Programme objective: Learn to read, build and troubleshoot compressed-air circuits for industrial machines, then show where solenoids and sensors hand the sequence to a PLC.
Learner path: Air supply and preparation → cylinders → valves and symbols → pneumatic logic and speed → electro-pneumatic sensing and solenoids → a circuit you can draw → leaks, stored energy and lockout → a two-actuator sequence with a PLC interface note.
This is a fluid-power programme. IEC 61131-3 programming, an HMI and SCADA stay on PLC & Embedded Systems and Industrial Automation. Cohort length and the certificate issued for a cohort are confirmed when you enquire.
Who the work prepares you to talk to
- Maintenance and machine-build teams that use air cylinders, grippers and presses
- Learners in mechanical, mechatronics, electrical or instrumentation programmes who need fluid power before a PLC course
What you leave with
- A drawn two-cylinder sequence and the sensor list a PLC would need
- A short fault guide: no movement, slow movement, and a cylinder that will not hold
Module 1 — Compressed air supply
From compressor to machine
- Compressor, receiver, isolation and why pressure at the machine is not the nameplate pressure
- FRL unit: dirt, water, set pressure and when a lubricator is a bad idea
- Dryers at awareness level, and the damage wet air does to valves
Using air safely
- Stored energy in a receiver and in a cylinder that is still pressurised
- Isolation, exhaust and why a closed ball valve is not the same as a dumped line
- Practice: point to every place a circuit can still hold pressure after isolation
Module 2 — Actuators
Cylinders
- Single-acting and double-acting cylinders; extend, retract and what the spring is doing
- Stroke, bore and why a larger bore is not always the right fix for a weak clamp
- Cushioning, and the damage an uncushioned stop does at the end of stroke
Other air actuators
- Rotary actuators and grippers at awareness level
- Rodless cylinders and where a conventional cylinder will not fit
- Practice: choose an actuator for a clamp and for a transfer stroke, and say why
Module 3 — Valves and circuit symbols
Directional and flow valves
- Ports, positions and how a 5/2 and a 3/2 valve differ in use
- Flow control with a bypass check, and which direction of travel you are slowing
- Check valves, shuttle valves and exhaust restrictors
Reading a drawing
- Standard pneumatic symbols for supply, exhaust, valves and cylinders
- Numbering so a drawing, a manifold and a panel tell the same story
- Practice: redraw a simple circuit from a verbal description
Module 4 — Pneumatic logic and speed
Air logic
- Direct and indirect control of a cylinder
- AND and OR conditions built with pneumatic elements, before any electrical coil
- A memory function with a detent or a double-pilot valve
Speed and sequence
- Meter-in and meter-out, and which one holds a vertical load more safely
- A two-cylinder sequence described as extend and retract steps
- Practice: set one speed limit and explain the symptom if the restrictor is reversed
Module 5 — Electro-pneumatics
Solenoids and sensors
- Single-solenoid and double-solenoid valves, and what happens on loss of electrical power
- Reed, mechanical limit and pressure switches as the inputs a controller can trust
- Relay logic only far enough to see the coil that a PLC output will later replace
Hand-off to a PLC
- Which signals are inputs, which are outputs, and which stay pneumatic
- Why the air circuit must still be safe if the controller stops in the middle of a step
- Practice: write the I/O list for a clamp-then-press sequence. Programming that I/O is the PLC programme
Module 6 — Troubleshooting and stored energy
Fault finding
- No movement, slow movement, drift and a valve that chatters
- Leaks, starved supply, a blocked exhaust and a sensor that never makes
- Practice: one fault inserted on a trainer, with the checks written in order
Lockout
- Isolate electrical power and dump air before hands enter the mechanism
- Prove a zero-energy state: gauge, residual pressure and a cylinder that can still move
- Practice: write the lockout steps for the capstone machine
Module 7 — Sequence capstone
Two actuators, one explained sequence
- Design a clamp and a work stroke, or a push and a lift, with a defined home position
- Deliver the pneumatic circuit, the electro-pneumatic sensor list and the fail state on loss of air and on loss of power
- Add a one-page note a PLC programmer can use: inputs, outputs and the step order
- Include the lockout steps and the first three checks if the second actuator never starts
