Rack-based, modular, and micro PLC architectures across Siemens, Allen-Bradley, Schneider, Omron, Mitsubishi, ABB, and Beckhoff — I/O module types, power supply sizing, communication ports, and CPU selection, taught by what's similar across every brand.
Vendor-specific training tends to teach one brand's model numbers and call it done. This module deliberately does the opposite: it teaches the architecture families, I/O conventions, power budgets, and communication concepts that hold true across every major PLC vendor, so the hardware judgment transfers the moment you're standing in front of a rack from a brand you've never touched before.
By the end of this module you should be able to look at an unfamiliar PLC rack, correctly identify its architecture family, reason about its I/O wiring conventions, and check whether its backplane and field power supplies are actually sized correctly for the installed load — the same hardware judgment Module 13's panel design and Module 14's commissioning content both assume you already have.