.9. Solution - climate control challenge 3:10

10. Devices in the control cabinet 30 min · 5 lessons ▼

10.1. Power sockets + residual current circuit breakers 2:54
10.2. Documentation of socket and circuit breakers 3:46
10.3. Connection of socket and circuits breakers in control cabinet 1:30
10.4. MCB characteristics B, C, D 4:45
10.5. Residual current device selection 3:10

11. Power supply for control circuits Free lesson 24 min · 4 lessons ▼

11.1. Power supply for control circuits according to IEC 60204-1 6:58
11.2. 24V DC power supply - schematics and 3D model analysis 6:56
11.3. PLC power supply according to Siemens documentation Free lesson 9:33
11.4. 24 VDC Switch-mode power supply for control circuits - schematics and documentation analysis 18:02

12. Description of overcurrent protection for 24VDC circuits 18 min · 3 lessons ▼

12.1. Fuses - characteristics 13:27
12.2. Circuit breakers for DC circuits 4:17
12.3. Electronic protection - characteristics 7:02

13. PLC controller in the electrical diagram 12 min · 2 lessons ▼

13.1. Connecting power to the PLC 11:14
13.2. Presentation of PLC I/O channels in the diagram 4:00

14. PLC digital inputs 36 min · 6 lessons ▼

14.1. Construction of digital input circuits 9:10
14.2. Buttons in the diagram and connection in the 3D model (Part 1/2) 8:39
14.3. Buttons in the diagram and connection in the 3D model (Part 2/2) 7:45
14.4. Connection of Digital Input Modules: Sensors in the Diagram and 3D Model (Part 1/2) 8:40
14.5. Connection of Digital Input Modules: Sensors in the Diagram and 3D Model (Part 2/2) 7:40
14.6. Connection of Sensor and Sensor Multilevel Terminal Blocks 14:54

15. PLC digital outputs 12 min · 2 lessons ▼

15.1. PLC outputs - transistor vs relay outputs 6:02
15.2. Electrical scheamtics analysis with PLC digital outputs 5:45

16. Configure PLC System for your project - TIA Selection Tool (homework) 6 min · 1 lesson ▼

16.1. Configure PLC System for your project - TIA Selection Tool (homework) 15:42

17. Analog I/O 1h 6min · 11 lessons ▼

17.1. Analog Signals - Introduction and ADC, DAC converters 8:13
17.2. Analog signals resolution calculations (how to scale analog values in TIA Portal) 9:50
17.3. Analog signals introduction 7:14
17.4. 3-wire connection of a 0-10V analog sensor 7:17
17.5. 4-wire connection of a 0-10V analog sensor 2:25
17.6. 0-10 V analog signal - problems 3:08
17.7. Selection of cables for analog sensors 2:31
17.8. Current loop or voltage signal? 1:23
17.9. 2-wire connections of 4-20 mA sensor 4:16
17.10. 4-wire connections of 4-20 mA sensor 3:16
17.11. Quiz - analog

18. Connecting the inverter and servo drive 24 min · 4 lessons ▼

18.1. Frequency inverter 8:38
18.2. Sienamics V20 inverter - how to use docs 6:31
18.3. Servo drive explanation 7:23
18.4. Challenge - select a servo drive for project 4:12

19. Machine safety system - in cooperation with Wieland Electric 12 min · 2 lessons ▼

19.1. Introduction to Machine Safety 55:56
19.2. What do you need to know about safety systems to modernize and service machines?

20. How to get a certificate? 6 min · 1 lesson ▼

20.1. How to get a certificate and share it on Linkedin 3:26

Sample lessons

Watch free fragments of the course before you buy.

4:54

Lesson preview

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Lifetime access to the materials - come back whenever you need

Course completion certificate Industrial Automation Basics and Electrical Diagrams

Support on Discord

You are not alone - an international community of automation engineers and PLC programmers is waiting for you.

Lifetime access to the support server with the instructors
Code reviews of your programs on a dedicated channel
Answers to your questions on business days
Conversations with other automation engineers from around the world

Bonuses included with the course

Discord forum and chat for students

Join our private Discord server for PLC programmers. Ask questions, share projects and get help from instructors and fellow engineers.

Homework review and feedback

Send us your homework. We review it and send comments so your programs get better and better.

Certificate of completion

A personalised certificate with a unique number that you can share on LinkedIn and add to your CV.

Lifetime access and updates

Permanent access to all course materials, updates and new content added in the future.

Virtual PLC Simulator in your browser

Write your first ladder logic programs and test them on animated machines at simulator.controlbyte.tech. Practice on your phone, tablet or PC with no installation. Course students unlock all tasks.

Coming soon: Wiring Sim electrical circuit simulator

We are building a browser simulator for troubleshooting 24 V DC circuits: place the multimeter probes, find the fault and verify the repair. In development, no launch date yet. Free for course students at launch.