Jul 03, 2018 7:33 AM
Replying to Joshua Render
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It has been a few years since I programmed PLC's and ladder logic.
Some HMI's use Visual Basic, you may want to ask about that (or if they use another language)
There are two types of automation - physical machine automation, which uses PLC's, and RPA's which is software automation and uses UIPath, OpenSpan, or a number of other software tools.
The physical machine automation programing language for PLC's - Ladder Logic - was built for electricians to read. Showing them pictures of it and asking them what the machine is doing on a given line is a good way to assess their ability.
I would also bring them a PLC, power supply, a couple of sensors, and maybe an actuator or some other device and then ask them to put it together. Vary the devices required voltage. You don't need to hook it up to see if it works (so no actual electricity needed), you just need to see if they did it right and how they went about doing it.
