Industrial Control Panel Build Series Part 4: IO Hardware Selection
Industrial_Control_Panel_Build_Series_Part_4_IO_Hardware_Selection.pdf
Going through the process of deciding which hardware is needed for our control panel
Transcript:
[0m:4s] Hi I'm Josh Bloom, welcome to another video in the RSP Supply education series. If you find that these videos are helpful to you, it certainly helps us out if you could give us a big thumbs up and subscribe to our channel.
[0m:16s] In today's video, we will move on to the next step in our panel fabrication series. If you haven't already seen the other videos in this series, we encourage you to go back and watch from the beginning of the series so that you might better understand the entire process.
[0m:31s] The step in which we will focus on today is beginning to determine the IO related hardware that will be needed based off of the IO requirements, which have already been determined. This IO hardware will include the PLC, any terminal blocks, relays, signal protection devices, and all other hardware related to the IO in the panel. There are many things that she would be considered when making these selections. So, let's get into it.
[0m:59s] So, before any hardware is actually selected, it is important to review the IO counts and the IO that's coming in and out of our PLC to make sure that they're actually correct, because the PLC hardware and terminal block counts all have to match the IO information that we are planning for. So, it's important to make sure that our accounts are correct. This is absolutely critical before we actually select any of our IO hardware.
[1m:26s] The first thing that we're going to look at as far as IO hardware selection is the PLC. The PLC is going to be the heart of our control panel, it should be the first piece of hardware that is selected.
[1m:36s] A few things when we're determining what type of PLC we should select are first any existing hardware that might be in place for your client or any specific client requirements or requests. We want to make sure that we meet or match any existing hardware that's in place. And also, always ask the client what they have used in the past and what they prefer. We want to make sure that we meet those demands or requests from our client. The next thing we want to look at is the location that the control panel will be located in,
[2m:9s] if it's going to be in
[2m:12s] a harsh environment, whether that's extreme temperature, either cold or hot. We want to make sure that the PLC that we select can handle that type of extreme environment. We also want to make sure that we know that if the panel is going to be located in a class one Div 2 or class one class 1 environment. We want to make sure that the PLC is rated for those types of conditions and can handle that type of environment. So, location is very critical in selecting our PLC.
[2m:38s] The next thing we want to look at, again, with the PLC is the IO count. Now, some PLCs have a limited amount of IO that you can actually hook into so, if you have more IO requirements than the PLC can actually handle, you need to make sure that you find a different PLC.
[2m:54s] The next thing we should look at is the programming software that the PLC is to be intended to be used with.
[3m:0s] So, most manufacturers have some sort of proprietary programming software that needs to be used. So, you want to make sure that you select the PLC that you're familiar with and that the programming software or something that you can use and this can be a personal preference or something the customer ID might even prefer. So, we need to make sure we look at the programming software is intended to be used with that PLC.
[3m:24s] One of the other things you want to look at when selecting a PLC is HMI compatibility. We want to make sure that the PLC that we select is compatible with the HMI that we intend to use. Now, most PLCs and HMIs are compatible, but some work better
[3m:38s] with certain HMIs than others. So, we want to make sure that when we select our PLC, we know that it will work with the HMI that we intend to use. And then, the last thing
we want to think about when selecting our PLC is to make sure that we have additional room for any new IO that might come in the future. Typically, we want to make sure that we have at least extra or spare IO available. So, we want to make sure when we pick our PLC that we have the ability to have that spare IO for any future expansion that the client might want to do.
[4m:9s] The next type of IO hardware we're going to look at is terminal blocks. Now, terminal blocks are simply what we plug our incoming and outgoing IO into. We want to make sure the amount of terminal blocks that we are purchasing for this particular panel matches the amount of IO that our PLC will have.
[4m:28s] Because we want to make sure, even with the spare, we want to make sure that we have enough terminal locks to accommodate all the IO the PLC has. A few things to consider when selecting a term of block is, again, any existing hardware or customer preference that might be in place. We always want to make sure, we take that into consideration. Any brand preference that you might have or the customer might have.
[4m:49s] We want to also look at space consideration. This is very important. If the panel that we're building is going to be tight on space, we may want to look at multilevel terminal block to save on that space. So, again, space consideration when select the terminal blocks is very important. Then we also want to look at what type of terminal block we want to use in more specifically, is it a screw type or a spring or push in terminal block? There are several different types of terminal blocks that can be used. We want to determine which one is going to be best for our specific application.
