Training Skids
The iTrust Training Skids are mobile training units that have been designed and built for the educational and training purposes of students and researchers. The Allen-Bradley, National Instruments, Siemens, and Schneider training skids serve as an introduction for users to familiarise themselves with the various brands of PLCs. This familiarisation is achieved through the testing of various firmware scenarios within a controlled environment, prior to actual hands-on and implementation on iTrust’s testbeds.
Allen-Bradley
The Allen-Bradley skid includes components such as a milliamp meter, potentiometer, key switches, light push buttons with open/close contacts, temperature probes, servo motor, variable speed drive, power meters, Allen-Bradley firewall, router, ETAP, ultra-mini photo sensor, MOXA network switches and an access point.
The Allen-Bradley training skid comprises three columns with different types of input/output (IO) modules. The IO modules used are FLEX™, 1715 Redundant, POINT and chassis-based ControlLogix I/Os.
National Instruments
The National Instruments NI cRIO-9063 is an Embedded Real-Time Controller with Reconfigurable FPGA and operates on the NI Linux Real-Time operating system. The processor can be programmed with the LabVIEW Real-Time and C/C++ applications while the FPGA can be programmed with the LabVIEW FPGA Module.
The National Instruments training skid includes components such as a milliamp meter, potentiometer, key switches, light push buttons with open/close contacts, temperature probes, ultra-mini photo sensor, MOXA Ethernet switches, a secure router, and an access point. Similar to industrial settings, remote I/Os are used in the setup.
Siemens
The Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 controller is a PLC model released by Siemens in 2012. The processor can be programmed with Siemens SIMATIC STEP 7 (TIA Portal) software.
The Siemens training skid includes components such as a milliamp meter, potentiometer, key switches, light push buttons with open/close contacts, temperature probes, ultra-mini photo sensor, SCALANCE network switches, MOXA Ethernet switches, a secure router and an access point. Similar to industrial settings, remote I/Os are used in the setup.
Schneider
The Schneider 140CPU65150 Modicon Quantum system is a special-purpose computing system with digital processing capabilities. The Modicon Quantum system was designed for real-time control in industrial and manufacturing applications in a modular and expandable architecture.
The Schneider training skid includes components such as a milliamp meter, potentiometer, key switches, light push buttons with open/close contacts, temperature probes, ultra-mini photo sensor, SCALANCE network switches, MOXA Ethernet switches, a secure router, and an access point. Similar to industrial settings, remote I/Os are used in the setup.
