Instrumentation · Free · ₹0
Instrumentation for PLC Engineers
The half of the loop that is not code. Follow one measurement from the transmitter in the field, down the 4-20 mA loop, into the analog card, through NORM_X and SCALE_X into engineering units, out again to a valve, and back to the control room when the reading is wrong.
Inside the course
From the lessons
The Signal Path: Field Device to PLC to Valve
Instrumentation Academy
Transmitters: What the Field Device Actually Sends
Instrumentation Tools
The 4-20 mA Loop and How It Is Wired
Instrumentation Academy
Percent, Milliamps and Process Variable
Instrumentation Tools
Into the PLC: Analog Cards, Raw Counts, NORM_X and SCALE_X
Hegamurl
Out of the PLC: Unscaling, I/P Converters and Valves
Hegamurl
Lesson frames belong to the creators named in the Credits below and are shown from YouTube.
What you will learn
Trace a control loop end to end and say who owns each part of it; read a transmitter's range and predict what the PLC will read at any current; wire two-, three- and four-wire transmitters and diagnose a loop from its current alone; convert between milliamps, percent and engineering units in both directions; scale an analog input with NORM_X and SCALE_X and unscale an output to a valve; build alarm levels with deadband and detect a transmitter you cannot trust; read a P&ID and an ISA tag; choose between a switch and a transmitter and wire PNP or NPN correctly; put PID_Compact on a real process variable; and work backwards from a wrong number on the HMI to the fault in the field.
- Trace one loop from sensing element to final element and say which half a wrong reading is in
- Read a transmitter's range and span, and work out the process variable at any current
- Wire two-, three- and four-wire transmitters, and tell a fault current from a measurement
- Convert between milliamps, percent of span and engineering units without looking anything up
- Scale an analog input with NORM_X and SCALE_X, and unscale a demand back out to a valve
- Alarm on the scaled value with a deadband, and hold a safe state when the signal cannot be trusted
- Read a P&ID and an ISA tag, and find the card and channel on the loop sheet
- Put PID_Compact on a real process variable, tune it, and say when a loop should not be PID at all
- Work backwards from a wrong number on the screen to the fault, cheapest check first
Course content
12 modules · 43 lessons · 6h 36m
In order, at whatever pace suits you. Each module ends with a practice task that builds on the last, and a short quiz.
- 01The Signal Path: Field Device to PLC to Valve3 lessons25m
- 02Transmitters: What the Field Device Actually Sends4 lessons23m
- 03The 4-20 mA Loop and How It Is Wired5 lessons39m
- 04Percent, Milliamps and Process Variable4 lessons43m
- 05Into the PLC: Analog Cards, Raw Counts, NORM_X and SCALE_X3 lessons49m
- 06Out of the PLC: Unscaling, I/P Converters and Valves4 lessons35m
- 07Alarms, Interlocks and a Signal You Cannot Trust4 lessons39m
- 08Reading the Drawings: P&ID and the Loop Sheet3 lessons46m
- 09The Other Half: Switches, Proximity Sensors and Encoders5 lessons17m
- 10Closing the Loop: PID_Compact on a Real Measurement3 lessons48m
- 11Calibration and Finding the Fault from the Control Room4 lessons26m
- 12Final Assessment1 lesson5m
Requirements
- Who it is for
- Intermediate. You can write ladder logic in TIA Portal and have met analog inputs. No instrumentation background assumed, and no maths beyond a straight line.
- Software
- TIA Portal V17+ (21-day trial) with S7-PLCSIM for the scaling, alarm and PID exercises. The instrumentation modules need nothing installed.
- Hardware
- None. A multimeter and a loop calibrator are useful if you have them, and every exercise is written to work without them.
Instrumentation for PLC Engineers at a glance
Instrumentation for PLC Engineers is a free, self-paced online instrumentation course from EDWartens India with 12 modules, 6h 36m of video lessons, written notes, practice tasks and assessments, and an optional verifiable certificate.
- Price
- ₹0, free for good. No trial, no card. Comparable classroom training of this length costs about ₹4,499.
- Format
- 12 self-paced modules, 6h 36m of video, written notes, a practice task per module and one final assessment.
- Level
- Intermediate. Intermediate. You can write ladder logic in TIA Portal and have met analog inputs. No instrumentation background assumed, and no maths beyond a straight line.
- Brand
- Vendor-neutral
- Software
- TIA Portal V17+ (21-day trial) with S7-PLCSIM for the scaling, alarm and PID exercises. The instrumentation modules need nothing installed.
- Hardware
- None. A multimeter and a loop calibrator are useful if you have them, and every exercise is written to work without them.
- Certificate
- Optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion, verifiable by code. Not a vendor credential.
- Video lessons by
- Instrumentation Tools, Instrumentation Academy, Hegamurl (independent creators, credited below)
- Language
- English
A shareable EDWartens certificate
Finish every module and pass the final assessment, and the optional EDWartens certificate is yours. It carries a unique verification code on a public page anyone can check, so it stands up when a recruiter looks it up. See it below.
- Add it to your LinkedIn profile in one click
- Link it from a CV or portfolio, the URL is permanent
- Publicly verifiable by code, not a PDF anyone can edit
- Issued by EDWartens India, the training centre itself
The course itself stays free whether or not you ever buy one.
Stuck? Ask a practising engineer
A free course usually means a comment section and hope. This one does not. Every module has an Ask-your-trainer panel that reaches the same engineers who teach our paid programme: people who commission panels for a living, not moderators.
- Questions answered in the context of the module you are on
- The same engineers who teach the AEP programme
- Career tools, CV help and public job listings included
- Your progress and notes stay in your account for good
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Reviews here are written only by learners who have finished every module of Instrumentation for PLC Engineers, and they are published exactly as written. Finish the course and yours will be the first.
Common questions
Is this an instrumentation course or a PLC course?
It is the join between them, written for the PLC side. There is a full Industrial Instrumentation course in this catalogue that covers pressure, level, flow and temperature measurement in depth, and this course does not repeat it. What this one does is follow one signal all the way through: what the transmitter sends, how the loop carries it, what the analog card turns it into, how you scale it, how you alarm on it, how it gets back out to a valve, and how you find the fault when the number is wrong.
I have never touched an instrument. Can I follow it?
Yes. Nothing about instrumentation is assumed, and the arithmetic is done in full every time rather than left as a formula. What is assumed is the programming side: you can write ladder logic in TIA Portal and you have seen an analog input before. If you have not, do the Siemens TIA Portal course first.
Do I need a multimeter, a loop calibrator or a real transmitter?
No. They help if you have them and the course points out where, but every exercise is written to be done with S7-PLCSIM and forced values instead. The scaling, alarm and PID work is all provable in simulation.
Do I need to buy TIA Portal?
No. Siemens publishes a free 21-day trial with S7-PLCSIM included, and it needs only a free Siemens account. Modules 1 to 4 need no software at all, so install it when you reach module 5.
Does it cover HART and fieldbus?
It covers what a PLC engineer meets: that HART rides on the same two wires as the 4-20 mA signal, what it lets somebody change in the field without telling you, and why that matters to your scaling. Configuring HART devices and designing fieldbus segments is instrument engineering and is not in this course.
Is the course really free?
Yes. Every module, every practice task and the final assessment. You create an account so your progress is saved and the assessments can be marked. The only paid item is the certificate, and only if you decide you want it.
What certificate do I get?
An EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued when you have worked through every module and passed the final assessment, with a unique number anyone can verify on our site. It is not a vendor credential and we will never describe it as one.
What you walk away with
Your certificate for Instrumentation for PLC Engineers
Finish the course, pass the final, and this is the document with your name on it.
Verifiable by anyone
A unique certificate number and a public verification page. A recruiter checks it in ten seconds.
Adds to LinkedIn in one click
Issuer, credential ID and URL prefilled, with 5 matching skills to pin to your profile.
QR code on the certificate
Scans straight to the verification page, so a printed copy proves itself.
Names what you can do
Lists the topics covered, from the control loop end to end: sensing element, transmitter, loop, analog card, program, final element to alarms with deadband gated on signal validity, p&id and isa tags, pid_compact on a scaled variable, and loop fault-finding.
A permanent link
Put it on a CV, a portfolio or an application. The URL never changes.
Earned, not attended
Issued only after every module and a final assessment at 60%, with 3 attempts. That is why it stands up.
Learning is free. The certificate is optional.
Add it now and pay only when you have finished the course, or come back for it later. One-off, ₹559, GST included, with a receipt.
Issued by EDWartens India (Wartens Automation Private Limited) as a Certificate of Completion for this self-paced course. It is not a vendor certification, a university award or a CPD-accredited activity, and it does not certify competence on live equipment. Delivered electronically; see the refund policy.
Credits
Who made the video lessons
The video lessons in this course were created by the people below, not by EDWartens. Every lesson streams from its creator's own YouTube channel; EDWartens neither hosts nor sells that footage, and the creators are not affiliated with EDWartens and do not endorse this course. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the notes, the practice tasks and the assessments.
- Instrumentation Toolsthe 4-20 mA loop, transmitter wiring, the percent and process variable calculations, control valves, P&ID reading, calibration and the loop in a PLC or DCS
- Instrumentation Academythe animated fundamentals: what instrumentation is, pressure transmitters, why 4-20 mA, proximity sensors, I/P converters, positioners and P&ID drawings
- Hegamurlanalog processing in TIA Portal: NORM_X and SCALE_X, output unscaling, and PID_Compact with its tuning
If you are one of these creators and would like a lesson removed or credited differently, write to info@wartens.com.