QUICK START – PLC

Quick Start Guide to Create Your First PLC Circuit in Automation Studio™
You can also view multiple training videos at: www.famictech.com/edu/videos-educational.html

1. Basic Manipulations
 1.1 Moving components from the library to your
schematic
Click on a component from the library, and drag-and-drop it
on your schematic.

 1.2 How to connect components

Move your cursor over a red connection port and click Any component from any library can be used
when the target sign appears. Release the button, draw
your line with the cursor and click on a second connection
port to establish a connection between those two
components. Both connection ports automatically become
black when linked.

Any component from any library can be used

 1.3 How to change path during connection
When drawing a line, while moving your cursor, you can
click to create a 90° turn (elbow).

 1.4 How to insert a junction Any component from any library can be used
While tracing a line, coming across another line, there is no
target sign that usually allows you to make a connection.
Therefore, you need to double click on the line to make a
junction. When a 3-line junction is created, a filled black
connector is automatically created at the junction.

 1.5 How to open the components’ properties window 1) Right-click on

Right-click on component and select “Component component
Properties…”.
Shortcut: Hover your mouse over the component and 2) Shortcut: on components
double-click to open the properties window.

 1.6 Panning the document

Click on the Panning function from the View Tab of the 1) in VIEW / ZOOM
Ribbon bar, under the Zoom functions.
Shortcut: Press and hold down the SPACE BAR while holding 2) Shortcut:
down the left mouse click, then move your mouse to move
across the page.

 1.7 Zoom in and out

Click on the Zoom in / Zoom out function from the View Tab
1) in VIEW / ZOOM
of the Ribbon bar, under the Zoom functions. Other Zoom
functions can be found at this location.
Shortcut: Press and hold down the control key (Ctrl), then
2) Shortcut:
scroll up to Zoom in or scroll down to Zoom out of the page.
Software will Zoom where you are pointing your mouse.

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 1.8 Disconnecting a component
Press and hold down the Shift key, click on the component, on component
and drag it elsewhere on the schematic.

 1.9 Manipulation of components Any component from any library can be use
Functions to rotate, flip, align, distribute and order 1) Choose the appropriate Icon from the Edit Tab
components can be accessed from the Edit Tab of the
Ribbon bar, under the Layout functions. First click on the
component(s) and then click on the desired function.
Shortcut: Right-click on component and select the desired
manipulation functions, or simply use assigned hotkeys.
2) Shortcut: right-click on component to choose the operation

 1.10 Help file Any component from any library can be use
All components in Automation Studio™ have a Help file
describing their functionality. Right-click on component and
select Context Help.
Shortcut: Click on component and then press the F1 key.

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 2. Building Your First PLC Circuit
 2.1 Building your first PLC circuit
In this PLC Quick Start, we will show how to create a circuit
where a Pneumatic cylinder will be controlled by PLC.
All components needed for this first circuit are contained in
the main Pneumatic library. Simply click on it to display
components, then drag-and-drop the following components
from the library (section 1.1) onto your schematic:
 Double-Acting Cylinder
 5/2-Way Valve with a manual command and a
Solenoid
 Pressure Source
 Exhaust (2)

 2.2 Now connect all elements together

Refer to the basic manipulation tips (section 1) to complete
the connections of your pneumatic circuit.

3. Start Simulation to Test Your Pneumatic Circuit

 3.1 Start the simulation to see your circuit come to 1)Click on the “Simulation” tab
life!
Now that all the components are connected, you can start
the simulation.
Click on the Normal Simulation icon from the Simulation 2) Click on “Normal Simulation”
Tab under the Control functions to start the simulation.

 3.2 Activate command

While in simulation, when hovering over a component, if
the cursor turns into a hand icon, you can click to interact
with that component.
The directional valve on your circuit has two commands:
a Lever and an Electrical Solenoid.
Since the control circuit is not yet created, activate the
manual command by clicking on the Lever.

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 4. Adding the PLC Ladder Logic
 4.1 Setting up the layout of your circuit (Stop simulation)
In order to add the Ladder Diagram on the same page, you
need to make sure that the layout will leave you enough
space to do so.
1) Zoom out (section 1.7) to see your entire page
2) Click and hold the left button of the mouse, and move
cursor to select all components, then release the
mouse button
3) Drag-and-drop the selected components to make space
on the page

 4.2 Adding PLC Input / Output Cards

Navigate through the Electrical Control (JIC Standard) library
to find and select the PLC Cards. Add the following
components to your schematic:

• PLC Input Card

• PLC Output Card

Make sure to place the Input Card on the left and the
Output Card on the right as shown in the image.
Note: the same logic circuit can be build using the IEC
Standard.

 4.3 Connecting electrical components to the

Input card
From the main Electrical Control (JIC Standard) library
reproduce the schematic on the right, by adding the
following components to your schematic:
• Common (0 Volt)
• Power Supply 24 Volts
• Normally Open Push-Button*

*When inserting an Electrical Control component on

the schematic, the software will ask you to give it an
Alias, this will be the tag displayed on your schematic
and will be used for linking components. Name the
Normally Open Push-Button PB1.

 4.4 Connecting the electrical component to the

Output card
From the main Electrical Control (JIC Standard) library
reproduce the schematic on the right, by adding the
following components to your schematic:
• Common (0 Volt)
• Power Supply 24 Volts
• Solenoid, DC/AC*

*Name the Solenoid A+.

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 Your schematic should look like this at this point

 4.5 Inserting the rung

Now that we have connected the Electrical control
components, we can focus on the Ladder diagram which
contain the logic in that circuit.
From the main Ladder for AB PLC library (Allen Bradley™),
drag-and-drop the Rung on the schematic and place it
between the two PLC cards.
Your “Rung” may be too big, too small or overlap on your
cards, simply click on the green square to resize it between
the two cards

 4.6 Creating the Logic

Drag-and-drop the following components from the main
Ladder for AB PLC library (Allen Bradley™) to create the
logic circuit:
• Examine if Closed
• Output Energize (OTE)
When inserting a Ladder Logic AB PLC component on the
schematic, the software will ask you to give it an Alias, this
will be the tag displayed on your schematic and will
be used for linking components.

 4.7 Linking PLC components

Link the Normally Open Contact ( ) and the Output
( ) to the PLC cards.
The Normally Open Contact has a “?” beside it, this means
that it is not linked to any Electrical circuit. Double-click on
the Normally Open Contact to open the linking window.
1) Click on Variable Assignment from the left-side menu
2) Use the filter from the Compatible Simulation
Variables, filter on the Alias “IN” of the Input Card
3) Once you have identified your Alias, double-click on it
to create the link
4) In this section, the “?” will be replace by “E1.IN0”
(“E1”, name of the card. “IN0”, input 0) confirming that
the link is created
5) This line shows the association between the two
components
6) Close the window by clicking on the “X”
*Repeat these steps to link the Output ( ) to the
“OUT0” (output card)

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  4.8 Linking the Pneumatic Solenoid
Link the Electrical Solenoid “? (ls)” of the Directional Valve
with the Electrical Solenoid “A+” of the Output card.
The Solenoid of the Pneumatic Directional Valve has a
“? (ls)” beside it, this means it is not linked to any Electrical
circuit. Double-click on the Directional Valve to open the
linking window.
1) Click on Variable Assignment from the left-side menu
2) Click on the solenoid icon of the directional valve
3) Use the filter from the Compatible Simulation
Variables section to sort the variables and only show
the one matching your criteria, filter on “A+”
4) Once you have identified your Alias, double-click on it
to make the link
5) In this section the “? (ls)” will be replace by “A+”
confirming that the link is created
6) This section shows the association between the two
components
7) Close the window by clicking on the “X"

5. Simulation
 5.1 Start simulation (section 3.1)
Now that all the components are connected and all the links
are created, you can start the simulation to see your circuit
come to life and the interaction between the different
technologies.
While in simulation, click on “PB1” to energize “INO” which
will close the open contact “E1.INO” and which will activate
the “OUT0” to energize “A+” on the Output Card and on the
directional valve which makes the cylinder extend.
Each time you release the “PB1” button the cylinder retracts
because of the spring on the directional valve. Let’s change
the schematic so one push on “PB1” makes the cylinder
extend completely.

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 6. Adding a Latching Contact
 6.1 Changing the circuit (Stop simulation)
Move the relay “OUT0” down, as shown, by disconnecting
the component using the Shift key (section 1.8). This will
leave room to add an internal bit on the first rung.

 6.2 Adding a Latching contact and an Internal bit

Drag-and-drop the following components from the main
Ladder for AB PLC library (Allen Bradley™) to create the
circuit on the right:
• 2 x Examine if Closed Contact
• Output Energize (internal bit)
*Name the Output Energize B3:0.

 6.3 Connecting the components

Connect the added components to reproduce the circuit
shown on the image.

 6.4 Linking the Latching contact and simulating the

circuit
Link the two normally open contacts ( ) to the Internal
bit relay “B3:0” (Section 4.8).
Once these links are made you can launch the Simulation
(section 3.1).
By clicking on “PB1”, the cylinder extends fully but doesn’t
retract since there is no element to de-energize the “OUT0”
which is now latched. Let’s add a Timer to make the cylinder
retract after 5 seconds.

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 7. Adding an On-Delay Timer
 7.1 Adding On-Delay Timer (Stop simulation)
Navigate through the Ladder for AB PLC library (Allen
Bradley™) select the Timers category. Drag-and-drop the
following on your schematic to create the circuit on the
right:
• Timer On-Delay (TON)
• Examine if Closed contact

 7.2 Connecting the ON-Delay Timer

Connect your On-Delay Timer as well as your Examine
if Close contact. Link the Examine if Closed contact to
the Internal Bit “B3:0” (Section 4.8).

 7.3 Adding a Timer Done Bit “DN”

Once the On-Delay Timer is in place and connected, add the
Timer Done Bit “DN” Contact in the circuit to de-energize
“B3:0” once the Preset time on the Timer is reached.
NOTE: When dragging a component from the library, if you
drop it directly on a line, it will automatically insert that
component into the circuit. This will not work however if
you drop the component on your working space before.
Drag-and-drop an Examine if Open ( ) from the
Ladder for AB PLC library (Allen Bradley™) directly on the
first line between “E1.IN0” and “B3:0”.

Make sure the connection ports are black, which

indicates that the connection is well made. If they are
red, it was not inserted correctly, repeat the step
above.

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 7.4 Link the Examine if Open Contact
Link the Examine if Open Contact to the Timer Done Bit of
your Timer “DN” (Section 4.8).
Search for “DN” in the filter section.

Your circuit should look like the image on the right

 7.5 Adjusting the Timer On-Delay

By default, the Timer has a Preset time of 10 seconds.
Change its value to 5 seconds.
To do so, double-click on the Timer On-Delay to open the
Properties window.
1) Click on Data from the left-side menu
2) When the Star is filled orange ( ), it means that only
the favorite fields are displayed. Click on the Star to
display all the fields, and find the “PRE” field
3) Change the value of this field to 5 seconds
4) Exit the window by clicking on the “x” top right corner.

 7.6 Simulating your circuit

Now that your circuit is completed,
launch the simulation and see your
entire circuit come to life!
Click on “PB1”, the cylinder will extend
and the Timer On-Delay will be
activated. Once it reaches the 5
seconds Preset time, the DN contact
will open de-energizing B3:0, the
cylinder will retract since “OUT0” will
no longer be activated.

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