Culminating Phase of Open Source Programmable Logic Controller Software Development Initiative for High School Students, Two- and Four -Year Colleges, and Displaced Workers

Team of undergraduate and graduate students advised by faculty members at Michigan Tech are developing a set of open source and online learning modules, which give students interactive, hands-on experience with programming Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) on a standard desktop or laptop computer. The developed software represent different levels of difficulty and students can select the most appropriate version of the module for their knowledge base. It is flexible enough to be used to get high school students interested in programming PLCs, could be used to train displaced workers seeking a certificate or two-year degree, or be used in more advanced courses that are part of a four year degree. Each learning module includes multimedia materials including video, audio, and/or electronic documents that introduce the content presented in the module. While progressing through each module, students can access their comprehension of the presented material using computerized tests testing. The learning system hosted by Michigan Tech will be freely available for anybody around the world to use over the Internet. When the system is used in conjunction with a class, instructors will be able to connect with their students and monitor their progress. The learner competency can also be tested by structuring some of the learning modules as games where students can work collaboratively or competitively to solve PLC programming challenges. In this paper, we present the techniques and approaches used for the PLC system development and implementation.