Packaging line drive

The brief

Client

Kingsmead Biscuits

Site

Main belt drive of packing line 2

Work order

KB-2613

Industry

Food and drink

Task code

PLC-13

Difficulty

Intermediate

Type of work

Programming

Run a variable-speed belt drive: start only when the drive is ready, send a speed set point from the operator's pot between two limits, latch drive faults and belt stalls, and light a lamp when the belt is up to speed.

What you do

1. Read the client brief and the tag table: 12 tags, 8 inputs and 4 outputs.
2. Write the logic in ladder, Structured Text or SFC.
3. Press Simulate and watch the plant answer your program.
4. Run the factory acceptance test and fix what fails.

Skills you practise

• Analog set points (integer maths)
• Limits and clamping
• Drive interfacing: run, ready, fault, feedback
• Stall detection with a timer
• Latching faults and resets

What the test checks

The factory acceptance test runs 6 numbered tests against your program. The numbers in the brief are drawn per learner. The tests are:

• Start only when the drive is ready
• The speed set point, between its limits
• A drive fault latches and needs a reset
• Stall check on the belt feedback
• At speed lamp
• Emergency stop and stop

In this lab

• Ladder, Structured Text and SFC in one studio
• A plant that answers: motors, tanks, conveyors
• Numbered tests mark your program