Arduino PLC Starter Kit [AKX00051] - Includes Arduino Opta for Industrial Automation, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, I/O Modules & 20+ Hours of Online Learning Content | Cloud Integration for Smart Manufacturing

Great product. I bought to start learning PCL for a future job opportunity. The instructions are not very thorough though. It says 20 hours of instruction which I think is misleading. I watched a number of YouTube videos for free instead.

I should have read and believed the other reviews. I spent probably 12 hours and got nowhere and every indication from every post online indicated I wasn't alone! I'm a pretty hardcore tech guy and have been since I was a kid, so at 50+ .... it wasn't user error, I've been around tech and in tech professions since I was a kid! Like I said, read the reviews or just search for the PLC + setup problems, or help setting up or anything and you'll see what I ignored apparently (or didn't ask right questions) ... that this is far more the norm for these PLCs (never even getting a single connection one time through every way feasible X4) ... than the exception. Pay a little more, get something that you at least have a hope of being successful getting it to acknowledge a connection at least!

Why did you pick this product vs others?: Great kit. I like how it includes the inputs/switches and the heater module for an output to program. Also like the multiple was it can be coded.

The product doesn't work as advertised. Apparently there is a known firmware issue with the product and the seller is still knowingly selling them. I received the product about a week ago and have been unable to even complete the activation due to this issue. Since I can't complete the activation, I can't use it with the PLC IDE and cannot program it as a PLC. I have spent the past week attempting to troubleshoot the issue, with Arduino customer service, and it's still not resolved. Customer service has also not agreed to replace it under warranty despite admitting there is a known issue with some of the units. As a result I now have a product in which I can't even use the minimum advertised features.

Like: The kit has all you would need for learning PLC programming Software (PLC IDE) looks nice and is fairly easy to understand. Works well with Arduino IDE but, that negates the purpose of learning ladder logic software. Cons: Connecting PLC to the software is extremely problematic. Using PLC IDE software to load the PLC results in the program being installed to volatile memory which means you lose the program after powering down. I have used many Arduino boards for many projects and have been happy with the results. I am extremely disappointed with this offering. I wish I had purchased something else. I contacted Arduino 3 days ago and no response.

The Arduino PLC software doesn't see the PLC. You will be coding using the regular arduino software. But this is a terrible way to learn PLCs

Great kit and works well with the online training to get up to speed fast