25 things I don't know about industrial automation

Though I've been working in industrial automation for a while, imposter syndrome is constantly around the corner reminding me that I don't know enough. In this video I'll go through 25 things in the field of industrial automation I don't know much about.

I want to give a shoutout to Conner Ardman for giving me this idea to this video, checkout his video:

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#plcprogramming #plc #twincat

[Leonardo.capitanio]

Thanks for the video.. It's very interesting to realize how much common characteristics the guys in this area share... close to reach 25 years in this area, I have more or less the same deficits and interests as you. I also liked the title impostor syndrome, but about it I should write much more lines of comments then YouTube allows me to do. It's incredible how much we learn for our lives, working with automation, an area which keeps one humble.. Have a great weekend!

[dlalic]

I feel you Jakob. Even being lucky to work with different equipment over past 8 years there is so much that is on my list. One kudos to you on this video. Community and sharing knowledge help in shaping skill set to fill the gaps.

[arizowsky]

As a virtual commissioning engineer, I can say that Visual Components is an amazing tool that will change the way we design machines in the future.

[nickmartin]

Great video, there were a bunch of things I now know I don't know about them!

Looking forward to the 4026 video now it's out in the wild!

[rickmaida]

No. 25, which is No. 1 in my book: Physics. You have to have a solid grasp of the laws of classical physics to be a good controls engineer. I don't typically do any math involving physics, but I can tell when things don't add up.

[Joelmartinez-fkbx]

thanks Jacob, still wondering about you rockwell/beckhof video, 😊

[qwertasd]

You don’t know what you’ve forgotten, and you’ve forgotten what you don’t know. Yet, you’ve been there, seen everything. As we get older, the unknown becomes the larger part of our existence.

[dmitriichernyshov]

That's why this field is amazing, great learning curve which never ends, and it, s fully versatile. Especially seeing guys in pure software engineering struggling with jobs now. Here you can always downgrade for a while and work in maintenance or CNC machining for example. I've got ME MSc and work in maintenance of all those things, and sometimes develope something custom for the manufacturing process or simply debug raw production lines. One day I wish to work at the integrstor's and build something from the scratch, but for now its all about learning curve and impostor syndrome😅

[ryno]

Yaskawa programming is the bane of my existence! Hate programming them 😅

[tejonBiker]

I worked with WinCC, it's quite a mess how to start or know which version do you need for your implementation, I only worked with WinCC Advanced for embbebed HMI and PC Runtime. The wincc advanced runtime is quite stable, I see the computer that runs the runtime fails first than the runtime itself.

In a next project I will use WinCC professional for multi-monitor support (see two or more monitors with different SCADA screen in each monitor), quite pricey the tools for design the SCADA screen and runtime license, WinCC advanced is more affordable but don't have multi-monitor support.

[Hanssing]

Well, I am not an expert in anything, but I do feel lucky that I have touched a lot of the brands you talk about - but in older versions. No older version of PLCs be it Siemens, Omron, Opto22, or Mitshubishi is worth working with. All the newer now allows ST with practically identical syntax - so not really anything new.

Right now the big projects are Denso Robot+UR Robot+Beckhoff PLC+Beckhoff XTS 🙂- so I can cross some of your Automation Bucket list.

I think the SCADA/HMI side of things are where the differenses arises. WinCC is very different form CoDeSys VISUs, again different from say Indusoft, CopaData Zenon etc etc.

I prefer Beckhoff for ecosystem, and in general CoDeSys for development incl. XAE.


I count my self lucky each time someone is willing to pay me for learning something new 🙂

So, I consider myself jack-of-all-trades, but master of none in this regards. But its fun.

[franzjacke]

For me wiring the control panel was really satisfying and it still is💯. Although I don't do it lately and is done by others.😩
BTW: you probably know more than you know about how you would have wanted it to be buit.
E.g. I've put stickers with "comments" beside or on the elements. I find it more relatable to the programming the thing.
But I mostly think of myself returning to the same panel again in 20y. And be able to understan what I have done and how to fix it 😅
I also like how you can mark each wire with it's designation and unique number. It some extra work. But it's so much easier to diagnose and to rewire if needed. Especially if you are remote commissioning.

[MathieuTanguy-tjlk]

B&R Automation studio 5000?! I think you mixed up B&R and Rockwell programming tools 😅

[Randall]

Yes I have an Opto22 EPIC The thing I like about it
It can be programmed with Codesys and works well. It has a lot of memory. I’ve used it as a flow computer measuring natural gas through an office plate. The formula is about 100 lines of nothing but math equations. I’ve created 4 instances of equation to handle 4 separate meter run. The PLC handles it easily.
The only thing I don’t like about it is it doesn’t support Ethercat but it does support Ethernet/IP.

[TomScryleus]

nice thumbnail. great video. you are the best youtuber in the world. :)

[iengineer]

It was a great information video about automation application available in the industry. However there were no visuals of the working environment of these automation protocols and applications. Some practical 25 visual images / videos along with the 25 dont know lists would be more interesting and helpful. With due respect i like the information shared as i have heard of a few of these platforms, though i am not tye subject expert. Thanks for sharing

[dragonmares]

"Industrie 4.0" this thing is making me burn like a fiery inferno each time i hear a colleague saying this...hell i even start hearing 5.0/6.0...

[alexanderskusnov]

FBD, IL. But where is SFC? You can also use Stateflow (MatLab/Simulink) as well.

[pcwalter]

Have a look at Sigmatek as well... Very powerful OOP development framework.

[AndreAbrantesBR]

Hello everyone!
Jakob, very interesting that list and an excellent video!
SASE is a great idea too! Nice shot to share!
Talking about a possible next topic, what do you think about vision systems for industry?
There are interesting topics like Adaptive Vision Studio, OpenCV, CNNs, Vision Transformers (ViT) for the industry.
You have chosen interesting subjects for your videos, the last before this one scared me at first glance!
Great work! Thank you!