198 BOOK REVIEWS
It is unfortunate that the book retails in the U.K. at S. K. SPURGEON
£25.95 as this price will surely prevent many undergrad- Control Systems Group, Department of Engineering
uates from purchasing this useful text personally and it ¹he ºniversity of ¸eicester, ºniversity Road
may largely be rendered a library reference book. ¸eicester, ¸E1 7RH, º.K.
THE PLC WORKBOOK, K. Clements-Jewery and W. This is quite an important part in the book. It gives brief
Jeffcoat, Prentice-Hall International, Hemel Hempstead, and simple ideas about the programming used in PLC,
U.K., 1996, ISBN 0 13 489840 0, x#197 pp, £18.95. with practical examples. Although once written the soft-
ware is rarely changed, nevertheless, the maintenance
Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) are widespread engineer should have good knowledge of the program
in industry, initially their main purpose was for protec- technique.
tion and fail safe actions. More recently, PLCs have been Chapter 8 explains the programming hardware that
used for logic processing and analogue control systems. should be understood by engineers and technicians who
The available industrial-academic books on PLCs are are involved in the system operation and maintenance.
very few. Therefore, this book has a special importance as Chapter 9 gives guidance for PLC system configura-
it tries to satisfy both domains. PLC manufacturer’s now tions, and the requirements for a PLC system, choosing
provides various versions, differing in size, capacity, and proper input/output modules, analogue and digital, and
programming scheme used. The book is divided into eleven the communication between the modules is considered in
chapters and one chapter comprises tutorial exercises. the chapter. It is very important to be understood the
Chapter 1 introduces the PLC device from the histori- functionality of the system before deciding the PLC spe-
cal and technical point of view, wiring and installation. cifications required for the system, such as the processor,
Chapter 2 sets the scene for the PLC. It explains the memory capacity, I/O cards, and program speed and size.
tools being used in any system controlled by PLC, these Chapter 10 introduces the engineering method for
tools or elements can be either logic (digital) such as PLC programming according to the system require-
switches, relays, solenoid valves, or analogue such as ments. When analogue models are used, mathematical
coils, PID controller, and capacitors, etc. Usually, these algorithms to perform the engineering operations are
devices are in turn, divided into input devices and output needed, the knowledge of the binary system is also re-
devices. This chapter also discusses the hardware of the quired to interpret the results. This chapter confirms that
control systems that are controlled by PLC techniques. using modular programming design in the overall struc-
Chapters 3 and 4 describe the depth of the PLC tech- ture of the programming can be more easily understood,
nology. The principles, and philosophy of using PLC, the designed, tested, and modified.
symbols used, and the ladder diagram scheme used to Chapter 11 is devoted to diagnosis techniques and the
achieve the PLC program and its verification. This de- maintenance procedure for PLC. It gives an idea of the
scription is supported by practical examples, which make software needed for a fault diagnosis system, so that,
it more interesting to the reader. self-diagnosis and displaying the faults may take place in
Chapter 5 is concerned with the control elements of the the PLC. The chapter also explains the various tech-
ladder diagram, functions, applications, and control se- niques of diagnosis, such as, last output set technique,
quences logic. It explains the reset techniques used in uncompleted operations technique, and fault time tech-
PLC systems and suggests methods to reduce the num- nique. The authors advise that ‘it is possible to provide
bers of ladder diagram elements. diagnostic help by using diagnostic programs that are
Chapter 6 introduces the construction of PLC and designed and programmed into the PLC’.
peripherals. The necessary connections, technical instal- The book is a practical guide to PLC technology,
lation, and power supply are described. This chapter which is quite useful for technicians and engineers. Books
concentrates on the I/O units for both logic (digital) about PLC technology and operational principles are
events and analogue signals, it also explains the compo- not very common. Usually, the technician has to fathom
nents of the electronic modules, the memory that will out the principle from manufacturer’s catalogues, so in
store the program, and the functionality of the program. this respect, the book is a very welcome addition to the
Thus, the process control achieved by the program for practical control engineers library.
such equipment like PID control, control valves (servo
valves), monitoring systems, and the protocols of con- I. HSINO
necting the machine to another PLCs are all described. Industrial Control Centre,
Chapter 7 discusses, in a purely technical way, the University of Strathclyde, 50, George Street,
methods of designing a program as a ladder diagram. Glasgow G1 1QE, U.K.
Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Adapt. Control Signal Process. 13, 197—198 (1999)
