Install, wire and commission a PowerFlex 525, add it to the I/O tree with an Add-On Profile, and run the same machine two ways: hardwired, then over EtherNet/IP from your own logic.
About this course
A drive is the first thing most technicians meet that is neither purely electrical nor purely software, and it is where a lot of people get stuck. This course takes one drive from the box to running under program control.
You start with what a VFD is actually doing to the waveform and how to stay safe around one, then wire it: power, grounding and shielding, the control terminals, two-wire and three-wire control, an analog speed reference. Before any PLC is involved you commission it from the keypad and run the motor, because if it will not run standalone, no amount of ladder logic will help.
Then it goes on the network. Add-On Profiles and the module-defined tags they generate, command and status words, speed reference scaling, reading and resetting drive faults. You run the same conveyor sequence hardwired and networked so the difference is something you have felt rather than read.
The last module uses the drive in position mode: encoder feedback, homing, preset positions and indexing, and is honest about where a drive stops being a substitute for a servo.
What you work through
Three-phase induction motors, what a VFD is doing to the waveform, volts-per-hertz against vector control, nameplate data, and staying safe around a drive.
Power wiring, grounding and shielding, the control terminal block, two-wire and three-wire control, an analog speed reference, and the safe-torque-off terminals.
Keypad navigation and the basic program group, entering motor nameplate data, setting accel and decel, and running the motor from the drive alone before any PLC is involved.
Add-On Profiles and the module-defined tags they generate, EtherNet/IP connection settings, and reading what has appeared in the controller tags.
Command and status words, scaling a speed reference, start, stop, jog and reverse, reading and resetting drive faults, and the same machine run hardwired and over the network.
The drive in position mode: encoder feedback, homing, preset positions and indexing, and an honest look at where a drive stops being a substitute for a servo.
Lab times are approximate: they are a guide to how long the hands-on part usually takes, not a limit. You can ask for more lab time whenever you need it.
This course is in development. The module list is the curriculum plan, the slides, labs and knowledge checks are still being built, which is why every module reads COMING SOON.
The controller itself is in the lab and working. Other hardware is being added over time as the lab grows, and no course here opens for booking until both its hardware and its material are ready.
The PowerFlex 525 for this course has not been bought yet. It is the next piece of hardware going into the lab.