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Design and Development of a Sensor/Actuator Module to Enhance Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) Laboratory Activities

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Conference

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Location

Virtual On line

Publication Date

June 22, 2020

Start Date

June 22, 2020

End Date

June 26, 2021

Conference Session

Instrumentation Division Technical Session 1

Tagged Division

Instrumentation

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

27

DOI

10.18260/1-2--34389

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/34389

Download Count

738

Paper Authors

biography

Bradley Lane Kicklighter P.E. University of Southern Indiana Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-2012-9317

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Brad holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (1989) and an MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Purdue University (2001).

His past work experience includes eleven years at Delphi (formerly Delco Electronics) as an Advanced Project Engineer, eleven years at Whirlpool Corporation as a Lead Engineer/Solution Architect, and three years at Ivy Tech Community College as an Instructor/Program Chair of Pre-Engineering. Since 2015, he has been employed at the University of Southern Indiana as an Assistant Professor of Advanced Manufacturing.

He holds three patents, has served as an IEEE section officer since 2004, and has been a Licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Indiana since 2005.

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Abstract

In industry, Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) are used to automate industrial processes or machines. Typically, the processes or machines being automated perform a series of steps that require the activation of actuators based on feedback from sensors. PLCs are programmed to carry out these steps or sequences. To effectively teach students how to automate a process or machine using a PLC, an apparatus with a set of actuators and sensors that interact with each other is needed. This paper presents the design and development of a compact Sensor/Actuator Module to be used with an existing PLC trainer. The module will expose the students to four different sensor types that interact with a pair of DC motors with bi-directional drive. The sensor types include inductive proximity, capacitive proximity, retroreflective photoelectric, and through-beam (opposed) photoelectric.

Kicklighter, B. L. (2020, June), Design and Development of a Sensor/Actuator Module to Enhance Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) Laboratory Activities Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--34389

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