Industrial Automation: Online Course with Internship Agreement
The Industrial Automation course teaches how to maintain installed automated plant. You learn to read electrical drawings and I/O lists, write and debug simple PLC programmes, diagnose network and drive faults, and recover robot cells. It also covers lockout/tagout and closing work orders properly. It is for future maintenance technicians. Study 100 % online for 180 days; an internship agreement is included; €200.
- 180 days of access
- 100 % online, at your own pace
- Level: beginner · No prior experience required
- Assessment: 10 quizzes (50 questions) and a final project
- Internship agreement included
- Certificate with a verifiable QR code
- Languages: Spanish, English, French
- Price: €200
Who it is for
- People aiming for a maintenance technician role on automated production lines
- Operators or electricians who want to diagnose stoppages on PLC-controlled machines
- Technicians who need to work across Siemens, Rockwell and Beckhoff equipment
- Newcomers to European plants where English is the shared working language on shift
What do you need to start?
Prior knowledge
- No prior knowledge of automation or PLC programming is needed
- Willingness to work from technical drawings and written procedures
- Enough English to read technical documentation used on mixed-nationality shifts
Software and equipment
- A computer and an internet connection
- Free vendor PLC software, such as Rockwell's no-cost Standard Edition for small controllers (free account required)
- No commercial licences are provided; check each vendor's licence conditions on the day you download
- Robot simulation and offline programming are usually in paid tiers, not free versions
What you'll be able to do
- Trace a signal from a field device to its I/O list row, terminal and wire number
- Convert 4-20 mA readings into engineering units and back
- Write, simulate and debug a start/stop PLC programme with seal-in, timer and counter
- Read a motor nameplate to set protection current and terminal box connection
- Investigate a tripped drive before pressing reset, knowing what to read and what not to touch
- Walk through a six-step lockout/tagout and complete the written permit field by field
- Close a work order so that the fault does not come back
- Recalculate a line's OEE from a shift's raw minutes, counts and rejects
Skills you will practise
- Electrical drawing reading
- I/O lists
- 4-20 mA signals
- IEC 61131-3
- Ladder and Structured Text
- PROFINET and EtherCAT
- VFD fault diagnosis
- Lockout/tagout (LOTO)
- OEE and MTTR
- OPC UA and IEC 62443
Syllabus
- Inside the European Automated Plant: Sectors, Roles and Who Is Hiring — How automated plants are organised, which roles maintain them, and why the installed base drives demand for particular control platforms.
- Reading the Machine: Electrical Drawings, I/O Lists, Sensors and the 24 V Cabinet — Following a signal through drawings, terminals and wire numbers, checking sensor gaps, working safely in cabinets and writing as-built mark-ups.
- PLC Fundamentals and the Vendor Landscape: IEC 61131-3, Ladder and Structured Text — Writing and debugging small PLC programmes, understanding the scan cycle and translating vocabulary between Siemens, Rockwell and Beckhoff.
- HMI, SCADA and Alarm Management: The Operator's Screen — What HMIs and SCADA do and do not do, how screens are organised, and reading alarm history backwards to find the root alarm.
- Industrial Networks and Field Diagnostics: PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, EtherCAT and IO-Link — A structured method for diagnosing network faults such as 'no link' and station failures before reaching for a replacement cable.
- Motors, Drives and VFDs: Starting, Stopping and Not Burning Things — Reading motor nameplates, comparing direct-on-line, star-delta and drive starting, and handling drive trips without destroying evidence.
- Robots and Cobots on the Line: Cells, Safety and Recovery — How a stopped robot cell behaves, what a maintenance technician may touch, and the safe order for recovering production.
- Machine Safety and LOTO: Working Safely Under the 2027 Machinery Regulation — Isolating every energy source with lockout/tagout and understanding who Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 binds before and after 20 January 2027.
- Maintenance That Pays: Work Orders, CMMS, KPIs and Condition Monitoring — Writing work orders that record findings and measurements, using a CMMS, calculating OEE and MTTR, and applying condition monitoring.
- Plant Data and OT Security: OPC UA, MQTT and IEC 62443 in Practice — How plant data moves via OPC UA and MQTT, and the maintenance technician's role in responding to security advisories.
Internship agreement
An intern with this course could support a maintenance team on automated production or packaging lines. Tasks might include tracing faults on electrical drawings, marking up as-built changes, reading alarm logs, assisting with drive and network diagnostics, and recording findings in work orders or a CMMS. Work around live equipment would follow the host plant's lockout/tagout procedure under supervision.
The internship can run at the same time as the course, within the 180 days of access.
Frequently asked questions
What job does the Industrial Automation course prepare me for?
The Industrial Automation course prepares you for maintaining installed automated plant rather than designing or installing new lines. You learn to follow a signal from a drawing to a terminal, read a PLC programme somebody else wrote, diagnose a stoppage from the alarm log and recover a stopped robot cell. It does not train you to program robots or commission drives; it focuses on what a maintenance technician does on shift.
Which tools, standards and regulations does the course actually cover?
The course covers PLC programming to IEC 61131-3 in Ladder and Structured Text, with vocabulary across Siemens, Rockwell (Allen-Bradley) and Beckhoff. Networking covers PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, EtherCAT and IO-Link. Safety covers lockout/tagout and Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 on machinery. Maintenance covers work orders, CMMS, OEE and MTTR. Plant data and security cover OPC UA, MQTT and IEC 62443.
If I learn one PLC brand, can I work on any machine?
Not quite. A common belief is that a PLC is a PLC, so one vendor's software lets you work anywhere. The course corrects this: IEC 61131-3 defines common languages, but a programme written for one brand cannot simply be opened in another. That is why it teaches you to translate terms and concepts between Siemens, Rockwell and Beckhoff, the platforms you are most likely to meet.
What could I do during the internship, and who arranges the company?
You find the host company yourself; the school then issues the internship agreement and its annex, which the company signs electronically, usually within one to two working days. With this course you could join a plant maintenance team: reading electrical drawings and I/O lists, analysing alarm histories, helping diagnose network or drive faults, and writing work orders that record what was found and measured.
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Content updated: 07/10/2026