Report on Finishing School- PLC, VFD and HMI (20 th July to 7th August 2026)

The Department of Electronics and Computer Science at Don Bosco College of Engineering (DBCE), Fatorda, successfully conducted a 20-day Finishing School on Industrial Automation in association with Autotech Technologies. The training programme was held from 20th July to 7th August 2026 and provided students with hands-on exposure to three key areas of Industrial Automation — Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), Variable Frequency Drives (VFD), and Human-Machine Interface (HMI).

The programme was conducted by Mr. Sandip Mone, Proprietor and Trainer at Autotech Technologies, and Ms. Sanjita Nadkarni, Project In-charge and Trainer at Autotech Technologies. Their industry expertise and practical approach enabled the students to gain valuable insights into the application of Industrial Automation technologies.

The Finishing School was organized for students from the Electronics and Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering departments of DBCE, giving them an opportunity to strengthen their technical skills through practical training. The different brands that were covered under this course were DELTA VFD, ALLEN BRADLEY PLC, DELTA HMI.

The course started with a brief introduction on DELTA VFD which included introduction to motor and explanation on motor name plate and some basic information on VFD, its advantages, and uses. Later students were shown to program a VFD by putting different VFD parameters. Reverse and forward motion of the motor was shown using the VFD. The other important concepts which were covered in the VFD module were Braking, multistep speed command, relay triggering, external input wiring, sensor wiring, and Load connection.

The second topic was on Programmable Logic Controller. The PLC that was covered for the students was Allen Bradley Micrologix 1000. Initially students were introduced to Allen Bradley PLC, its softwares and basics of Ladder Diagram Programming with different Industrial examples. The topics covered in PLC were Basic gates (AND, OR, XOR), One Shot Rising, Latching, Interlocking, Binary bit concept, Up counter, down counter, ON and OFF delay timer, and some basic and advance programs with Industrial examples. This was followed by wiring of the PLC. Students were taught to wire inputs as well as output such as Indicators and Relays.

The final topic that was covered was Delta HMI. In the initial introduction to HMI, the students were taught to handle a touch screen HMI and different communication ports of HMI to communicate with PLC. The concepts covered here were Page generation, Tag generation and Downloading pages to PC, including communication between the PLC and HMI. This included turning ON a PLC output via HMI keys. Variable Numeric input values were given to PLC’s timer and counter using HMI. Value Display Concept was also shown wherein they could display Timer and Counter values.

On 7th August 2026, the Valedictory Function of the Finishing School on Industrial Automation was held in the presence of the esteemed Principal, Dr. Neena Panandikar; HOD of the Electronics and Computer Science Department, Dr. D. S. Vidhya; HOD of the Mechanical Department, Dr. Suraj Marathe; Resource Person, Ms. Sanjita Nadkarni, Project In-charge and Trainer at Autotech Technologies; and Prof. Flavia Leitao.

The students were presented with certificates of completion in recognition of their successful participation in the course. This was followed by a sharing of feedback and experiences by the students, who expressed their appreciation for the programme and highlighted how the training had been enriching and instrumental in enhancing their practical skills and preparing them for the demands of the industry.

As a gesture of gratitude, the Management and the students presented a token of appreciation to Mr. Sandip Mone and Ms. Sanjita Nadkarni, acknowledging her valuable contribution, dedication, and commitment towards making the training programme a meaningful learning experience for the students.

The Finishing School was coordinated by Prof. Flavia Leitao, whose efforts and support contributed significantly to the smooth and successful execution of the programme.