Bringing real-world skills into the classroom is exactly what career technical education aspires to do, but this mission is met with a myriad challenges. From expensive materials to making applications of industry concepts practical, the process is time consuming and requires educators to think outside the box to prevail.
Arduino’s PLC Starter Kit is built to be outside the box. At the intersection of classroom resources and industry tools, this cutting edge kit gives programming career contexts and makes automation education more accessible
Putting the Purpose in PLC
Picture a world where programmable logic controllers (PLCs) don’t yet exist. Unsure what to imagine? Perhaps a person stands by an intersection, monitoring traffic and controlling traffic lights by hand. Maybe factory machines would overheat, causing them to malfunction. It’s possible food and beverage plants would have less consistency among products, leading to more recalls. If you’re thinking it sounds chaotic, that’s because PLCs play a quiet but crucial role across many of our society’s biggest industries.
PLCs automate and control processes—like a mechanical manager—and make quick decisions that issue commands to other machines to keep everything running smoothly. Related to robotics, PLCs act as digital computers—but are far more resilient. Their durability makes them perfect for industrial settings, where hazards are high and precision—of temperature, electricity, and more—is essential.
To keep this brain of operations working effectively, our world needs PLC technicians who have a keen eye for detail, a knack for critical thinking, and a passion for engineering processes. These are highly-skilled individuals who can read and apply programming languages and use their hands like neurosurgeons to carefully connect parts.
Professional-Grade Resources, Classroom Ready
For people who want to play a role in keeping industrial conditions safe, production lines efficient, and ensure quality when they bite into their favorite foods, the automation industry is an exciting career sector with an enduring presence in our modern world. But because of its high-stakes role, PLCs require serious training—and the earlier, the better.
Career technical education centers and high school elective courses are great places to integrate PLC training resources, and Arduino’s PLC Starter Kit is the perfect tool to begin with. This kit isn’t a product that makes students imagine what technicians’ roles are like; instead, it shows them. Using professional-grade equipment, it immerses students in career exploration unlike any other—even using technology to simulate an actual manufacturing environment.
The kit comes with 20 hours of curriculum that covers an abundance of topics using audiovisual and hands-on learning methods. Students discover the history and practical uses of PLCs, then dive into hardware assembly as they wire the heart of the kit: the Opta. Wiring the kit themselves exposes students to real challenges PLC technicians are expected to complete—but Arduino ensures success with built-in support.
The Kit That Gets Everyone a Step Ahead
When it comes to preparing students with technical skills, the kit is made to be extensive and intensive. It even teaches students about the five PLC programming languages, including the widely-used graphical language, ladder diagrams. As in-depth as the kit gets, it makes sure the educator support is just as comprehensive.
To make sure educators feel confident facilitating these highly-mechanical, student-led experiences, Arduino designed the PLC Starter Kit to walk the classroom—step by step—through each process. Not only does each activity come with easy-to-read diagrams and corresponding explanations, it also includes close-up video tutorials that can be paused and rewinded at any time. This helps students and teachers learn at the pace that’s right for them. Plus, if anyone is still stuck, there’s a support line that puts educators in touch with industry experts who are happy to guide them through the task.
And while the kit uses professional-grade equipment, it doesn’t require teachers to acquire expensive new materials—just a couple of pliers and screwdrivers will be everything they need to get students started.
But one of the best parts of the resource is its ability for educators to adapt the curriculum as students’ knowledge grows. Rather than put the pressure on the educator to brainstorm (and put into place) activity alternatives for higher or lower level students, Arduino does it itself. The virtual curriculum assigns each lesson a level—beginner through advanced—so educators can assign students tasks that appropriately match their learning goals. This approach makes it possible to address the unique needs of each student without assigning more work to educators.
Opening Opportunities in Your Classroom
As educators, one of the most incredible things we can do is provide our students with opportunities that satisfy their curiosities and expand their capabilities—even if it stretches our own comfort zones. With Arduino’s PLC Starter Kit, teachers can more easily offer students practical experience in areas as technical and complex as automation applications. When educators use innovation to open possibilities in their classrooms, student futures become a whole world wider.
Shop the Arduino PLC Starter Kit and reach out to an Education Advisor for solutions that suit your educational needs—whether for a classroom or a whole school