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Electrical and mechanical fundamentals
Before the PLC: the electrical basics a technician works by, motor control with contactors and starters, pneumatics and hydraulics, and the control panel that holds it all. The base every automation engineer stands on.
One course at a time. The next unlocks when you are halfway through this one.
Step 1ElectricalBeginnerElectrical Fundamentals for Technicians: Volts to Multimeter to Drawings
The electrical basics every technician needs, in the order you use them: charge, voltage, current and resistance; Ohm's and Kirchhoff's laws; AC and DC, single and three phase; power, energy and power factor; the multimeter and CAT ratings; cables, fuses, breakers, earthing and RCDs; IEC and NEMA symbols and schematics; relays, contactors and motors; safe isolation; and a fault-finding walkthrough.
- Explain voltage, current, resistance and charge, and use Ohm's law
- Solve series and parallel circuits and check readings with Kirchhoff's laws
- Work with AC, RMS, single-phase and three-phase supplies
Step 2ElectricalBeginnerIndustrial Motor Control
The electrical foundation of every machine: contactors, relays, overloads and protection, switches, ladder logic and documentation, manual and magnetic starters, two-wire, three-wire and hand-off-auto circuits, pumping applications, jogging, reversing and interlocks, plugging and braking, reduced-voltage and soft starters, timers, and testing and troubleshooting on a real trainer board.
- Select contactors, relays, overloads, fuses, breakers and transformers
- Read and document motor control ladder diagrams
- Wire manual and magnetic starters with two-wire, three-wire and HOA control
Step 3Fluid powerBeginnerIndustrial Pneumatics and Hydraulics
Fluid power from first principles to electrical control: pneumatics versus hydraulics, air preparation, cylinders and vacuum, valves and symbols, pneumatic circuits and sequencing, FluidSIM exercises, Pascal's law and hydraulic maths, pumps and power units, hydraulic valves, circuits and schematics, design calculations and relay control of fluid power systems.
- Compare pneumatics and hydraulics and prepare air correctly
- Select and size cylinders, valves and vacuum
- Design direct, indirect, logic and sequencing circuits and simulate them
Step 4ElectricalBeginnerElectrical Control Panel Design, Building and Testing
What is inside a PLC panel and why, components, wiring diagrams, 2-wire and 3-wire control, sensors and commons, building a UL 508A panel step by step, workmanship, cooling and factory acceptance testing.
- Name every part of a PLC control panel and what UL 508A covers
- Choose relays, contactors, overloads, transformers and terminal blocks, and state the SCCR
- Read a PLC wiring diagram and wire 2-wire and 3-wire control
How the path works
Join the path and its first course is added to your account straight away; the next one is added when you are halfway through, so you never face a pile of unstarted courses. Each has its own progress, notes and final. Take them in the order shown: each assumes the one before. Each course has one assessment: a final of 15 questions drawn from every module, pass mark 60%, with 3 attempts and then a 24 hour wait, so the assessment checks that you followed the lessons rather than testing exam nerves.
Questions
- Is the Electrical and mechanical fundamentals free?
- Yes. Every course in the path is free in full: lessons, notes, practice tasks and assessments. Joining the path adds all of them to your account in one step. The only paid item is the optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion for each course.
- In what order should I take the courses?
- In the order listed: each course assumes the one before it. Every course keeps its own progress, final and certificate, so you can also take one on its own.
- Do I get one certificate for the whole path?
- Certificates are per course, issued when you pass that course's final assessment and bought only if you want them. Finishing every course in a path gives you one certificate per course.