This simulator traces a motor start command through its entire control chain — PLC logic, a 24 VDC control circuit, an electromechanical contactor and thermal overload relay — all the way to a turning induction motor and its mechanical load. Five tabbed sections take you from operating the panel to inspecting the logic and wiring, running an automated test bench, studying reference material, and testing your troubleshooting instincts.
• Operate (01): a 3D operator station with three camera views (Overview, Control cabinet, Motor & load); local Remote START/STOP buttons and a hardwired S1 · START / S0 · STOP station; an EMERGENCY STOP button; a safety relay with Reset safety relay; an overload with F1 · Trip test and Reset overload; an Acknowledge alarm control; a virtual meter with selectable measurement point and Record measurement; a load setting control; Pause simulation, time-scale control and an alarm/event journal with Export trend CSV. • Logic & wiring (02): live PLC I/O table, live ladder logic view with a logic explanation panel, the power circuit and independently wired control-enable circuit, and a component/wiring inspector with a Pause & execute one PLC scan control plus +20 ms single-scan stepping. • Test bench (03): an automated functional test bench (Run all bench checks) with a bench-results readout, guided fault scenarios, and an isolation-gated Repair injected fault control that only works after the equipment is confirmed isolated. • Reference (04): scope, assumptions and manufacturer-reference notes plus lesson material on the real control chain from command to shaft. • Knowledge check (05): a troubleshooting quiz that scores your first answer on each question. • A guided tour button walks through six tips: safety reset sequencing, local Start behavior, comparing logic view against real feedback, using the meter and historian, injecting scenario faults, and running the bench checks plus quiz.
This models generic IEC-style industrial components — a 24 V DC PLC and control coils, three-pole contactors, a thermal overload relay, circuit protection, an induction motor and a mechanical load — using common real-world terminal designations without reproducing any branded product or certified circuit. Field contact states, PLC input/output bits, output coil voltage, physical contactor position and actual motor motion are treated as five distinct, independently observable signals, which is the entire point of the simulator: a command being issued by the PLC (an output bit going true) is not the same thing as a contactor physically closing, which is not the same thing as the motor actually turning.
The plant model approximates starting current, acceleration, slip, coast-down, phase loss and thermal memory build-up and cooldown in the overload relay, but it does not solve a full induction-motor equivalent circuit, simulate real fault currents or arc flash, model network protocols, or reproduce a certified overload trip curve — its overload behavior is educational I²t-like heating and must never be used to select real protective equipment.
The lab lets you inject realistic wiring faults — an open coil, an overload trip, or a welded (stuck-closed) contactor — and diagnose them using the independent observations available: PLC bits, wiring voltages, contactor position feedback and motor motion. Critically, the Repair injected fault control is isolation-gated: it requires the equipment to be confirmed isolated first, mirroring the real safety principle that faults are diagnosed and corrected only under proper lockout, not while a circuit may still be energized.
The Run all bench checks feature runs the model's own internal automated tests, giving you a way to independently confirm the simulator's plant and logic behavior are internally consistent before you rely on it for guided fault scenarios. Bench checks run on isolated copies of the model, while guided scenarios load the live panel so you investigate with the same meter and logic tools you would use on real equipment — this lab is explicitly built to teach diagnosis and understanding, not to commission real machinery, which always requires manufacturer documentation, engineered protection, a risk assessment and qualified personnel.
The Soft Starter and Star-Delta simulators focus on the electrical starting method itself — how voltage ramping or a star-to-delta transition changes starting current and torque. This simulator instead focuses on the control chain that commands a standard direct-on-line contactor starter: PLC ladder logic, a 24 VDC control circuit, contactor and overload wiring, fault injection and troubleshooting diagnostics. It is a genuinely different topic — control-system diagnostics rather than motor-starting electrical behavior.
In a real control chain, a PLC issuing a start command (an output bit going true) does not guarantee the contactor coil actually receives voltage, that the contactor physically closes, or that the motor actually turns — any link in that chain could fail. Treating these as independent observable signals is what makes realistic fault diagnosis possible, since you have to compare them against each other rather than trust any single indicator.
It mirrors real electrical safety practice: faults are corrected only after equipment is confirmed isolated (de-energized and locked out), never while a circuit may still be live. Gating the repair action behind an isolation check reinforces that troubleshooting and repair are procedurally distinct steps with a required safety precondition between them.
No. The overload behavior is an educational, I²t-like approximation and explicitly must not be used to select real protective equipment. The plant model does not simulate real fault currents, arc flash, or a certified trip curve. It is built to teach control-chain understanding and diagnostic reasoning — real commissioning requires manufacturer documentation, engineered protection, a risk assessment and qualified personnel.