NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

FACULTY OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY

PLC Programming Assignment and Practice questions

Question 1
A PLC is to control an amusement park water ride. The ride will fill a tank of water and splash a tour group. 10
seconds later a water jet will be ejected at another point. Develop ladder logic for the process that follows the
steps listed below.
1. The process starts in ‘idle’.
2. The ‘cart_detect’ opens the ‘filling’ valve.
3. After a delay of 30 seconds from the start of the filling of the tank the tank ‘outlet’ valve opens.
4. When the tank is ‘full’ the ‘filling’ valve closes.
5. When the tank is empty the ‘outlet’ valve is closed.
6. After a 10 second delay, from the tank outlet valve opening, a water ‘jet’ is opened.
7. After ‘2’ seconds the water ‘jet’ is closed and the process returns to the ‘idle state.

Question 2
Write a ladder logic program to extend and retract a cylinder after a start button is pushed. There are limit
switches at the ends of travel. If the cylinder is extending if more than 5 seconds elapses before end of travel is
reached, the machine should shut down and turn on a fault light. If it is retracting for more than 3 seconds
elapses before end of travel is reached, it should also shut down and turn on the fault light. It can be reset with a
reset button.

Question 3
Design a program for a hydraulic press that will advance when two palm buttons are pushed. Top and bottom
limit switches are used to reverse the advance and stop after a retract. At any time the hands removed from the
palm button will stop an advance and retract the press. Include start and stop buttons to put the press in and
out of an active mode.

Question 4
A machine has been built for filling barrels. Design ladder logic for the sequential process as described below.
1. The process begins in an idle state.
2. If the ‘fluid_pressure’ and ‘barrel_present’ inputs are on, the system will open a flow valve for 2 seconds
with output ‘flow’.
3. The ‘flow’ valve will then be turned off for 10 seconds.
4. The ‘flow’ valve will then be turned on until the ‘full’ sensor indicates the barrel is full.
5. The system will wait until the ‘barrel_present’ sensor goes off before going to the idle state.

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Question 5
Design ladder logic for an oven. The operations are as listed below.
1. The oven begins in an IDLE state.
2. An operator presses a start button and an ALARM output is turned on for 1 minute.
3. The ALARM output is turned off and the HEAT is turned on for 3 minutes to allow the temperature to
rise to the acceptable range.
4. The CONVEYOR output is turned on.
5. If the STOP input is activated (turned off) the HEAT will be turned off, but the CONVEYOR output will be
kept on for two minutes. After this the oven returns to IDLE.

Question 6
We are developing a safety system (using a PLC) for a large industrial press. The press is activated by turning on
the compressor power relay (R, connected to O:013/05). After R has been on for 30 seconds the press can be
activated to move (P connected to O:013/06). The delay is needed for pressure to build up. After the press has
been activated (with P for 1.0 seconds) the system must be shut down (R and P off), and then the cycle may
begin again. For safety, there is a sensor that detects when a worker is inside the press (S, connected to
I:011/02), which must be off before the press can be activated. There is also a button that must be pushed 5
times (B, connected to I:011/01) before the press cycle can begin. If at any time the worker enters the press (and
S becomes active) the press will be shut down (P and R turned off). Develop the process sequence, and then
ladder logic for the states. State all assumptions, and show all work.

Question 7
A machine is being designed to wrap boxes of chocolate. The boxes arrive at the machine on a conveyor belt.
The list below shows the process steps in sequence.
1. The box arrives and is detected by an optical sensor (P), after this the conveyor is stopped (C) and the
box is clamped in place (H).
2. A wrapping mechanism (W) is turned on for 2 seconds.
3. A sticker cylinder (S) is turned on for 1 second to put consumer labeling on the box.
4. The clamp (H) is turned off and the conveyor (C) is turned on.
5. After the box leaves the system returns to an idle state.

Develop ladder logic programs for the system. Don’t forget to include regular start and stop inputs.

Question 8
A PLC is to be used to operate the traffic lights at simple cross-roads. The sequence required is as follows:
RED (16 seconds)
GREEN (12 seconds)
AMBER (4 seconds)

The same sequence will be used for both roads. There should also be a delay of 2 seconds when both roads have
a red light to allow for ‘amber gamblers’ (people who treat amber as green). Design the traffic light system.

Question 9
Design a PLC-based conveyor control system that will operate as follows:
 The conveyor has an optical sensor S1 that detects boxes entering a workcell
 There is also an optical sensor S2 that detects boxes leaving the workcell
 The boxes enter the workcell on a conveyor controlled by output C1

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  The boxes exit the workcell on a conveyor controlled by output C2
 The controller must keep a running count of boxes using the entry and exit sensors
 If there are more than five boxes in the workcell the entry conveyor will stop
 If there are no boxes in the workcell the exit conveyor will be turned off
 If the entry conveyor has been stopped for more than 30 seconds the count will be reset to zero,
assuming that the boxes in the workcell were scrapped.

Question 10
Design a PLC-based system that does what is described below:
 When button A is pushed, a light will flash for 5 seconds.
 The flashing light will be on for 0.25 sec and off for 0.75 sec.
 If button A has been pushed 5 times the light will not flash until the system is reset.
 The system can be reset by pressing button B

Question 11
Write a program that will turn on a flashing light for the first 15 seconds after a PLC is turned on. The light
should flash for half a second on and half a second off.

Question 12
A buffer can hold up to 10 parts. Parts enter the buffer on a conveyor controller by output conveyor. As parts
arrive they trigger an input sensor enter. When a part is removed from the buffer they trigger the exit sensor.
Develop a PLC-based system to stop the conveyor when the buffer is full, and restart it when there are fewer
than 10 parts in the buffer. As normal the system should also include a start and stop button.

Question 13
We are using a pneumatic cylinder in a process. The cylinder can become stuck, and we need to detect this.
Proximity sensors are added to both endpoints of the cylinder’s travel to indicate when it has reached the end of
motion. If the cylinder takes more than 2 seconds to complete a motion this will indicate a problem. When this
occurs the machine should be shut down and a light turned on. Design a PLC-based system that will cycle the
cylinder in and out repeatedly, and watch for failure.

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