So I'm an industrial automation and controls engineer.

So I'm an industrial automation and controls engineer. A lot of folks find the sort of projects I do on my channel interesting, but I get a lot of comments about how to learn the skills or develop the skills in this field if you're unfamiliar with them. So here's five completely free or incredibly affordable tools you can use to learn about this field. The number one most important thing you need to do in automation and controls across the board is probably PLC programming. There are specific PLC programming languages like ladder logic and structured text that you need to develop skills in. So two great resources for this are the Beckhoff TwinCat software and another option is Arduino, which has recently gotten into the PLC game, has an Arduino PLC IDE separate from their normal programming software where you can also do ladder logic or structured text. Now once you've written that PLC code, it's important to tie these PLC programs to an HMI software. Two great options for that are the company Weintek has a software called EasyBuilder Pro where you can build little local HMI or human machine interface displays, completely for free. But then an even more powerful version of an HMI software is a SCADA or supervisory control and data acquisition software. And the company Inductive Automation makes a software called Ignition, which is one of the best SCADAs I've ever used professionally. And they have a version for makers, so you can download it, you can automate stuff in your garage and tie it to Ignition for makers, totally for free. And that's kind of on the software side. There's really no free way to learn the hardware and electrical that you need to know to be a really great automation and controls engineer. You can start building the basics for just a couple of bucks because Arduino and other microcontroller manufacturers make starter kits where you get a little board that you can program and you can start setting up inputs and outputs and you can get used to reading inputs from buttons and triggering outputs like lights for a couple dollars with some of these Arduino starter kits. And then if you're familiar with the basics of hobby electronics and electrical, there are now affordable PLC options where you can get an Arduino PLC, the Siemens Logo line has a great affordable line, the Click PLCs, AutomationDirect hardware, and many of them have inputs and outputs on the PLC themselves like the Arduino Opta PLC. And then the last one, bonus one, is for actually learning about the world of controls and automation. Selfishly, I think LeMaster Tech is a great source of knowledge, but on top of that, the RealPARS YouTube channel probably has the best repository of knowledge about what is controls and automation of any other YouTube or online source that I've seen. You can type in almost what is anything and it pops right up. So I hope you find these useful if you're interested in learning about this field. Let me know which ones I missed and share them with everyone else in the comments below.