Every tool in this course is a free download. Install Connected Components Workbench, RSLinx and the Micro800 simulator, write and run ladder with no hardware at all, then wire real I/O, commission a PowerFlex drive from the software, and drive it from your program over EtherNet/IP.
About this course
Twelve modules, an hour of material and an hour of hands-on work each, which is four days end to end, and the longest course on this site.
It is the longest deliberately. Connected Components Workbench, RSLinx Classic Lite and the Micro800 Simulator are all free downloads from Rockwell, so nothing gates a student and depth costs them nothing. Modules 1 to 7 and module 9 run entirely on a laptop with no controller present.
The course opens with the three downloads and what each does, then spends a whole module on RSLinx, because "the software cannot find my controller" is the wall people hit on day one, and three of the four usual causes are on your own laptop rather than on the network.
From there: a project on the simulator, variables and data types, ladder programming up to a working start/stop/jog station, and the build-download-run cycle including the difference between saving a project and downloading it. Then real hardware: embedded I/O, plug-in and expansion modules, sinking against sourcing, and going online to read a live rung, which is the skill the whole course exists to produce.
The last three modules are the drive: a PowerFlex added to the same project and commissioned from the software rather than a four-character keypad, then commanded from ladder over EtherNet/IP with proper start confirmation and fault handling, and finally working over a wireless link, messaging another controller, and handing the machine over.
What you work through
Connected Components Workbench, RSLinx Classic Lite and the Micro800 simulator as free downloads, what the Micro800 family is, and where CCW sits against Studio 5000.
Getting the three pieces installed in the right order, which CCW edition to take, what the simulator can and cannot do, and confirming all three are working before writing anything.
What RSLinx actually is, configuring an Ethernet/IP driver, browsing with RSWho, and working the four faults that stop a PC seeing a controller it is plugged into.
Creating a project, adding a Micro800 controller, connecting to the simulator, and getting from a blank project to a running controller you can watch.
The Project Organizer and the panes you work in, global against local variables, data types, and naming a variable list somebody else can read.
Rungs, contacts and coils, the instruction blocks CCW gives you, timers and counters, and building a start/stop/jog program that actually runs on the simulator.
Building a project and reading the error list, downloading to a controller or the simulator, program against run mode, and the difference between saving, exporting and backing up.
Embedded I/O on the controller, plug-in modules against expansion modules, adding them to a project, and wiring real field devices to a Micro850.
Monitoring a running program, the variable monitor, forcing safely, and finding a fault by reading the rung rather than guessing at it.
Adding a PowerFlex to a CCW project, the startup wizard, entering motor nameplate data, and commissioning the drive from the software rather than the keypad.
Connecting the drive to a Micro850 over Ethernet, the tags that appear, start, stop, speed reference and fault handling in ladder, and proving it on real hardware.
Connecting over a wireless link and what changes when you do, messaging between Micro800 controllers, Modbus and EtherNet/IP options, and the project backup somebody else will need.
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.
Connected Components Workbench Standard Edition, RSLinx Classic Lite and the Micro800 Simulator are free downloads from Rockwell Automation. The course guides you to get them yourself, under Rockwell’s terms. Nothing here supplies the software, a licence, or anybody’s project files.
Most of the course needs no hardware. The simulator is a real Micro800 controller as far as the software is concerned. You can create a project, write ladder, download, go online, watch variables and debug, all on a laptop. That covers modules 1 to 7 and module 9, which is most of what actually takes practice.
Three modules are better with hardware and say so on their opening slide. Module 8 wires real I/O, and modules 11 and 12 need a Micro850 and a PowerFlex on a network. There is no controller or drive in the lab for this course yet, so the hands-on hour against those three cannot be booked, but the configuration half of each still works offline, and everything conceptual transfers when the hardware arrives.
Allen-Bradley, Micro800, PowerFlex, RSLinx and Connected Components Workbench are trademarks of Rockwell Automation, used here only to say what the course covers. This course is independent: it is not affiliated with or endorsed by Rockwell Automation, and it is not one of their training products.