PLC programming · Free online course

Siemens TIA Portal with Factory I/O: Virtual Commissioning Projects

Nine machines you can see moving: connect Factory I/O to TIA Portal, then program conveyors, sorting and separating stations, a filling tank, a queue, an assembler, pick and place, a converge station, an elevator, a warehouse and an analog tank, all with your own ladder.

  • 10 modules
  • 5h 55m of video
  • Beginner
  • English
  • ₹0, free
Siemens TIA Portal with Factory I/O: Virtual Commissioning Projects course cover

₹0Free for good

Worth ₹3,499 by length and depth against classroom training. It has always been free; that is not a former price.

No card. Checkout takes a minute and gives you a receipt.

Overview

About Siemens TIA Portal with Factory I/O: Virtual Commissioning Projects

Nine machines you can see moving: connect Factory I/O to TIA Portal, then program conveyors, sorting and separating stations, a filling tank, a queue, an assembler, pick and place, a converge station, an elevator, a warehouse and an analog tank, all with your own ladder.

Siemens TIA Portal with Factory I/O: Virtual Commissioning Projects is a free, self-paced online course from EDWartens for engineering students, ITI and diploma holders, and working engineers in automation, electrical and instrumentation. It has 10 modules and 5h 55m of video lessons by Technical Mindshare, Instrumentation Tools, The Automation Craze and others, with written notes and worked problems, a practical project with a document pack and a 15-question final assessment (pass mark 60%). Learning is free with an account; an optional certificate with a public verification code is issued when you pass. Last updated 27 September 2026.

Who it is for: Engineering students, ITI and diploma holders, and working engineers in automation, electrical and instrumentation

This course includes

  • 5h 55m of video lessons
  • 10 modules with written notes and diagrams
  • One final assessment: 15 questions, pass mark 60%
  • Ask-an-engineer support from practising engineers
  • Lifetime access, the course does not expire
  • Optional verifiable certificate when you finish
  1. Step 1 of 3

    Learn the 10 modules

    5h 55m of video lessons, written notes and a practice task per module, at your own pace.

  2. Step 2 of 3

    Pass the final assessment

    15 questions drawn from every module, pass mark 60%, 3 attempts.

  3. Step 3 of 3

    Take the certificate, if you want it

    Optional, paid once, only if you choose it. The course stays free either way.

    See the certificate and its price

A look inside

Siemens TIA Portal with Factory I/O: Virtual Commissioning Projects: Syllabus at a glance
Syllabus at a glance
Siemens TIA Portal with Factory I/O: Virtual Commissioning Projects: What you will be able to do
What you will be able to do
Siemens TIA Portal with Factory I/O: Virtual Commissioning Projects: Tools and credits
Tools and credits

From the lessons

  • Factory IO tutorial for beginners | Get started and connect to TIA portal | Siemens S7-1200 PLC

    Installing Factory I/O and Connecting It to TIA Portal

    by Technical Mindshare

  • Factory IO Scene From A to B - Tutorial 7 - TIA Portal

    From A to B: Sensors, a Conveyor, and Set and Reset

    by The Automation Craze

  • Factory IO tutorial Sorting Station | TIA portal | S7-1200 PLC

    Sorting Stations: by Height, Colour and Weight

    by Technical Mindshare

  • Factory IO - Separating Station PLC Tutorial

    Separating Station and the Sorter Project

    by Instrumentation Tools

  • Factory IO - 3 - Filling Tank (Timers) using a Siemens S7-1200 CPU with TIA Portal.

    Filling Tank with Timers and a Queue with Counters

    by Smart Builds

  • Siemens TIA Portal & Factory IO (Creating the PLC Program for Conveyor Sequence, Siemens S7-1200)

    Conveyor Sequence Project

    by PLC Automation Academy

Lesson frames belong to the creators named in the Credits and are shown from YouTube.

What you learn

What you will be able to do

Connect Factory I/O to S7-PLCSIM or PLCSIM Advanced, map its sensors and actuators to PLC tags, and program a series of complete scenes from a two-sensor conveyor to a pick-and-place assembler, a warehouse crane and an analog level loop, testing each one on a 3D machine before it exists.

  • Install Factory I/O and connect it to PLCSIM and PLCSIM Advanced
  • Map scene sensors and actuators to PLC input and output tags
  • Program conveyors, set and reset, sorting and separating logic
  • Use timers, counters and sequences on filling, queueing and assembly scenes
  • Program pick and place, converge, elevator and warehouse scenes
  • Control an analog tank level and prove a whole line before it is built

Syllabus

Course content, module by module

In order, at whatever pace suits you. Each module ends with a practice task that builds on the last.

Modules
10
Video lessons
22
Of video
5h 55m
Final questions
15
  1. 01

    Installing Factory I/O and Connecting It to TIA Portal

    2 lessons · 42m
  2. 02

    From A to B: Sensors, a Conveyor, and Set and Reset

    3 lessons · 38m
  3. 03

    Sorting Stations: by Height, Colour and Weight

    3 lessons · 29m
  4. 04

    Separating Station and the Sorter Project

    2 lessons · 40m
  5. 05

    Filling Tank with Timers and a Queue with Counters

    2 lessons · 24m
  6. 06

    Conveyor Sequence Project

    1 lesson · 45m
  7. 07

    Assembler and Pick and Place

    3 lessons · 1h 5m
  8. 08

    Converge Station, Elevator and Automated Warehouse

    3 lessons · 36m

  9. Final assessment · 15 questions, pass mark 60%

Project

The course project

Optional practice that ends in the kind of job the course prepares you for, with the documents that go with it.

About 18 hours

Parcel sorting line in Factory I/O: virtually commission the S7-1200 program, then write the FAT for the real panel

Build and commission the control program for a three-lane parcel sorting line with an overflow pick-and-place station, using the Factory I/O sorting-by-height and pick-and-place scenes as the machine and PLCSIM Advanced as the controller. You deliver the program, an I/O list that maps every simulated tag to the real device it stands in for, a virtual-commissioning report of what the simulation found, and the FAT record for the physical panel. The sample pack shows each one the way a system integrator hands it to a warehouse operator.

Sample document pack, 6 documents, filled in for the scenario

  • Control narrativeSequence of Operations: Parcel Sorting Line SRT-1
  • I/O listI/O List: Panel CP-201, with Simulated-to-Real Mapping
  • HMI specHMI Screen Specification: KTP700 Basic, Panel CP-201
  • Test reportVirtual Commissioning Report: SRT-1 against Factory I/O
  • FATFactory Acceptance Test Record: Panel CP-201
  • BOMBill of Materials: Panel CP-201 and Line Devices

Read inside the course and download as a workbook. The project is optional practice, marked when you submit it; the certificate needs only the modules and the final assessment.

Tools

Software, hardware and lessons

Software

TIA Portal V21 (21-day trial) with S7-PLCSIM, or PLCSIM Advanced if you have it, and Factory I/O 2.5 (30-day trial, full Ultimate Edition)

Hardware

None. Factory I/O is the machine.

Who it is for

Beginner to intermediate. You should know basic TIA Portal ladder; the S7-1200 tutorial series on this site is enough.

Video lessons by

  • Technical Mindshare
  • Instrumentation Tools
  • The Automation Craze
  • Smart Builds
  • PLC Automation Academy
  • Factory IO Ideas
  • Marcin Regulski

Independent creators, credited in full under Credits.

Software you need

What to download, where from, what it costs and how to install it. Every link goes to the maker's own site, never a mirror.

Required

  1. 01

    SIMATIC STEP 7 Professional and WinCC (TIA Portal) V21 Trial

    Siemens

    Free trial: 21 days
    Runs on
    Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise 64-bit (24H2), Windows 10 Enterprise 2021 LTSC, or Windows Server 2022/2025. Windows 11 Home is supported only for the Basic editions.
    Account
    A free Siemens account registered for Industry Online Support (SiePortal)
    Size
    about 8.1 GB for the main ISO, plus an optional 3.1 GB DVD 2 with hardware support packages

    Siemens lets registered users download the V21 trial of STEP 7 (Basic and Professional), STEP 7 Safety and WinCC and test it for 21 days. The same package is used for the full product; after 21 days you need a purchased licence to keep working.

    Official download pagesupport.industry.siemens.com

    Alternatives

    • TIA Portal Cloud trial: 21 days free in a cloud virtual machine, no install. Sessions are limited to one hour and it is not available in every country.
  2. 02

    S7-PLCSIM V21 (TIA Portal) Trial

    Siemens

    Free trial: 21 days
    Runs on
    Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise 64-bit (24H2), Windows 10 Enterprise 2021 LTSC, or Windows Server 2022/2025. Windows 11 Home is supported only for the Basic editions.
    Account
    A free Siemens account registered for Industry Online Support (SiePortal)
    Size
    about 2.5 GB (ISO)

    S7-PLCSIM V21 is offered as a 21-day trial on the same Siemens page as the STEP 7 and WinCC V21 trial. It needs STEP 7 V21 installed on the same PC.

    Official download pagesupport.industry.siemens.com
  3. 03

    Factory I/O

    Real Games

    Free trial: 30 days
    Runs on
    Windows 7 SP1 or newer, with a graphics card from 2006 (NVIDIA, AMD) or 2012 (Intel) onwards
    Account
    Your name and email on the Factory I/O trial form

    The 30-day trial includes the full Ultimate Edition. After that you need a paid edition; the Siemens, Allen-Bradley, Modbus and OPC, MHJ, Automgen and Starter editions each support different PLCs.

    Official download pagefactoryio.com

Optional

Useful, not needed to finish the course.

  1. 04

    SIMATIC S7-PLCSIM Advanced V8.0 Trial

    Siemens

    Free trial: 21 days
    Runs on
    Same Windows versions as TIA Portal STEP 7 Basic V21 (64-bit). Windows Home editions are not supported.
    Account
    A free Siemens account registered for Industry Online Support (SiePortal)
    Size
    about 1.0 GB (ISO)

    Registered users can download S7-PLCSIM Advanced V8.0 and test it for 21 days. Siemens says the trial package is identical to the supplied product; for a longer test you must ask a Siemens sales contact.

    Official download pagesupport.industry.siemens.com

Checked against each maker's own page on 27 September 2026. Trial lengths and editions change; the maker's page is the final word.

What you walk away with

Your certificate for Siemens TIA Portal with Factory I/O: Virtual Commissioning Projects

Finish the course, pass the final, and this is the document with your name on it.

Sample Wartens Certificate of Completion for Siemens TIA Portal with Factory I/O: Virtual Commissioning Projects, issued through the EDWartens training portal
Sample. The issued certificate carries your name, your final score, a unique certificate ID and its own QR code.

  • Verifiable by anyone

  • Adds to LinkedIn in one click

  • QR code on the certificate

  • Names what you can do

  • A permanent link

  • Earned, not attended

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, US$23.99, with a receipt.

Issued by Wartens Ltd (England and Wales, company no. 15262249) through the EDWartens training portal, as a Certificate of Completion for this self-paced course. Sold in India by Wartens Automation Private Limited. 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.

FAQ

Common questions

Is Factory I/O free?

It has a free 30-day trial, which is the full Ultimate Edition with every scene and the Siemens drivers; the course is built to fit inside it. After the trial the Siemens drivers need the Siemens or Ultimate Edition. Install it when you reach module 1, not before.

Do I need PLCSIM Advanced?

No. Plain PLCSIM works with Factory I/O through the S7-PLCSIM driver for most scenes; the last module shows PLCSIM Advanced for anyone who has it.

Is the Siemens TIA Portal with Factory I/O course really free?

Yes. Every module, practice task and assessment. You create an account so your progress is saved and the assessments can be marked. The certificate is the only paid item, and only if you want it.

What certificate do I get, and is it a Siemens qualification?

An EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued when you pass the final assessment, with a verification code anyone can check. It is not a Siemens credential and is never described as one.

Who made the video lessons in the Siemens TIA Portal with Factory I/O course?

The creators named in the Credits block at the foot of this page, on their own YouTube channels. EDWartens did not make the videos and the creators are not affiliated with EDWartens. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the notes, the practice tasks and the assessments.

How long does the Siemens TIA Portal with Factory I/O course take?

Plan on about 9 hours in all, including the video lessons, notes and practice tasks. It is self-paced, so you work through the ten modules at your own speed.

Do I need to know TIA Portal first?

You need basic TIA Portal ladder. The free S7-1200 tutorial series on this site covers enough to start.

Is the Siemens TIA Portal with Factory I/O course free in India, and what does the certificate cost?

Yes. Learning costs ₹0 in India: every module, the written notes, the practice tasks and the final assessment, with no card and no trial period. The only paid item is the optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion, ₹499 including GST for this beginner course, paid in rupees through Razorpay, and only if you want it after passing the final assessment.

Is there classroom PLC training in India as well?

Yes. EDWartens India runs the Automation Engineer Program (AEP), a classroom programme at its Electronic City centre in Bangalore. The Automation Engineer Program (AEP) teaches Siemens PLC programming in TIA Portal in person at our Electronic City centre, alongside the other PLC brands it covers. This free course is separate and fully online; it is a good way to try the subject before deciding on classroom training. Details are at edwartens.co.in/siemens-tia-portal-training-bangalore, and the programme itself at edwartens.co.in/courses/aep.

All course facts
Price
₹0, free for good. No trial, no card. Comparable classroom training of this length costs about ₹3,499.
Who it is for
Engineering students, ITI and diploma holders, and working engineers in automation, electrical and instrumentation
Format
10 self-paced modules, 5h 55m of video, written notes, a practice task per module and one final assessment.
Level
Beginner. Beginner to intermediate. You should know basic TIA Portal ladder; the S7-1200 tutorial series on this site is enough.
Brand
Siemens
Software
TIA Portal V21 (21-day trial) with S7-PLCSIM, or PLCSIM Advanced if you have it, and Factory I/O 2.5 (30-day trial, full Ultimate Edition)
Hardware
None. Factory I/O is the machine.
Certificate
Optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion, ₹499 inclusive of GST for learners in India, verifiable by code. Not a vendor credential.
Video lessons by
Technical Mindshare, Instrumentation Tools, The Automation Craze, Smart Builds, PLC Automation Academy, Factory IO Ideas, Marcin Regulski (independent creators, credited below)
Language
English
Last updated
27 September 2026

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Learning paths with this course

Classroom course, Bangalore

Siemens PLC and TIA Portal training in Bangalore

The Automation Engineer Program (AEP) teaches Siemens PLC programming in TIA Portal in person at our Electronic City centre, alongside the other PLC brands it covers.

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.

If you are one of these creators and would like a lesson removed or credited differently, write to info@wartens.com.