[ HARDWARE SCHOOL ]
The machine side: from a €4 sensor to a 315 kW drive
Code is the easy half. The half that keeps a line down at 3 a.m. is hardware — a sensor derated by the metal it is watching, a two-wire RTD reading six degrees high, a shield grounded at both ends. This course takes the devices in order, explains how each one actually works, and then tells you how it fails, because that is the part nobody writes down.
Ladder = wiring · ST = logic · hardware = what the wire is connected to
[ CHAPTERS ]
CH 01 · 14 MIN
Signals — how a machine talks to a PLC
The four signal types every controller has, what they look like on a meter, and the scaling arithmetic behind every analog value on an HMI.
DI · DO · AI · AO · 24 VDC · 4–20 mA
Start chapter
CH 02 · 15 MIN
Presence sensors — is the part there?
Choosing between inductive, capacitive, photoelectric and ultrasonic detection, with the sensing-distance derating and mounting rules that decide whether it works in year two.
Inductive · capacitive · photoelectric · ultrasonic · limit switch
Start chapter
CH 03 · 16 MIN
Process instruments — temperature, pressure, level, flow
How the four classic process measurements really work, why a 3-wire RTD exists, and how to read a differential-pressure level measurement without being fooled by density.
Thermocouples · RTDs · DP cells · radar · magmeters · HART
Start chapter
CH 04 · 15 MIN
Motion feedback — encoders, resolvers and load cells
How a machine knows where it is: quadrature counting, the difference between incremental and absolute, single- versus multi-turn, and why load cells need care.
Incremental · absolute · SSI/EnDat · resolver · strain gauge
Start chapter
[ IN WRITING ]
The rest of the arc, in the order it will publish. Same treatment: how it works, how to size it, how it fails.
CH 05
Actuators — valves, cylinders and solenoids
Pneumatics · hydraulics · valve islands
CH 06
Motors — induction, servo and stepper
Nameplates · torque · duty · insulation
CH 07
Drives and starters — VFD, soft start, DOL
V/f · vector · braking · EMC
CH 08
Switching and protection
MCB · MCCB · fuses · contactors · overloads
CH 09
Control cabinets
Power supplies · layout · thermal · segregation
CH 10
Network hardware
Managed switches · media · IGMP · topology
CH 11
Safety hardware
E-stop · light curtains · interlocks · PL/SIL
CH 12
Diagnosing hardware in the field
Meter · clamp · scope · method
[ HOW TO USE THIS ]
- Read chapter 1 even if you think you know it — every later chapter assumes the signal model in it.
- Each chapter ends with a fault table and a quiz. The fault table is the part worth keeping open on a call-out.
- Pair it with the programming tracks: the lesson library for logic, this for the metal.