Overview

This unit covers the skills and knowledge required to develop programs for programmable logic controllers (PLC) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems.

Requisites

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
02-March-2026
31-May-2026
Last self-enrolment date
15-March-2026
Census date
31-March-2026
Last withdraw without fail date
21-April-2026
Results released date
07-July-2026

Unit learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  1. Establish communication with PLCs using digital and analog signals when integrating various sensors and actuators
  2. Develop PLC programs when working on industrial applications using multiple programming languages and PLCs
  3. Utilise industrial communication protocols, such as OPC_UA, when transferring data within the control system
  4. Apply SCADA systems to integrate hardware and software from various manufacturers when acquiring and processing data
  5. Analyse and apply the principles of control theory to solve problems in a SCADA system
  6. Design human machine interface for effective user input and monitoring of control systems
  7. Develop professional reports for PLC and SCADA projects when presenting to stakeholders

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)

On-campus
Class

 3.00 16 weeks 48
On-campus
Class		 3.00 16 weeks 48
Unspecified Activities 
Independent Learning		 3.38 16 weeks 54
Total     150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULOs
Assignment Individual     20-30 % 2,3,5
Presentation and Report Individual 20-30 % 5,7
Project Individual 20-30 % 1,4,5,6
Test Individual 30-40 % 2,3,5

Hurdle

As the minimum requirements of assessment to pass a unit and meet all Unit Learning Outcomes to a minimum standard, a student must achieve:

(i) an aggregate mark of 50% or more, and
(ii) at least 40% in the final assessment.

Students who do not successfully achieve hurdle requirement (ii) will receive a maximum of 45% as the total mark for the unit.

Content

PLC processor and IO modules
Contemporary industry PLC hardware and programming
PLC control applications
Human machine interface (HMI) programming (e.g.  loops, charts, graphs, case, sequence and arrays)
PLC Programming  

  • Laddar diagram
  • Function Block Diagram
  • Sequential function chart
  • Structured Text

Control system testing and troubleshooting techniques
Control Systems

  • Open loop and closed loop control Systems
  • Fundamentals of PID control
  • PID practical tuning

SCADA systems in industry

  • Common system components (e.g. RTU/PLC, Alarms, HMI)
  • Implementing  SCADA control
  • Database and SQL data stroage and retrieval
  • OPC_UA communication

Code documentation
Professional report writing and presentation skills

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.