Updates & Changelog

Level 1: the 24 V power supply was drawn fed straight from two phases of the 480 V disconnect. It now takes 120 V control power (X1 and X2) from a control transformer mounted above the panel, and each disconnect terminal carries one conductor. Opening the main disconnect still removes control power.

Level 2: the operator screen now reports “M1 FAULT” instead of “M1 DRIVE FAULT”, since this across-the-line starter has no drive. The controller now labels input I:0/2 as the photoeye and output O:0/1 as the fault light, and the fault-light output reads 24 V on the meter while it is on.

Level 2: the F1 control fuse showed a picture of a circuit breaker. It now shows the correct part, an Allen-Bradley 1492-FB1C30 Class CC fuse holder, with its terminals marked 1 and 2 as on the device. The meter hints and the wiring use the same markings.

On phones, the site menu now folds into a Menu button at the top of each page. Tap it to open the full list of pages and your account links, and tap Close to put it away.

The About page now features a quote from John Clore on how safety runs through every level: lock it out and prove it dead before you wire, no jumpered safety circuits, and nothing that restarts on its own.

The About page now shows a portrait of John Clore beside his biography, and the two stack neatly on phones.

The About page now describes who builds ControlsTrainer: John Clore’s automation and controls studies, his certificates and OSHA 30-Hour card, his work on the plant floor as an industrial electrical technician, panel builder and maintenance technician, and his earlier software work, including co-creating the D-Vasive privacy app.

Company plans now start at 1 seat, so a small shop or a single technician can buy. Team covers 1–20 seats at $299 per user per year or $29 per user per month. The lower Business rate of $249 per user per year now starts at 21 seats instead of 50, and Enterprise quotes still start at 250 seats. Prices are unchanged.

Schools and companies can request a free 30-day trial for up to 10 learners from the contact page, with all ten levels and the manager tools. Our team sets up each trial. No payment details are needed, and nothing renews automatically.

The contact page, the Why ControlsTrainer page and the Plans page now offer the free trial by name.

The new contact page lets schools and companies request a demonstration, a pilot for their team or classroom pricing, ask a question or get help with an account. Requests go straight to our team, and nothing opens an email program.

The contact links on the Why ControlsTrainer, About, Plans, Support, Privacy and Terms pages now open the contact form instead of an email program. The Why ControlsTrainer page’s buttons choose the right request for you, such as classroom pricing for schools or a pilot for a plant.

The main menu on the home page and the About, Plans, Compliance, Support, Privacy, Terms and Enterprise quote pages now links to the Why ControlsTrainer page.

The Why ControlsTrainer page now opens with a short summary: why controls skills are hard to build, and three points on what ControlsTrainer does. The hands-on training, the standards the lessons draw on and the manager tools now come before the detailed workforce, safety and insurance numbers.

The Why ControlsTrainer page now shows its numbers as charts, each with its source: projected job growth against the average job, open manufacturing jobs by month, the 3.8 million manufacturing jobs to fill, lecture versus active learning, workers killed by electricity each year, OSHA’s most-cited standards and what an experience mod does to a workers’ compensation premium.

The new Why ControlsTrainer page explains the training for schools, factories and industrial companies: the workforce need, with sources; how hands-on practice compares with other kinds of controls training; the code practice built into each of the ten levels; how safety training relates to workers’ compensation premiums; and the manager tools and plans.

Level 10’s panels no longer scroll sideways on a laptop or desktop screen. A row of devices that is wider than the panel now continues on the next row, and each new row gets its own wireway, so every wire still runs only in wireways. On a phone or a narrow tablet, a panel scrolls only where one device is wider than the screen, because its terminals can’t shrink below finger size.

On Level 10’s Pneumatic panel, the pick cylinders’ rod-lock port and its note now sit under the cylinder photos instead of beside them.

Level 10’s three branch breakers now carry these catalog numbers on their nameplates: the Allen-Bradley 140MT-C3E-C10 feeding the 24 V power supply, the 140MT-C3E-B40 protecting the PowerFlex 525 drive (the breaker Rockwell lists for that drive) and the 1489-M1C050 on the 24 V DC control bus.

On Level 10, no wire crosses a device any more, including the device it lands on. Where a device’s terminals sit between other terminals, buttons or ports (the PowerFlex 525, safety contactors K1 and K2, the pump contactor and the valve manifold), the panel shows the whole device and, right under it, close-up terminal breakouts of its terminal rows. Every wire leaves a breakout straight down into the wireway. The motor protector’s trip contact, the guard switch contacts and the Ethernet switch’s ports now leave sideways into their own wireways.

Level 10’s main disconnect, safety contactors K1 and K2, pump motor protector and pump contactor now carry these catalog numbers on their nameplates: the Allen-Bradley 194R-J30-1753 fused disconnect, the 100S-C09EJ14BC safety contactor, the 140MT-C3E-B16-RX motor protector with its 95-96 trip contact, and the 100-C09EJ10 contactor.

Level 10’s safety contactors now use their 51-52 mirror contact for the external device monitoring (EDM) loop. That is the numbering on the 100S-C09EJ14BC (13-14 N.O. and N.C. mirror contacts 51-52, 61-62, 71-72 and 81-82), which has no 21-22. If you already wired the old 21-22 contact, your wiring moves to 51-52 when you resume.

The 194R disconnect has no ground lug, so Level 10’s drawing no longer shows one. The incoming supply’s equipment-grounding conductor is already landed on PE-2 of the PE bar. PE-2 and the disconnect’s line-side lugs, which already carry the incoming feeder, now refuse a second conductor and say why. If your saved wiring has a conductor on the old ground lug, it is removed when you resume, and the rest of your wiring is kept.

Level 10’s safe-exhaust valve is now a ROSS DM1C double valve (DM1CNB20A32005) that resets itself after a fault. The drawing used to call the valve monitored without giving it a working monitoring circuit. Now its status sensor is powered all the time and wired to the PLC, where a pre-engineered, read-only routine, Valve_Monitor, watches its READY and FAULT outputs. A valve fault drops both solenoid run commands, stops the cell and blocks a restart until READY returns and you press Fault Reset, and Fault Reset never restarts anything. The PLC can only remove the air: each run command reaches its solenoid through a safety contactor, so K1 or K2 dropping out still dumps the air on its own.

Level 10’s safety test (Section 3) has two new buttons, Valve fault (DM1C) and HMI Fault Reset, and two new pieces of evidence: a valve fault vents the air and stops the cell, and after Fault Reset only a new Start re-energizes the valve. The witnessed acceptance run proves the valve monitor too.

Level 10’s PowerFlex 525 now shows its control terminals with the cover off. Its Safe Torque Off inputs S1 and S2 are fed from the panel’s external 24 V, so the drive’s digital common, terminal 04, now returns to that supply’s 0 V through its own interpanel terminal, as Rockwell’s wiring requires. Leaving it off fails the drive check.

Level 10 has an Air-OK pressure switch, the normally open Festo 527467 SDE5, on a 6 mm branch of the valve outlet through a Festo QST-8-6 reducing tee. Its brown, blue and black leads each take their own terminal, and it reports air pressure to the PLC as a diagnostic, not as the valve’s safety monitoring.

Level 10’s four electrical panels now take one conductor per terminal, and its air panel one tube per port. A power distribution block splits the 480 V feed, and breaker-protected +24 V and 0 V control-bus strips give every device its own position. A safety junction strip fans out the safety relay’s test pulses and safety outputs, every interpanel terminal has an A side and a B side, and push-in tees branch the air line (8 mm tubing). A second conductor on a terminal is refused with the reason. Wiring saved on the old drawing is cleared when you resume; your other Level 10 work is kept.

Level 10’s 24 V DC system is now grounded at one designated point, a factory bond from the 0 V control bus to PE. Its 0 V conductors are drawn white with a blue stripe, the NFPA 79 color for a grounded DC conductor. The drawing used to call the system floating while coloring 0 V as grounded.

Level 10’s safety relay is now the Guardmaster DI 440R-D22R2, showing its 16 terminals where they are on the relay. The old picture showed a relay model that does not exist. The safety reset pushbutton is now an image instead of a drawing.

Level 10’s output and analog modules and its guard interlock are now the Allen-Bradley 5069-OB16 and 5069-IF8 and the Guardmaster Trojan 5 440K-T11339 (two N.C. safety contacts and one N.O. auxiliary). The air line’s push-in tee is a Festo QST-8.

Level 10’s wires now run through wireways and never cross a device, nameplate or terminal. Each I/O module has its own vertical wireway, and every device carries a Level 1 style nameplate.

Level 10’s pump branch now leaves the distribution block through its motor protector (MPCB) first, then safety contactors K1 and K2, the pump contactor and the motor, so the MPCB protects the whole branch.

On Level 10, a silenced exhaust port refuses a tube, an air port can only be tubed on the Pneumatic panel, and an electrical terminal is refused there with the panel where it is wired.

Level 5’s “4. Pneumatic Circuit” board is rebuilt around one clean, straight-on image of each device, laid out in air-flow order: the Festo MS6 filter-regulator, lockable shut-off valve (Q-air) and soft-start valve, the VTUG valve terminal, the meter-out flow controls, the bleed/test panel, the horizontal cylinder and the vertical slide with their HGL piloted check valves, and the SMC MHZ2 gripper. The board is about half as tall, and every gauge needle reads its own 0–150 psi dial.

Level 5’s Q-air valve now shows its handle turned to OFF, your padlock and your DANGER tag, both on the pneumatic board and on the Energy Isolation panel.

Level 5’s solenoid common block is now a Phoenix Contact PTFIX 6/18X2,5 BU distribution block.

Clicking the Q-air exhaust port on Level 5 now explains that an exhaust carries a silencer and must never be tubed or plugged.

Level 5’s 24 V power supply (MEAN WELL DR-75-24) is now shown head-on like every other device, with its terminal markings printed once and a marker on each screw. The old picture was taken at an angle, its markers overlapped, one sat on the DC OK light, and its labels were doubled.

Level 7’s Guardmaster DI 440R-D22R2 safety relay now shows the relay’s 16 terminals where they are on the device; its picture showed a relay model that does not exist. The monitored reset loop now runs the way the relay is wired: +24 V through the contactor’s mirror contact 21–22 and the Reset pushbutton to S34. The panel had an S33 terminal, which this relay does not have.

Level 7’s guard switch is now a non-locking Allen-Bradley SensaGuard 440N-Z21S16H, because the lesson treats opening the guard as a stop demand. Its two safety-output inputs are tied to +24 V on TB2 (wires 518 and 519); a single switch needs both ties, or its safety outputs stay off. Its auxiliary output is ON while the guard is open, so the PLC tag is now Guard_Open and the Turret_Run rung uses it as an XIO. Saved programs are converted when you resume.

Level 7’s factory power wiring is now laid out like a 480 V cabinet. The disconnect feeds a power distribution block. From there, 2-pole primary fuses feed a 250 VA, 480/120 V control-power transformer, sized for the 24 V supply’s rated input, and one secondary fuse feeds the supply. The transformer’s grounded X1 conductor is drawn white and bonded to PE at one point. Before, a single 1-pole protector fed the 24 V supply straight from the 480 V line.

Level 7’s 0 V DC conductors are drawn white with a blue stripe, the NFPA 79 color for a grounded DC conductor. The panel now shows the one factory bond that grounds them (TB3-8 to TB-PE-8), and the wire schedule lists it.

Level 7’s safety relay now tells the PLC when it has tripped: its Y32 status output goes to input I:0/6 (Safety_Tripped). The relay opens the contactor coil, but the PLC keeps running, so the Turret_Run rung must drop its own run latch when the relay trips (XIO Safety_Tripped). Without it, pressing RESET restarts the turret; the HMI then shows UNEXPECTED RESTART and the acceptance test fails. Before, the simulator dropped the run latch by itself, which hid this.

Level 7’s safety relay, safety reset pushbutton and guard switch now show images of named models instead of drawings or a model that does not exist. So do the stack light and interface relay offered in the hardware list. The guard switch shows an M12 connector instead of screw terminals it does not have.

Level 7 now takes one conductor per terminal. A second conductor on a terminal, or a conductor on a factory-wired terminal, is refused with an explanation. Wiring saved on the old panel is cleared when you resume; your components, I/O assignments and program are kept.

Level 7’s wires, including the factory power wiring, now run through the panel’s wireways and never cross a device, label or terminal. No device sits over a wireway at any screen width or zoom level, and each device’s name is placed clear of the wires that leave it. The zoom buttons now enlarge the whole panel.

Level 7’s wire-number tags sit on their wires, clear of the devices, and can be clicked to enter or correct a number. A click on a tag used to reach the device underneath instead.

Level 7’s wire schedule (drawing L3-001, now Rev E) lists the new reset-loop and guard conductors, and its color column now gives the NFPA 79 colors drawn on the panel: blue for +24 V DC and DC control, white with a blue stripe for 0 V. It listed the +24 V wires as red.

Level 5’s E-Stop and guard now switch the +24 V supply of the solenoid outputs: +24 V runs through the E-Stop and the guard’s second channel to a new junction, TB3, which feeds both output groups of the PLC. They used to break the solenoids’ 0 V return, where a single ground fault on the field wiring could bypass both of them. The coils’ common now lands directly on the 0 V bus, and that bus is bonded to protective earth at one marked point (TB2-8).

Level 5’s conductors now use the same NFPA 79 colors as Levels 1, 3, 4, 6 and 10: +24 V DC and DC control wires, including the stop chain, are blue, and the grounded 0 V return is white with a blue stripe. They were drawn red, which is the color for AC control. Sensor and cordset leads keep their own brown, blue and black colors.

Level 5 wiring saved with the old stop chain is cleared when you resume; your hardware, I/O, tubing and program are kept.

Level 3’s HAND/OFF/AUTO selector and both float switches are now device images instead of drawings: a three-position selector with two contact blocks (HAND 13–14, AUTO 23–24), an SPST low float switch and an SPDT high float switch. The selector’s knob turns and its active position lights up, on the panel and on the operator station, and each float shows whether its contact is open or closed.

Level 3’s device names now look like Level 1’s: a dark nameplate on each device, with its notes and buttons, instead of a separate box above the wireway.

Level 3’s +24 V and 0 V now come from the bridged terminal strips TB1 (red) and TB2 (blue), with one conductor per terminal, and the hardwired float control makes its shared points on the TB3 junctions J1 and J2. A second conductor on a terminal is refused with an explanation. Wiring saved on the old panel is cleared when you resume; your program, selector position and tank level are kept.

Level 3’s panel is laid out on four DIN rails with a wireway under each. No device sits over a wireway at any screen width, and on small screens the panel scrolls sideways.

Level 3’s contactor and motor notes now say the motor wiring is factory-wired, and the contactor’s 13–14 contact is labeled as the seal-in of the hardwired option.

Level 6’s safety circuit is rebuilt around a Guardmaster DI 440R-D22R2 safety relay: the two-channel E-Stop is on input 1 and the guard interlock’s two N.C. safety contacts are on input 2, both fed from the relay’s test-pulse outputs S11 and S21. After the E-Stop is released or the guard is closed, the relay needs its monitored reset through the contactor’s mirror contact, and the conveyor needs a separate Start.

Level 6’s guard is now a guard interlock switch with two N.C. safety contacts and an N.O. status contact. The status contact tells the PLC the guard is open (Guard_Open), and the relay’s status output Y32 tells it the relay has tripped (Safety_Tripped). The conveyor rung must drop its run latch when the relay trips, so a reset can never restart the conveyor; the simulator shows an unexpected restart if it does.

Level 6 has an Open Guard button in the HMI & Safety Test panel. The acceptance test now includes two tests on the running machine, each as one uninterrupted sequence: the guard test (open, close, RESET) and the E-Stop test (press, release, RESET). Neither may restart the conveyor, and changing the wiring, program or I/O map afterwards means testing again. The button tests the interlock; in normal work, stop the machine before opening a guard.

Level 6’s +24 V and 0 V now come from the bridged terminal strips TB1 (red) and TB2 (blue), and the test-pulse junctions are made on TB3, with one conductor per terminal. A second conductor on a terminal is refused with an explanation. Wiring saved on the old panel is cleared when you resume; your hardware selection, I/O map and program are kept.

Level 6’s wires now run through the panel’s wireways and never cross a device, label or terminal, and no device sits over a wireway at any screen width. Each device’s name is placed clear of the wires that leave it.

Level 6’s conductors now use the same NFPA 79 colors as Levels 1, 3, 4 and 10: +24 V DC and DC control wires are blue, and the 0 V return is white with a blue stripe. They were drawn red, which is the color for AC control.

Level 6’s safety reset pushbutton now shows an image instead of a drawing, and the hardware cards no longer label parts as decoys or as required hardware. The hardware check tells you which selected parts the work order does not need.

Level 8’s +24 V and 0 V now come from two bridged terminal strips, TB1 (red) and TB2 (blue), with one conductor per terminal. Feed each strip once from the power supply; the controller and the transmitter each take their own strip position. A second conductor on a terminal is refused with an explanation.

Level 8’s wires now run through the panel’s wireways and never cross a device, label or terminal. Each wire’s number tags sit near both of its ends, clear of the devices.

Level 8’s L8-001 wire-number schedule is renumbered for the strips: a conductor to a strip carries the number of its function, whichever strip position it lands on.

Level 8 now shows why a wiring click was refused, for example when the panel is not locked out yet.

Level 8’s click targets on the controller, analog input, transmitter and I/P positioner no longer overlap.

Level 4’s wiring now runs through the panel’s wireways, like Levels 1 and 3: every conductor drops from its terminal into a duct and never crosses a device, label or terminal. The code notes now sit below the panel.

Level 5’s +24 V and 0 V now come from two bridged terminal strips: TB1 (red, +24 V) and TB2 (blue, 0 V). Feed each strip once from the power supply, then land every other +24 V or 0 V conductor on its own strip position, as on a real panel.

Level 5 allows one conductor per terminal and one tube per air fitting. A second one is refused with an explanation, and wiring saved before this change is checked the same way.

Level 5’s wires and air tubes now run through wireways and tube channels, and each device’s name is placed clear of the wires and tubes that leave it, so no wire or tube crosses a device, label or terminal.

Level 5’s click targets on the PLC, the sensors and the valve terminal no longer overlap, so each tap lands on the terminal or port you meant.

Level 4: Undo with nothing left to undo now also cancels a half-finished selection.

Level 4 now uses a two-contact emergency stop. Contact 11–12 feeds the drive’s Safe Torque Off input S1 and contact 21–22 feeds S2, on two separate channels with no jumper between them. A link between the two channels, or a jumper across either contact, is rejected as unsafe.

Level 4’s drive no longer runs from its keypad unless both Safe Torque Off inputs are wired through the E-Stop. Losing either input stops the drive, and restoring it never restarts the drive by itself: a fresh Start is required.

Level 4’s nameplate check now says which values are still empty and which do not match the motor nameplate, and points you to the nameplate photo. Check results are announced to screen readers.

Level 1’s wiring now runs through the panel’s wireways: every conductor drops from its terminal into a duct and never crosses a device, label or button. On smaller screens the panel scrolls sideways instead of rearranging, and terminal targets no longer overlap on phones.

Level 3’s panel has a new layout built the same way, with every conductor routed through the wireways.

Level 3: after an overload trip or an E-Stop, the pump stays stopped until the overload is reset, the E-Stop is released and the selector is turned to OFF. Only then can it be started again.

Level 2 accepts the classic way to find an open part: voltage present on its supply side and none on the far side, both measured to the same reference with the right meter function. Readings taken before and after a change in power, readings from an earlier fault, and readings taken with the meter off do not count.

The Level 2 test bench can be used from the keyboard: choose the meter function and probe any test point without a mouse, and screen readers announce each reading.

The Level 2 tour now lists the lockout steps in the same order as the lesson: open the disconnect, apply your lock and tag, then verify zero energy.

Level 6’s hardwired control string must now include the guard switch. The devices can be wired in any order, as long as every safety contact truly opens the circuit.

On Levels 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10, Clear now also cancels a half-finished selection, and so does Undo when it steps back a wiring action, so your next click does not land a wire you did not intend.

Level 1’s wiring message now updates as soon as your lockout is complete, instead of still saying the disconnect is on.

Level 9’s operator terminal settings now match the manufacturer’s specifications: the 10-inch PanelView Plus 7 has an 800 × 600 display.

Buttons and controls across the lessons have clear names for screen readers, the tutorials open as proper dialogs, and more pages have a “Skip to content” link.

Several lessons fit better on phones, including the Level 2 test bench, Level 3’s controls and the Level 9 editor.

The Support page has a new, lighter design, and its password help now links straight to the password reset page.

Create Account shows the password requirement, has a Show password button, and links to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

The homepage badge now reads “Standards-informed training” and links to the Standards & Compliance page, which explains that the lessons are an educational simulation, not a certification or approval.

Buying company seats: if your email address is not confirmed yet, the page now says so clearly, offers a button to send a new confirmation link, and keeps checkout off until the address is confirmed.

The About and Compliance pages now match the Plans page: lighter backgrounds, clearer cards and more comfortable spacing on computers and phones. The Compliance page also has a "Skip to content" link for keyboard and screen-reader users.

Skills matrix for Department Heads and Supervisors: one grid of everyone on the team against all ten levels, showing passed levels with their dates, due and overdue training, and refreshers. Filter by group, download it as a spreadsheet, or print it or save it as a PDF training report with a reviewed-by and signature line.

New company accounts get a setup checklist and a guided tour of the dashboard: create groups, invite employees, assign their first lessons and track progress. Each step ticks itself off, and the tour can be replayed any time with the Tutorial button.

The company dashboard has a new design: a team summary at the top, quick links to each section, a clearer training overview and a three-step form for assigning training. It works well on phones.

Every level now has a web address that matches its number, from level1.php to level10.php. Old links and bookmarks to the first and third levels forward automatically.

A company whose subscription has ended now sees when access ends (or that it has ended) on its Billing and dashboard pages instead of a renewal date, and its people, groups and training history are kept.

The Plans & Features page now shows the skills matrix and the company dashboard, with pricing at the end of the page. The site also has its own browser tab icon.

Corrected several level labels: the Level 1 page title, the Level 4 tutorial (which referred to Level 6) and the Level 9 course name on its certificate. Level 10 now has the site footer.

Companies can now pay for training subscriptions by US bank account (ACH) as well as by card. Bank payments take up to 4 business days to clear; the company account is created as soon as the payment clears, and the buyer is emailed.

Enterprise customers (250+ seats) can request a quote directly on the site. The request form is protected against spam and automated submissions.

Training is now offered as company licenses and subscriptions: Team, Business and Enterprise. The homepage and sign-up pages point to View Plans, and all plan buttons share one style. Existing Full Access purchases keep their access.

Company checkout is more reliable: if a payment cannot be started, the buyer gets a clear message instead of a long wait, and an unfinished attempt is cleared automatically on the next try.

Compare Individual, Team, Business and Enterprise plans on the new Plans & Features page, with actual dashboard screenshots using sample data.

Public information pages now include Plans in the header navigation. Company checkout links appear when live billing is ready.

Companies can buy training seats online by card: Team (5 to 49 people) and Business (50 to 249), billed yearly or monthly. The buyer becomes the Department Head and can invite the team right away.

A "Buy company seats" link appears on My Training and My Organizations when online purchases are open.

Organizations get a members-only leaderboard ranked by assigned training levels completed, then by on-time completions. Speed never counts, and ties are shown as ties.

Anyone can become a private participant and be hidden from everyone else's board. Department Heads can switch the leaderboard off for the whole organization.

Starting a message conversation is now all-or-nothing: a message that is too long or sent too often no longer leaves an empty conversation behind.

Message lists show 50 conversations per page, unread counts include every conversation, and a message that arrives while you are reading stays marked as new.

Members can send private training messages to their Department Head and Supervisors, and managers can message the people in their groups.

Unread messages show on My Training and on the organization page. You get one email per conversation until you read it; the email never includes the message itself.

Messages follow the same group rules as Team training, so Supervisors only see conversations for the groups they manage.

Updated the Compliance page energy-isolation illustration with clearer lock and tag attachments, corrected conductor colors and instrument markings.

Organization pages now use a cleaner responsive workspace with clearer navigation, stronger visual hierarchy and easier-to-scan training information.

Team statistics, status labels, forms, tables and action buttons are easier to distinguish while keeping every existing organization and billing control in place.

People get a reminder email two days before assigned training is due, and one email if it becomes overdue.

Department Heads, and Supervisors / Team Leads for the groups they manage, get one summary on days when training becomes overdue.

Department Heads can switch reminder emails on or off for their organization from the organization page.

Active training time now counts only time between when training was assigned and when it was completed, and two tabs reporting at the same moment are counted once.

The current stage now follows the section you are reading as you scroll, not only where you click.

Organization pages now share one stylesheet and one script, ready for a design refresh.

Team training now shows how much active time each person has spent on assigned training, when they were last active, and which lesson stage they are on.

My Training shows your own active time and current stage on each assigned level.

Only active time counts: time with the lesson hidden or with no activity for a few minutes is not added, and two open tabs are never counted twice.

The Team training CSV download adds active minutes, current stage and last active.

Messages to info@, support@ and contact@controlstrainer.com are now handled in one place, so questions get answered faster. Replies come from the address you wrote to and are signed for delivery.

Removed extra confirmation boxes that could appear for Department Heads on their organization page.

The People list now points to the Team training section for assigned training and progress.

Department Heads can assign training levels to people or whole groups with a due date picked from a calendar. Supervisors and Team Leads can assign to the groups they manage. Everyone assigned gets an email.

A Team training table shows what each person has been assigned, what they completed on time or late, and what is overdue, with a CSV download.

My Training now lists your assigned training at the top with its due date and a Start button.

Only training completed after it was assigned counts, so managers see company training only. Assigning a level again works as a refresher.

Organization pages now say seats are Available instead of Free, and show Renews, Ends (canceled) or Payment due by for paid plans.

The Compliance page picture now shows one exact absence-of-voltage test: meter on AC volts reading 0.0 V with the probes on load-side terminals T1 and T2, the disconnect locked OFF and the air dumped to 0 psi.

Companies will be able to buy training seats online and manage them from a Billing page: add or remove seats, update the card, see invoices, or cancel at the end of the paid period. This is being tested now and is not yet open to customers.

Companies can now have an organization account with a set number of training seats. Everyone in the organization gets Full Access to every level while they are a member.

Department Heads invite people by email and organize them into groups such as shifts or lines. Team training progress comes in the next update, showing only training done through the company.

Supervisors and Team Leads see and invite only the people in the groups they manage.

Invitations hold a seat for 7 days and can only be accepted by the person they were sent to, after confirming their email address.

Removing someone frees their seat straight away; their training history and certificates are kept.

Forgot your password? Use the new link on the log-in page and we will email you a reset link that works once, for 1 hour. Changing your password signs out every other device.

New accounts get an email to confirm the address. If yours is not confirmed yet, My Training shows a reminder with a button to send a new link.

You get an email whenever your password is changed, so you would know if it was not you.

Extra protection against automated sign-ups and repeated reset requests.

Every certificate now has a permanent Certificate ID that is issued once, when you complete the level, and stays the same every time you open it. The completion date is the day you actually passed.

Employers can check a certificate on the new Verify page (controlstrainer.com/verify.php). It shows the name, level and completion date for a valid ID, and nothing else.

My Training now has a Certificate link beside every level you have passed.

Levels 1 and 2 are still free to play without an account. To get a certificate you now log in or create a free account and save your pass; your work stays on screen while you sign in.

Level 3 and the Level 7 wire schedule now correctly require Full Access.

Level 5 now uses named equipment examples throughout: an Allen-Bradley MicroLogix 1400 (1766-L32BXB) with a simulated terminal layout and addresses, a Festo VTUG valve terminal with two 5/3 exhaust-center and two 3/2 valves, Festo HGL piloted check valves on each cylinder, a SITEMA KRP 25 safety catcher on the vertical axis with two SICK sensors, a spring-close SMC MHZ2 gripper, a Schmersal AZ 16 guard interlock, and more.

Stopping and holding now work like a real cell: an E-stop or opening the guard drops every valve through a hard-wired stop chain, the valves center and vent, the check valves hold the cylinders, the catcher holds the vertical axis and the gripper stays closed on its spring. Nothing retracts, and RESET never moves anything.

Level 5 now starts energized with trapped air in the cylinders. Before wiring or tubing you isolate the control panel and both air isolation points, support the vertical axis, secure the part, bleed the trapped chambers on the bleed panel and prove every volume at 0 psi on its own gauge.

Tubing is now dressed like a real trainer board: tubes run together in bundles with zip ties instead of crossing over the devices, and wires stay in the wireways.

Training faults added: blocked pilot lines, stuck brake and supply sensors, a welded guard contact and a closed flow control, each with its own fault message.

Level 8: the FV-101 valve status no longer runs off the right edge of the process graphic. It now shows on two lines, for example FV-101 SHUT with NO POWER or FAIL-CLOSED underneath.

Every lockout panel: the disconnect handle picture now turns together with the status text. Before, the handle could keep showing the previous position (ON while the panel said OFF, or OFF while it said LIVE) until the next click. Rapid ON/OFF clicks now always end on the right position.

Level 8: with the panel isolated, the LT-101 transmitter now reads NO POWER and the controller PV reads OFFLINE, instead of the fault code FALT. The HMI no longer shows a fault while the loop is simply switched off.

Level 8: a real transmitter fault now reads FAULT in full on the transmitter and on the controller PV.

Level 6: Start pressed while the safety relay is off (after an E-Stop or a power restore, before RESET) is now ignored. It can’t carry over and start the conveyor when you press RESET. After RESET, release and press Start again.

Level 6: the HMI RUN lamp and the program’s outputs now show OFF whenever the safety relay is off, so the screen never shows the conveyor running when it can’t.

Level 6: the contactor and motor T1/T2/T3 terminal tips and the contactor caption now say the 3-phase power is factory-wired through the overload, rather than asking you to wire it.

Level 7: the Open Wire Schedule link now always opens the current Rev D schedule, never an older cached copy.

Level 8: with the panel isolated, the process graphic now shows the valve “SHUT · NO POWER” and the HMI network “OFFLINE — NO POWER”. After a transmitter fault the valve shows “SHUT · FAIL-CLOSED”, matching its real state.

Level 4 now starts with the drive energized. You can’t land, remove or undo control wiring until the main disconnect is OFF, your lock and tag are on, and zero energy is proven with the meter.

The PowerFlex DC bus keeps a charge after the mains are removed. As the drive label requires, you wait at least 3 minutes before testing the bus. A DC-bus test before the wait doesn’t count, even if it happens to read zero. The wait runs faster in the simulator and is labeled as simulated time.

Level 4 verification covers the drive input line-to-line and line-to-ground, the DC bus +/− and each side to ground, and the 24 V control supply, proving the meter before and after. The DC-bus lamp is shown as an indicator only; a dark lamp or an elapsed timer never proves zero volts.

Switching the disconnect OFF stops the drive (“NO POWER”), and restoring power leaves it stopped until you deliberately start it from the PLC or the keypad. Saved work resumes with the drive OFF, and an earlier verification is not trusted.

Levels 3, 6, 7 and 8 now start with the panel energized, like Levels 1 and 10. You can’t land, remove or undo a wire until the main disconnect is OFF, your lock and tag are on, and you have proven zero energy with the meter (live–dead–live).

Switching the disconnect OFF de-energizes that level’s controller, 24 V supply and safety relay. Nothing runs without power, and the incoming line side stays live.

Restoring power never restarts the machine by itself. Level 3 needs the selector turned through OFF. Levels 6 and 7 need the safety relay’s monitored RESET and then a fresh Start. Level 8’s loop comes back in MANUAL at 0 % until you select AUTO.

Level 6: the conveyor now runs only while the 440R safety relay is energized, because the contactor is fed through its safety output. Before, Start could run it after an E-Stop was released but before the safety RESET.

Level 8 shows “NO POWER” on the HMI when the panel is isolated, because the loop-powered transmitter is fed from the same panel.

Saved work on these levels resumes with the panel OFF, and an earlier verification is not trusted.

The personal padlock and danger tag on the lockout pictures (main disconnect and air dump valve) are now larger and easier to see. They still hang from the handle without covering the terminals.

The lockout panels on Levels 1 and 10 now show a realistic rotary main disconnect and a lockable air dump valve with a pressure gauge. The handle turns ON/OFF, your padlock and danger tag appear when you apply them, and the gauge needle falls as the air vents. Everything follows the simulation.

Level 10 shows the conveyor drive’s DC-bus lamp, lit while the bus still holds a charge. The lamp is only an indicator: a dark lamp does not prove zero volts, so you still measure the bus.

The Level 10 PLC check no longer rejects a correct program just because series contacts or parallel branches are in a different order (for example XIC Cell.CycleActive then XIC Mode.Auto). Order-independent logic is graded as equivalent. A missing, extra or different instruction still fails, as do the syntax, current-download and safety checks.

Each Level 10 safe-exhaust valve solenoid now has two separate coil terminals, A1 (+) and A2 (−), on the two rings of its connector. Before, the switched +24 V feed from K2 (wires 519/520) and the 0 V return landed on the same single terminal. Now the feed goes to A1 and the return to A2.

Level 10 now rejects a wire straight across a coil (“shorts out the coil”), a K2 feed landed on A2, and a 0 V return landed on A1.

The safe-exhaust valve picture on the safety and pneumatic boards is larger, so the A1 and A2 terminals are easy to click separately.

Saved Level 10 work from before this update is moved across automatically. The K2 feed moves to A1 and the 0 V return to A2, keeping their wire numbers.

Level 10 now starts with the cell energized. A new Energy Isolation step before Panel Power has you lock out both energy sources before you build. Electrical boards need the main disconnect OFF, locked, tagged and proven dead. The pneumatic board needs the air dumped, locked, tagged and proven at 0 psi as well.

Proving the main disconnect dead includes the conveyor drive’s DC bus, which keeps a charge after switching OFF. It only counts once your meter reads zero. (The discharge is sped up in the simulator; a real drive label requires several minutes.)

Proving the air dead means reading 0 psi on the downstream gauge after it vents, bleeding trapped air at the cylinder ports, and lowering or blocking the vertical axis. A rod lock holding the load is still stored energy.

The Level 10 safety test uses the same lockout. Reset and start are refused while you are isolated, and you cannot isolate while the machine is running. Verify Zero Energy only counts after both sources are really locked, tagged and proven dead. The witnessed acceptance run needs power and air restored.

Saved Level 10 work resumes with everything OFF, and verification from an earlier session is not trusted.

Level 7’s TB2/TB3 descriptions in hardware selection now say which devices land on the field side and which tap the bus on the panel side.

In Level 8, after you change the wiring, the I/O map or the scaling, any later step that had passed now shows “Needs recheck” instead of staying green, so the page matches what still counts.

The Level 8 HMI no longer says the valve is modulating when AUTO is selected but the loop has not been released. It says the loop is not released and the valve is held at 0%, and the AUTO indicator stays off until control is really active.

All 19 Level 8 wiring terminals now have names for screen readers, including each terminal’s device and function.

Level 7’s photoeye and proximity-sensor leads sat only about 11 px apart, so clicking one could land the wire on its neighbor. The sensor cards are now larger, the leads are about 25 px apart, and every terminal has its own round, centered target.

The Level 7 wire schedule now agrees with the checker. Safety relay A1/A2 (501/502), output-module V+ (510) and contactor coil A2 (513) land on the panel side of TB2/TB3, because they are panel devices. Field devices land on the field side.

The Level 7 wire schedule is now one clean student document (drawing L3-001 Rev D) listing all 42 numbered conductors and the network cable, without the old review notes and superseded wires.

The Level 7 load check now adds up correctly: about 2.22 A steady (74% of the 3 A supply) and about 2.5 A during a guard lock pulse.

If the relay power, output V+ or coil return are on the wrong side of a terminal block, Level 7 now says to use the panel side, and the TB2/TB3 labels explain which devices use which side.

Level 1 now starts with the panel energized. Before you can land, remove or undo a wire, you turn the main disconnect OFF, apply your personal lock and danger tag, and prove zero energy with the meter: test the meter on a known source, test every load-side point, then test the meter again.

The disconnect picture shows the handle, your lock and your tag as they change, and the line side stays marked live because switching OFF does not isolate the incoming power. Green only appears after a real verification.

Restoring power has its own steps: confirm tools are removed and everyone is clear, remove your tag, remove your lock, and switch the disconnect ON. Power-up never starts the motor; you still press Start. Switching OFF while the pump runs stops it.

Saved Level 1 work resumes with the panel OFF, and a verification from an earlier session is not trusted, so you verify again before working.

Closely spaced terminals no longer steal each other’s clicks. The hover magnifier used to enlarge the terminal’s clickable area over its neighbors. Now only the highlight grows, and each terminal keeps its true click area (Levels 1, 3, 6 and 7).

Level 5 accepts the E-Stop and guard switch contacts wired either way round. A plain contact has no polarity. Wires that bridge or bypass a contact are still rejected.

Every Level 5 wiring terminal and air port now has a readable name for screen readers and a hover tooltip.

Level 4’s E-Stop caption now shows the correct 21–22 contact, and the interactive tutorials use the current level numbers.

Finishing Level 2 now opens your certificate. Before this fix the certificate page said the requirements were not completed. Students who passed Level 2 earlier can open their certificate too.

The Level 1 and Level 2 certificate pages now show the correct course names, and the garbled dash characters are gone.

Level 3 now accepts +24 V and 0 V fed by a jumper from another terminal on the same rail, not only by a separate wire from the power supply. Wires that short the supply or bypass a contact are still rejected.

Level 3 reminds you that each terminal is rated for a limited number of conductors and that distribution terminal blocks are preferred for the +24 V and 0 V rails. A daisy chain is not automatically code compliant.

My Training now lists Level 10 with its Open link and Passed status like every other level, instead of showing it as In Development.

The homepage, sign-up, unlock and account pages now say Full Access covers Levels 3–10.

Levels 1, 2 and 3 now record your completion only after the server confirms it; if the save fails your work stays put and a Retry save button appears. Levels 1 and 2 stay free with no account required: if you are not logged in you still get your free certificate, it just is not saved to an account.

Level 2’s zero-energy verification now also requires testing the overload’s own power terminals (line side 1/3/5 and load side 2/4/6) phase-to-phase and to a new PE ground bar, and warns that the disconnect’s line side stays live.

Levels 1 and 3 now explain their E-Stop restart behavior as a training simplification: on a real machine the PLC must see the E-Stop (Level 1), and the OFF-and-back selector step stands in for a reset circuit that is not drawn (Level 3).

Level 7 now marks the Stack Light and Interposing Relay as not part of drawing L3-001, explains why an extra jumper on a bus is rejected, and its wire-number dialog keeps keyboard focus inside from the first keystroke.

Wiring checks on Levels 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10 now test the whole assembled circuit, not just the required connections. An extra wire that shorts +24 V to 0 V (directly or through other wires), joins two AC phases, jumpers across an E-Stop, guard, stop, overload or relay contact, or lands on a terminal the drawing does not use now fails with a message naming exactly what it does. Legitimate daisy-chained supply and common wiring still passes.

The simulated machines now follow the same wiring truth: a shorted or bypassed circuit stops the machine, and a bypassed E-Stop can no longer prove the safety function.

Releasing an E-Stop no longer restarts the machine by itself on Levels 1, 3 and 7. Level 1 and Level 7 need a new Start press after the release; Level 3 needs the selector turned to OFF and back.

Level 2’s meter now reads 480 VAC between live phases and 277 VAC phase-to-ground (it could show 0). Verifying zero energy now requires the live-dead-live sequence: prove the meter on the live line side, test every load-side phase pair and phase to ground in V AC, check the control circuit, then prove the meter again. Two probes on one terminal never count, V DC cannot prove an AC conductor dead, and resistance mode shows no reading on energized parts.

Levels 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9 now keep your work and offer Retry if the server does not confirm your completion, instead of clearing progress and opening a certificate that was never recorded.

Level 5 terminal targets no longer overlap (clicking OUT V+ used to pick the input common), and Reset no longer jumps the pick-and-place back home: after a reset you run a visible Home sequence.

Level 6 accepts an electrically equivalent daisy-chained supply (for example +24 V to Start 13 and on to Stop 21), and its hardwired series option can now be completed on the board.

Level 9 no longer keeps a green PASS after you change a checked setting (for example switching to No controller); edits clear the affected check and the acceptance test re-checks the current settings.

Level 7’s wire-number dialog now works fully from the keyboard, the guard switch’s Safety A+/B+ inputs may be tied to +24 V as its instructions describe, and the grounding notes on Levels 7 and 10 now explain that PE and 0 V stay separate because these drawings use a floating 24 V system (a grounded system bonds them at one designated point).

Level 10: the zero-energy step now spells out the real verification it stands for, Section 10 describes itself accurately as interpreting technicians’ readings, and the pneumatic hint no longer mentions flow controls that are not on the panel. Completion messages on Levels 5, 6 and 7 now show the correct level number.

Save & Exit progress for Levels 8 and 9, and for the Level 10 PLC program and HMI editors, now saves to your account. The progress service had only accepted Levels 1–7, so that progress stayed in the browser you used.

Level 10 panel wiring, wire numbers, form answers and safety-test evidence are still saved in this browser only, as before.

The Level 10 Enter Wire Number dialog now keeps keyboard focus inside the dialog, closes with Escape from any of its controls, and returns focus to the tag, list button or terminal you came from.

Level 10 now uses the Level 7 wire-identification standard: every electrical conductor you land asks for its wire number from drawing L10-001, and both ends of the conductor carry the same number. Skip leaves a gray ? tag you can label later.

Under each electrical panel, a wire-number panel lists your own conductors (with large buttons to label or correct any of them, including on a phone) and the full L10-001 schedule with each conductor’s From and To terminals.

The +24 V, fused +24 V and 0 V rails are one node each (wires 100, 101 and 200), so a legitimate daisy-chained conductor carries its rail’s number. PE conductors are identified by their green/yellow insulation, EtherNet/IP cables are not wire-numbered, and air tubing is never numbered.

A panel only passes when every conductor is on the right terminals AND labeled with the right number. Changing a label clears that panel’s earlier pass, and your labels are saved with your wiring.

Level 8 now requires you to label each electrical conductor with its number from drawing L8-001, using an in-page wire-number dialog, editable panel tags and a touch-friendly label list.

Missing or wrong wire numbers prevent commissioning and acceptance, and editing a label clears earlier proofs. Save & Resume keeps your labels; saves from before this change need their wires labeled.

Legitimate daisy-chain segments have their own schedule numbers, and the analog shield drain (SH-801) is identified separately.

Level 10 wires no longer run across other terminals: a conductor steps sideways into the gap between terminals before dropping to the wireway, so the guard interlock’s unused 33/34 terminals and neighboring drive and contactor terminals stay clear.

On phones and narrow windows, the Level 10 wireways now run along the full width of each panel, so wire bundles no longer cross the solenoid bank and other wide devices.

Your saved Level 10 wiring is now restored as soon as the page opens, and is never overwritten by an empty page, even if you open Level 10 in a background tab.

On Level 10, a terminal that already had a wire, or had a wire passing over it, stopped highlighting under the mouse. Every terminal now highlights and selects normally, while wires still draw on top of the devices.

Hovering a Level 10 wire highlights exactly the conductor that a right-click will remove, even where several wires run side by side in a duct.

The last Level 10 placeholder cards are now realistic device illustrations with blue rings on the actual terminals: the guard interlock, plant air supply, lockable isolation/dump valve, operator pushbutton station, five photoeyes, nine inductive proximity sensors, tank level floats, vacuum pressure switch and nine solenoid coils.

Sensor and solenoid banks are shown landing on a labeled field junction strip (shared brown/blue or common, plus one signal per device), matching how the exercise is wired. Your wiring and the answer key are unchanged.

The guard interlock is now described correctly as two N.C. safety contacts plus one N.O. auxiliary contact, matching its six terminals.

Wires now stay glued to their terminals whenever any device card changes size, not just when the whole panel does.

Level 10 notes, pass/fail results, connection counters and device model numbers were pale text on light cards. They now meet readable-contrast guidelines across the whole level.

Every pneumatic port ring on the Level 10 air panel now sits on a fitting. The pick station shows both the horizontal and the vertical cylinder, the two 3/2 valves (vacuum supply and reject) have their own valve stations, and the rod-lock release is its own labeled port.

The valve manifold exhaust is silenced at the manifold (mufflers), so it is no longer shown as a tube connection, and the cylinder port rings are recentered on their fittings.

The Level 10 witnessed acceptance test now runs the PLC program you downloaded. It checks every rung you wrote (mode, start/stop seal, safety and fault drop-out, pump hysteresis with the overload inside the seal, fill permit, speed clamping and alarm latches), then runs a five-bottle plant simulation that only moves when your program commands it.

Acceptance now requires the controller to be online in Remote Run with your latest download. A stopped controller, an undownloaded project or a pending online edit is refused.

Passing Level 10 now records your completion on your account so the Level 10 certificate can be issued. If the save fails, you see why and can retry instead of reaching a certificate link that does not work.

HMI Test Application commands now follow operator roles (Operator can run the cell, Viewer is read-only, Maintenance can reset), and editing the PLC program or HMI after a pass clears that pass until it is checked again.

Resuming a saved Level 10 session no longer puts the controller in Run automatically. Download your program again, as you would on a real controller.

Level 10 forms and section headers now fit on phone screens instead of running off the edge of the card.

Wires and air tubes on every Level 10 panel are now drawn on top of the devices and land exactly on their terminals and ports. They no longer disappear behind a device or drift off their terminals when a panel scrolls or a photo finishes loading.

Each Level 10 panel now has a wireway duct above its first row of devices as well as below every row, so conductors leave a terminal and run straight into the nearest duct the way a real panel is wired.

Level 10 now saves your work in this browser as you go: wiring, drive parameters, the I/O map, the analog form, the hazard and commissioning answers and the safety test evidence all come back after a refresh.

The Level 10 safety test now models lockout properly: stop the machine, lock the main disconnect and the air dump, then verify zero energy. An E-Stop or guard test only counts when it stops a machine that is actually running.

Changing your wiring or an answer after a section has passed now clears that pass until you check it again, and the Drive and Field I/O checks now catch a +24 V to 0 V short like the other panels do.

Network commissioning now rejects invalid or duplicate IP addresses and devices on different subnets, and a blank scaling box is no longer read as 0 psi.

Added a Privacy Policy, Terms of Use and a Support & FAQ page, linked from the homepage footer alongside the Standards & Compliance page. Questions can be sent to info@controlstrainer.com.

The Level 10 “Get your certificate” button now opens the Level 10 certificate instead of the generic one.

The Level 5 safe-exhaust valve is now truly monitored: its feedback is wired into the safety relay’s reset (EDM) loop, so if the dump valve fails to reach its safe state the relay will not reset and the cell cannot restart.

Added a spring-applied, air-released rod lock on the vertical axis as the actual load-holding device. When the air is dumped the rod lock mechanically clamps the vertical rod so the load cannot fall — the closed-center valve is now ordinary pneumatic design rather than being relied on as the safety hold.

Level 5 now safeguards the pneumatic cell the way a real machine does. The E-Stop is dual-channel and the guard is wired into a 440R safety relay on two independent channels — not as an ordinary PLC input — so no single fault can defeat the stop, and the relay (not the program) drops the machine.

A redundant, monitored safe-exhaust (dump) valve now sits in the air supply. On an E-Stop or open guard it blocks supply and exhausts the downstream air through its silencer, positively removing the stored pneumatic energy independent of the PLC. The vertical axis runs a 5/3 closed-center valve so dumping the air cannot let it fall, and a monitored Safety Reset — separate from Cycle Start — means the cell can never restart on its own.

Level 5 also makes clear that the automatic safe-exhaust is not a lockout device: a lockable manual valve isolates and exhausts the supply for lockout/tagout before servicing (OSHA 1910.147 / 1910.212, NFPA 79, ISO 13849).

Level 4 now wires the drive Safe Torque Off the way a real machine does: a two-contact emergency stop drives the two STO inputs (S1 and S2) on separate, independent channels, with no jumper between them. A single welded contact or shorted wire can no longer leave the drive able to run — the fault cannot defeat the stop because the second channel still removes torque (NFPA 79 9.2.5.4).

Level 4 also makes clear that Safe Torque Off is not electrical isolation: it removes motor torque for a safe stop, but the drive stays energized, so the upstream disconnect must be locked out before anyone services the equipment (OSHA 1910.147).

The lessons now name the equipment families they model — for example the Allen-Bradley MicroLogix 1400 controller, the PowerFlex 525 drive, CompactLogix 5069 controllers with 5069 analog I/O, and the PanelView Plus 7 operator terminal — so you can look up the kind of hardware you will meet on the job.

The in-app design tools keep their ControlsTrainer names — the ControlsTrainer 5000 ladder editor and ControlsTrainer HMI Studio — while the devices they configure carry model numbers from those equipment families.

On Levels 1 and 3 the factory power wiring now runs down the panel wireway beside the disconnect and the motor starter instead of dropping across the new code-compliance notes, so the grounding, lockout/tagout and motor-branch callouts stay fully readable.

Level 8 now makes the instrumentation grounding and isolation explicit: the 24 V current loop is derived from an AC supply that keeps its own line-voltage disconnect and overcurrent protection, and the 0 V return, the cable shield, and protective earth are kept distinct — the shield lands at a single point, and the 0 V is treated as a grounded conductor only when it is actually bonded. (It already taught single-point shield grounding; this spells out the rest.)

Level 4 now calls out the Safe Torque Off safety function to NFPA 79 9.2.5.4: a Category 0 stop that removes motor torque directly (not through the PLC or drive firmware), overrides every other function, never restarts the drive on E-Stop release, and — for higher risk categories — is driven on two independent channels so no single fault can defeat it.

Level 4 now spells out the drive power branch to NEC 430: input conductors at 125% of the drive’s rated input current and output conductors at 125% of motor full-load current (430.122), branch short-circuit protection per the drive listing (430.130), the drive-provided motor overload (430.124), and the drive chassis and motor frame bonded to protective earth (250.119).

Level 3 now shows the equipment grounding conductor landed on the pump-motor frame in green/yellow and bonded back to the panel ground, so the motor frame can never become energized (NEC 250.119 / NFPA 79).

Level 3 now spells out the pump-motor branch protection — overload, upstream branch short-circuit/ground-fault protection, and conductors sized to the motor full-load current (NEC 430.22 / 430.32 / 430.52) — and that the lockable disconnect is the lockout/tagout energy-isolating device (OSHA 1910.147 / NEC 430.102), never the selector, Stop, or the contactor.

Level 1 now shows the equipment grounding conductor landed on the motor frame in green/yellow and bonded back to the panel ground — the way NEC 250.119 and NFPA 79 require every exposed conductive part to be grounded, so the motor frame can never become energized.

Level 1 now teaches lockout/tagout the right way: the lockable main disconnect is called out as the energy-isolating device you lock out to service the machine — never a Stop button, the E-Stop, or the contactor (OSHA 1910.147). The disconnect also carries realistic nameplate marking (voltage, current, panel short-circuit current rating) per NEC 409.110.

The Level 9 operator terminal now renders your HMI the way a real fixed-resolution terminal does: every screen — Overview, Alarms and Settings — is scaled onto the device by the same factor and keeps its designed layout, instead of each display independently zooming to fit whatever it happens to contain. Your built screens fill the glass cleanly and stay consistent as you switch between them.

The operator sign-in on Level 9 is now clearly marked as a training control, set apart from the terminal itself, so it is obvious you are switching the simulated operator to test what each security level is allowed to do — rather than operating something that lives on the running HMI.

Level 9 security now teaches the anonymous DEFAULT account — the account in effect before anyone logs in. On a fresh project it holds every security code (a real commissioning trap), and you now have to strip it down to View only so nobody can command the machine without signing in. The acceptance test verifies an anonymous operator is locked out, and you can Log out on the terminal to prove it.

The Level 9 HMI editor now shows the terminal’s fixed design resolution (800 × 600) while you build a display — reinforcing that you author at fixed coordinates — and the online-edit prompts make clear that testing or untesting a change only swaps which logic executes, never resetting the live machine values.

The Level 9 HMI Studio editor now behaves even more like professional HMI-design software: keyboard shortcuts (Delete, Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y, Ctrl+X / C / V and arrow-key nudging) no longer fire while you are typing in a tag or property field, duplicated and pasted objects always land inside the display, and the editor is locked while a Test Display or Test Application is running so a live test is never accidentally changed.

Added on-the-real-equipment guidance throughout Level 9: the dotted controller tags are members of tag structures (UDTs) and the Tag Browser is filtered here as a training aid; the ladder first-out is a PLC diagnostic distinct from the HMI software's own alarm setup; and the four operator roles are a stand-in for the runtime security codes (A–P) you would assign on a real operator terminal.

When you edit the controller online, the live green power flow now lights up only on the program that is actually executing — so it is always clear whether you are watching the original logic still running or the tested edits you are trying out.

Level 9 runtime security now works the way real HMI software does: every command carries a security code (A–F) and each account is granted the codes it needs, shown in a grant table. You assign each command the code that its authorized users hold, and access is enforced by the codes a user actually has — a higher role no longer automatically inherits every lower permission, exactly like a real operator-terminal project.

Level 9 now finishes on an operator terminal. At the bottom of the run section, your completed screens run on an operator-terminal image with your live HMI on its screen, automatically sized to fill the display so the objects are never cramped — with the runtime role login right above it, so you see and operate your interface the way it looks mounted on the machine, driving the live conveyor.

The Level 9 ladder editor now gives every rung more room: the instructions on a rung — and inside parallel branches — are evenly spaced so each contact and its tag name stands clear of its neighbors, matching the clean, readable layout of professional ladder-logic software.

Level 9 — HMI Machine Interface — is live. You build a complete operator-terminal interface for an automated inspection conveyor, end to end: classify every controller tag the HMI can touch, design the operator screens, program the safe PLC command handshake, enforce operator security, then run the live machine and pass a 10-point acceptance test — and the whole time the HMI only sends requests while the PLC keeps control.

Design the operator screens in ControlsTrainer HMI Studio, an industrial HMI editor. Drag status lamps, pushbuttons, a numeric setpoint entry, an auto/manual selector, alarm banners and a safety annunciator onto the Overview, Alarms and Settings displays, bind each object to the correct machine-status or HMI-request tag through a Tag Browser filtered to what that object is allowed to touch, and Test Display or Test Application to run your screens live — with real security roles — before the machine is even running. The editor works like the real software: click to select, drag to move, right-click or press Delete to remove an object, with Duplicate, cut/copy/paste, Undo/Redo and arrow-key nudging.

Program the PLC interface logic in ControlsTrainer 5000, a professional ladder-logic editor. Complete the command handshake, mode, speed-clamp, first-out and acknowledge rungs — dragging instructions onto the rungs, right-clicking to cut, copy, paste and delete, and undoing and redoing — then Verify the program. Verify is a real compile check: empty cells, undefined or wrong-data-type tags, and writes to protected tags are reported in an Output window, and you double-click an error to jump straight to the offending rung.

Download the program to the controller and change it to Remote Run, and your ladder actually executes and drives the conveyor. Because the machine runs the logic you wrote, a valid but incorrect program will misbehave and fail exactly the acceptance checks it gets wrong — a Stop that does not stop, a setpoint that is not clamped, a first-out that captures the wrong fault — just as you would find a logic error on the job. Online you watch your own rungs solve in live green, monitor every tag value and data type, and see the controller task scan time.

Edit the running controller online, the way a commissioning engineer does. With the controller in Remote Run, Start Pending Rung Edits to change the logic on a live machine, Verify and Accept your edits into the controller, Test them to run the modified logic while the conveyor keeps going, then Untest to fall back to the original or Assemble to make the change permanent — the machine never stops. The offline edit, Verify and Download path is still there for your first build.

The interface is engineered for safety the way a real machine is: every operator button writes a momentary request and the PLC decides, the run seals in only with the safety, auto and no-fault permissives, the speed setpoint is clamped in the controller, first-out alarm capture with an acknowledge that never clears the fault, and role-based security across Viewer, Operator, Maintenance and Administrator. An E-Stop or open guard drops the conveyor independent of the program, and a fresh Start is always required — the machine can never restart on its own.

Level 8 — Analog Process Control — is live. You commission a 4-20 mA surge-tank level loop from start to finish: select the instruments, assign and scale the analog I/O, wire the two current loops, configure the control action and the high and low level alarms, then hold setpoint on a live operator terminal.

Wire analog devices terminal to terminal — a 2-wire, loop-powered level transmitter and a control valve on an analog-input module and an analog-output module — with the cable shield landed at a single ground point, exactly as you would in the field.

Tune and prove the loop on a live process, then troubleshoot a faulted transmitter and pass the acceptance test.

The one-time $49.00 Full Access price is now shown up front — both before and while you sign up. A Full Access pricing panel sits right in the training levels, the note under the hero states it, and the same $49.00 now appears on the create-account page and the unlock page, so you always know exactly what it costs — no subscription, no renewals.

The two free levels — Guided Motor Starter and Troubleshooting — now lead the training levels, each clearly marked FREE with no account required, above the Full Access pricing panel and the advanced levels it unlocks.

Full Access is running an introductory sale — a limited-time offer — called out with the price everywhere it appears.

The unlock page’s included-levels list was refreshed to the current lineup: Automatic Pump Control, VFD Conveyor Commissioning, Pneumatic Pick & Place Cell, Controls Engineer and the Technician Challenge, with Levels 8–10 on the roadmap.

You can now wire the motor-control circuit the way real panels are built — a hardwired series control string where power flows device to device (Stop → Start → contactor coil → Overload, through the E-Stop) and the contactor 13-14 seal-in aux holds it in — as a fully-accepted alternative to home-running every device to the PLC. On Level 1 (motor starter) and Level 6 (inspection conveyor) it runs the motor independent of the PLC; on Level 3 it is a hardwired float control that fills the tank automatically with no PLC at all.

The wiring checker now validates the control circuit by electrical continuity — whether the series loop actually closes, and whether each safety contact (Stop, Overload, E-Stop) truly breaks it — instead of demanding one exact set of wires. The contact order can vary and the supply / 0 V rails can be jumpered just like the field, and the on-screen feedback now names exactly which leg of the loop is still open. Thanks to reddit user MagmaTroop for suggesting series control wiring.

Level 6’s control wiring is now laid out on a painted-steel subpanel. The 24 VDC supply, controller rack, safety relay, contactor, overload, field devices and pilot lights mount on four DIN-rail rows, and every conductor routes through slotted wire-way ducts and side wireways the way a commissioned cabinet is wired.

The HMI is now an operator terminal with a live screen: working START / STOP / RESET soft keys that command the conveyor, live RUN and REJECT pilots, and the dual-channel E-Stop safety annunciator — press the E-Stop and watch the safety relay drop the conveyor independent of the PLC.

The motor power block is now in correct across-the-line starter order — Contactor → Overload → Motor — with the overload in the power path next to the motor.

Level 5 — the Pneumatic Pick & Place Cell — now runs on a photorealistic two-axis machine. When you commission the cell and start a cycle, a guided pick-and-place head traverses the overhead rail, the cylinder strokes the gripper down onto the part, lifts it off the infeed nest, carries it across the cell, and sets it down on the outfeed nest — animated in real time from your own sequence logic. A fresh part then appears at the infeed for the next cycle.

The pneumatic circuit is now built the way it is in the field. The three valves live on one 3-station manifold with a shared supply and a common exhaust silenced by two compact sintered-bronze mufflers — the oversized muffler bank is gone. You plumb the FRL to the manifold supply and run each valve’s work ports out through the meter-out flow controls to the cylinders and gripper, with flexible push-connect tube routed straight from fitting to fitting on the mounting subpanel.

The electrical control wiring is now laid out on a control panel. The 24 VDC supply, PLC, field sensors, guard switch, E-Stop and the valve solenoid coils are mounted as modules on the subpanel, and every conductor routes through slotted wire-way ducts and side wireways the way a commissioned cabinet is wired — so you can trace each wire end to end.

Level 4 — VFD Conveyor Commissioning — has been rebuilt to the same realism bar as the other levels. You commission a variable frequency drive on a packaging conveyor end to end: read the motor data, assign the PLC I/O, wire the control circuit, set the drive parameters, choose the command strategy, and run the acceptance test.

Read the motor data off the nameplate. Section 1 now shows the conveyor motor’s nameplate — you read the rated voltage, base frequency, full-load amps, RPM and horsepower straight off the plate and enter them, instead of copying them out of the work order, exactly as you would on the job.

The PLC/VFD control-wiring board is fully photorealistic. You wire the device images terminal to terminal — a compact PLC, an analog-output module, the VFD control terminal strip, an E-Stop, and the drive’s Safe Torque Off safety block — with the conductors routed through wire ducts in NFPA-79 colors.

Commission and prove the drive on an interactive VFD keypad with a live display, then watch the packaging conveyor run beneath it at the speed you command. An emergency stop removes motor torque through the drive’s hardwired Safe Torque Off, independent of the PLC, and the acceptance test proves it.

On Levels 1 and 3 you can now wire the control circuit the way it is actually done in the field — device to device, in series — as a fully accepted alternative to the home-run/PLC wiring, with no mode to switch. In the real world, pushbuttons, switches, pilot lights and safety contacts are not each home-run to the power supply; power flows through one device to the next. The level recognizes and completes on either way you wire it, and the original PLC wiring still works exactly as before.

Level 1 accepts the classic 3-wire motor-starter control string: +24 V through the E-Stop and Stop contacts (both normally-closed), through the Start pushbutton, to the contactor coil and out through the overload — with the contactor 13-14 auxiliary wired as the seal-in across Start so the motor holds in after you release the button. Press Stop, press the E-Stop, or trip the overload and the series string opens and the motor drops out, exactly as on a real panel.

Level 3 accepts a real hardwired float control — a no-PLC pump panel. The selector's AUTO leg feeds the high float's normally-closed contact, then the low float (with the 13-14 seal-in across it), the E-Stop, the coil and the overload. The low float starts the fill, the seal-in holds the pump in as the level rises past the low mark, and the high float's NC contact stops it at the top — fully automatic tank filling with no PLC at all, entirely from your own series wiring. HAND runs it manually.

Thanks to Reddit user MagmaTroop for suggesting this — for the reminder that in the real world controls are run in series, not each landed straight on the power supply.

Level 3 is a brand-new interactive lesson — Automatic Pump Control. Wire a HAND/OFF/AUTO selector and the low and high float switches on the day tank to the PLC, then program the automatic fill logic so the M1 transfer pump keeps the tank topped off. In AUTO the pump starts on the low float and stops on the high float, held by a seal-in latch so it does not short-cycle; HAND runs it manually; OFF stops it.

A live pump-station simulation drives the whole lesson: the photorealistic pump and day tank fill and cycle in real time from your own ladder logic, the float switches and the tank-level readout respond to the level, and the E-Stop is hardwired in series with the contactor coil — exactly as on the real machine.

The seven training levels have been reordered so difficulty builds more smoothly from the fundamentals up to the capstone. The new lineup is: Level 1 Guided Motor Starter, Level 2 Troubleshooting, Level 3 Automatic Pump Control, Level 4 VFD Conveyor Commissioning, Level 5 Pneumatic Pick & Place Cell, Level 6 Controls Engineer, and Level 7 Technician Challenge (the 180° indexing-turret capstone). Existing links and saved progress continue to work.

The interactive Troubleshooting Bench is now a FREE level (Level 2). Anyone can run the full hands-on workflow — set up a realistic Fluke 87V multimeter, probe the live control panel to find where the 24 V control voltage is lost, then lock the machine out and make the repair — before unlocking the advanced levels with one-time Full Access.

Level 1 — the Motor Starter Lab — has been rebuilt to the same realism bar as Levels 3 and 4. The exercise now sits in a proper cabinet subpanel with wire ducts on every side, the devices are arranged in logical wiring order in realistic proportions with engraved nameplates, the main disconnect is shown as the incoming 3-phase power source, and the control wiring is rendered in NFPA-79 colors (24 V control blue, 0 V return white with a blue stripe, 3-phase black) matching Level 3. The wiring task itself is unchanged — you still wire the control circuit — it simply looks and feels like a cabinet.

The machine Level 1 drives is now a photorealistic M1 transfer-pump station. Wire the starter correctly and start the motor, and the pump comes to life — water flows through the discharge piping and the day tank fills gradually from empty, with the inlet stream, surface splash and rising level all shown. Stop the motor and the inflow stops immediately, and the tank holds whatever level it reached.

Level 4’s troubleshooting bench received several refinements: the guided auto-solve walkthrough now works on the new bench; the operator terminal no longer shrinks when you switch to the alarm screen; a “Check if Complete” button under the conveyor lets you confirm the repair before the certificate is issued; the conveyor visibly runs while the motor is running; incoming utility power is now shown live on the line side of the main disconnect even when it is open (reinforcing the lockout/tagout lesson); and the meter’s test leads no longer appear until you actually connect a lead to a terminal.

The homepage preview carousel has been refreshed with new, higher-quality banners — interactive industrial automation training, PLC wiring & panel layout, the pump-station simulation, and HMI, safety & sensors.

Level 4 is a brand-new interactive troubleshooting bench that replaces the previous Level 4. You are dispatched on service call CT-401: a packaging conveyor has faulted and will not restart. Using a realistic Fluke 87V digital multimeter, you set the meter function, pick up a test lead, and probe the live control panel to find where the 24 V control voltage is lost — then lock the machine out and make the repair.

Every device on the panel is a probeable device image — main disconnect, control fuse, 24 VDC supply, the PLC, Start and Stop pushbuttons, motor contactor, motor overload and the 3-phase motor. Each terminal is live: click a lead on the meter (red at the VΩ jack or black at COM), then click a terminal on a device to land it, and the meter reads the actual voltage or resistance at that point. A red or black test-lead wire follows from the meter to the terminal you land on. Reversing the leads reads a negative voltage, just like a real meter, and an open circuit reads OL.

A real, diagnosable fault sits in the control circuit: the 24 V control voltage is present at some test points and missing at others, and it is up to you to isolate where it is lost by taking readings — the level never tells you which component failed. Probing across the open point reads the full voltage drop, exactly as it would on a real panel. Hovering any terminal shows its label and a plain-language description of what it is.

Lockout / Tagout and repair are hands-on: verify zero energy on the meter, then take a hasp, lock and tag from the lockout station and apply them to the de-energized disconnect before replacing the faulted component. The repair step asks you to identify which component to replace, and it is only accepted once you have actually diagnosed the fault — so the level cannot be short-cut.

The bench is alive around you: a live operator terminal annunciates the machine fault, an animated conveyor stops and restarts with the machine state, and the alarm banner reflects the PLC inputs and outputs in real time. Completing the repair restores the conveyor, issues your Level 4 certificate, and your progress saves and resumes like the other levels.

The factory power-distribution hardware on the panel — the main disconnect, the 3-pole motor branch breaker and the 1-pole control-power breaker — is now shown PRE-WIRED. Factory conductors run from the incoming disconnect, through the branch breakers, and on to the motor contactor and the 24 VDC control supply, routed through the same wire ducts as your own wiring — so these devices read as factory-wired context instead of empty parts sitting at the top of the panel. The conductors are non-interactive (you do not land them) and carry no wire numbers.

The turret motor is no longer shown as a separate device on the wiring board. Its 3-phase power path is entirely factory pre-wired and was never part of your wiring task, so the motor now appears where it belongs — as the load at the end of the motor branch in the factory power one-line (main disconnect → motor breaker → contactor → overload → motor). This removes a device that could look wireable when it is not; every component you actually wire is unchanged.

Conductor colors on the factory power wiring follow the US panel standard (NFPA 79): line-voltage phase legs are black, the grounded neutral is white, and protective earth is green/yellow — matching the net-based colors already used on the wiring board (all ungrounded 24 VDC control/signal blue, the 0 VDC return white with a blue stripe). No wiring, wire numbers, terminal assignments or validation changed.

The live operator terminal in the HMI & Safety Test section now behaves like a real powered display: while the panel is de-energized its screen is solid black (only the operator-terminal bezel shows), instead of a dimmed screen with an offline message. It lights up and annunciates as before once the HMI is energized/online. Display only — the safety logic and validation are unchanged.

Presentation only. The electrical model, union-find validation, the wire schedule, PLC I/O, the HMI safety logic, RUN simulation and save/resume are all unchanged, and every existing exercise remains completable.

The DC input module is now a 16-point input module — the previous 8-point part shown was not an actual catalog part. It is now shown as a device image matching the controller and its output module — a single-column 18-position RTB with terminals I00–I15 and two No-Connect positions, following the manufacturer drawing. Your existing input assignments (I:0/0–I:0/6) are unchanged. This module has no on-board common: its inputs return through the backplane to SA(−) at the controller, so the "input common" now correctly lands on the controller's SA− terminal (wire 201) instead of a DC-COM that does not exist on the module.

The controller now shows its two power inputs — MOD (system/backplane) and SA (sensor/actuator field) — as the manufacturer separates them. Both are fed from one 24 VDC supply on this build, with a teaching note that production panels often use separate MOD and SA supplies so a field fault cannot reset the controller.

A documented power architecture: an incoming main disconnect that isolates the whole cabinet, a 3-pole motor branch breaker, and a 1-phase control-power branch breaker — so the power hierarchy reads correctly (the motor breaker is not the cabinet's incoming protection). A documented load calculation confirms one power supply (24 VDC, 3 A) carries the whole cabinet — HMI, controller, I/O, safety relay, guard, contactor coil and sensors ≈ 1.69 A steady (56%) — calculated from the manufacturer and Schneider data sheets. The HMI is specified as the 7-inch Series B operator terminal the supply is sized for.

A dedicated green/yellow protective-earth terminal strip, TB-PE, joins TB1/TB2/TB3 at the enclosure boundary. It bonds the incoming supply PE, enclosure, door, power-supply PE, DIN rail/contactor and motor frame into one continuous protective-earth system — kept electrically distinct from TB3 (0 VDC). Protective earth, 0 VDC common and functional grounding are now clearly separated. The PE bonds are factory-prewired and shown for understanding, not student-numbered.

The three-phase turret drive motor is now visible in the field in its own TURRET DRIVE area beside the machine sensors, showing its U/V/W power and its frame protective-earth connection. Its 3-phase power path (main disconnect → motor breaker → contactor → overload → motor) stays factory pre-wired, shown but not part of your wiring task.

The terminal blocks now distribute power the way a real panel does. TB2 (+24 V), TB3 (0 V) and TB-PE are true feed-through blocks like the gray TB1 — field wiring lands on the field side of a terminal and panel wiring on the panel side, with a factory jumper combing the panel side of TB2/TB3 into a +24 V / 0 V bus. The 24 VDC supply therefore carries exactly one +24 V and one 0 V conductor to the blocks, and every device — including the safety-relay coil (A1/A2), the output-module V+ and the contactor-coil return — taps the bus instead of piling extra wires onto the supply's two terminals. Grading now checks the correct SIDE of each terminal, so a supply feed on the field side (or a field lead on the panel side) is caught.

The main disconnect, the motor branch breaker and the control-power branch breaker are now shown as device images (a fused disconnect, a magnetic-only motor-circuit protector, and a control-power breaker), and the turret motor as a 5 HP, 9-lead motor — replacing the earlier schematic cards. The motor breaker is sized for the motor's full-load current and coordinated with the existing overload relay.

The HMI & Safety Test panel is now a live operator-terminal screen — a Controls-Trainer display recreated in the browser (not a static picture) that reacts to your work in real time: RUN / STOP / FAULT status tiles, a "Station Ready" lamp, a 180° indexing-turret graphic, and per-point I/O LEDs — I:0/0 Cycle Start, I:0/1 Stop, I:0/2 Photoeye, I:0/3 Guard Aux, I:0/4 Turret Home, I:0/5 180° Prox, I:0/6 Safety Relay Status — all driven by the actual simulation. It annunciates HMI OFFLINE, SAFETY NOT COMMISSIONED, SAFETY OK — READY, SYSTEM RUNNING, E-STOP ACTIVE, GUARD OPEN, RESET REQUIRED and control faults. The E-Stop is shown correctly as a hardwired safety condition on the safety relay — never as a PLC input — and there is no conveyor (this is the 180° indexing turret). The safety circuit and validation are unchanged and remain authoritative; this is a visual/UI upgrade. The physical operator terminal on the cabinet stays a wireable device, and its screen now lights up once you complete its EtherNet/IP link.

Conductor colors now follow the shop wiring standard, traced by electrical NET/function (not by device cable color or terminal-block color): +24 VDC and DC control/signal conductors are solid blue; the 0 VDC common/return is white with a blue stripe; protective earth (PE) is green with a yellow stripe; AC line/power is black and AC control is red (the motor branch is factory-wired). Because it is net-based, a sensor's blue 0 V lead is drawn as a 0 V return (white/blue-stripe) even though its cable is blue, and its brown +24 lead is drawn as +24 V (blue). The 0 VDC common is a return, kept distinct from protective earth.

Each wiring stage now checks wire identification independently of the connections. The Safety and Control stages each verify that every required conductor is both landed on the correct terminals AND carries its correct wire number from drawing L3-001 — a complete connection with a missing or wrong number does not pass, and a wrong connection is never excused by entering the expected number. Feedback names the exact conductor (for example, "E-Stop 11 → Relay S11 is wire 503, you entered 501"). The system only enforces numbers that actually appear on the drawing, so a stage can never demand a number the schedule doesn't list.

The approved wire-routing/rendering, the union-find electrical validation, the duct network, RUN simulation and save/resume are unchanged — the electrical model was updated only where the verified hardware change required it (the input module common), and every existing exercise remains completable.

The Level 3 field is now organized the way a real machine is: an OPERATOR STATION (the operator terminal plus the Reset, Cycle Start and Stop pushbuttons), SAFETY DEVICES (the E-Stop and the guard-locking switch), and MACHINE SENSORS (the photoeye and the two proximity sensors). Each stays a fully independent device — this is visual organization only.

The operator terminal moved out of the internal control enclosure and into the operator station, where an operator terminal actually lives. Its EtherNet/IP link back to the controller is unchanged.

Components are larger and easier to work with. Devices that had become small after the wire-duct redesign — especially the controller I/O modules and other terminal-dense parts — were enlarged so every terminal is clearly visible and comfortably clickable. Each terminal also has a generous invisible click/tap target so you won't miss a connection by a few pixels, sized to never select the wrong neighboring terminal. The board is larger and scrolls; nothing was shrunk to fit.

The PLC now reads as a real rack assembly — the controller and its input and output modules sit together as one abutting rack on a shared DIN rail, with the power supply as its own independently mounted device. Wire-number tags sit just off their terminals and are spaced so they stay readable and never overlap each other, even on the dense terminal strips and the safety relay.

Purely a layout and usability change. All wiring, wire numbers, the wire schedule, terminal-block boundary, duct routing, safety/control stages, PLC I/O, HMI behavior, RUN simulation, Step Back/Clear and save/resume are unchanged.

Level 3 now looks like a real control panel. Devices are arranged on fixed rails (power and PLC on top, safety and motor control below, terminal blocks at the bottom), with the field devices shown outside the enclosure. Your conductors leave each terminal, drop into the nearest slotted wire duct, travel horizontally and vertically through the duct network, and land at the destination — instead of drawing straight diagonal lines across the board.

Related conductors bundle together in shared duct runs, and the terminal blocks (TB1/TB2/TB3) now clearly mark the transition between field/machine wiring and internal panel wiring — a core panel-building skill.

Wires now route behind the equipment and through the ducts rather than over the device faces. Step Back and Clear Wires work exactly as before — the wiring re-routes automatically, and the panel and ducts stay in place.

This is a visual/rendering change only. Your electrical connections are checked exactly as before — the physical routing and the electrical correctness are independent systems.

Level 3's guard is now an OSSD guard-locking switch, shown with an M12 8-pin connector, instead of a simplified NC contact. Its two OSSD safety outputs land on the second input of the dual-input safety relay (Safety A to S32, Safety B to S42), and its auxiliary output reports door/lock status to the PLC. The guard therefore both forces a safety stop independent of the PLC and is monitored for HMI indication and cycle-start interlock.

The E-Stop and the guard are now monitored as two separate safety inputs (relay AND logic). Opening either one drops the motor contactor independently of the PLC program, and closing the guard does not auto-restart the turret — a safety reset and a fresh Cycle Start are required. A new functional test proves this on your own wiring.

Corrected the motor-branch descriptions: the contactor is factory-wired to the motor through the overload, not directly. The coil string runs through the overload 95-96 auxiliary, and relay status reaches the PLC through the D22R2's solid-state Y32 aux.

Terminal labels, hover tips, hints, the wire schedule, and validation were all updated to the manufacturer's terminal designations. The circuit is a training example and does not by itself certify a PL/SIL/Category rating for any given machine — that depends on the full machine risk assessment.

You can now run the machine by pressing the actual field devices. On Levels 3 and 5, click the Start, Stop, and reject devices right on the wiring board to run and stop the machine. They behave like true momentary pushbuttons — press Start and the machine keeps running through your ladder's seal-in, press Stop and it drops out — exactly like a real control panel, with no separate test panel.

Level 5 now has working pilot lights. A green light turns on while the conveyor is running and a red light turns on when a part is rejected. Both are driven by the outputs in your own PLC program, so they only light up if you assign, wire, and program them correctly.

Level 3's stack light now illuminates while the turret is running, driven by your program.

More wiring terminals show a label on hover. The Start and Stop pushbutton contacts (13/14 and 21/22) and the contactor coil terminals (A1/A2) now display their marking and purpose when you point at them, matching the rest of the board.

Fixed missing device images on Level 5. The controller rack modules, the safety relay, and the dual-channel E-Stop photos now load correctly.

Guided progression: finish a level to unlock the next one. Your homepage now shows each level as Passed, In progress, ready to Start, or Locked until you complete the one before it. Levels 1 and 2 stay open to try any time.

Save and Resume: a Save & Exit button on every lesson lets you stop whenever you like and pick up exactly where you left off. Lessons with saved work show a Continue button on the homepage.

Terminal magnifier and labels: hovering a wiring terminal now enlarges it and shows its marking, so tightly packed blocks like the PLC modules, power supply, and safety relay are far easier to read and wire accurately.

Levels 3 and 5 were rebuilt around a modern controller rack and a dual-channel safety relay. The safety circuit is now wired separately from the control circuit, and the HMI annunciates the emergency stop over EtherNet/IP, following common industrial practice.

Several lessons added simulated hardwired E-Stop behavior that drops the contactor independently of the PLC program. On Level 1, for example, the E-Stop’s normally closed contact is wired in series with the contactor coil (PLC output to E-Stop 21, E-Stop 22 to coil A1), so pressing it drops the motor even while the program commands RUN; twist to release and restart.

Level 6 now wires the emergency stop into the VFD's hardwired Safe Torque Off (STO) inputs, and Level 7 returns every valve solenoid common through the E-Stop, so an emergency stop removes power from all the directional valve solenoids independent of the PLC.

The Level 1 and Level 2 completion certificate now works. Finishing the free motor-starter lessons opens a printable certificate of completion (it previously led to a missing page).

Level 6's VFD parameter examples were updated from older-generation drive numbering (such as A092/A093) to PowerFlex 525-style parameter numbers.

On Level 7, the 5/2 valve exhaust ports (3 and 5) now each vent through their own muffler instead of being tubed to one another, the cylinder position sensors are now magnetic reed sensors instead of inductive proximity sensors, and the guard is now a proper normally-closed safety switch instead of a capacitive proximity sensor.

Level 4 troubleshooting is more realistic: an open PLC input common now leaves +24 V present at the input terminals (the module simply cannot sense it) — exactly how a technician tells an open common from a dead control fuse with a meter — and the hardwired E-Stop is now part of the circuit and can be one of the hidden faults.

Level 3's optional decoy devices (the interposing relay, stack light, and reset pushbutton) are now drawn as labeled device images instead of plain placeholder cards.

Accessibility: the homepage showcase no longer auto-advances for visitors whose device requests reduced motion, wiring status messages are now announced to screen readers, and keyboard focus is now clearly outlined across the site.

On desktop, hovering the mouse over a wiring terminal now magnifies it into a large, clearly highlighted target — a big help on tightly spaced blocks like the PLC I/O row, where it was easy to click the wrong terminal. The magnify is centered on the terminal, so connected wires stay attached. This applies to every wiring board.

On phones and tablets, the wiring board now has a zoom control (minus / plus buttons, plus two-finger pinch) that spreads the device terminals apart so close terminals are easy to tap; drag with one finger to pan around the enlarged board. Available on Levels 1, 2, 3, and 5.

On phones and tablets, the Ladder Logic Editor's editing controls — the per-instruction delete button, the drag handle, and the parallel-branch delete — could not be reached, because they only appeared on mouse hover. Tapping a rung to select it now reveals that rung's controls, so touch users can change instructions and remove contacts and branches.

The wiring board terminals now present larger touch targets on phones and tablets, making it easier to place wires with a fingertip. The tightly-spaced PLC and contactor terminal blocks stay compact so their tap zones do not overlap.

On Levels 1 and 2, the Contactor M1 terminals no longer lined up with the updated Schneider TeSys D photo, so the coil (A1/A2) and load (T1/T2/T3) terminals could not be clicked to place wires. The terminal hotspots are now realigned to the new photo, and the contactor's incoming power terminals (L1/L2/L3) and auxiliary contacts (13/14 NO, 21/22 NC) appear as clickable, labeled spares — matching Levels 3 and 5 — so nothing on the photo is a dead zone.

The Ladder Logic Editor on Levels 1, 2, 3, and 5 has been restyled to read like a ladder-logic editor: a clean white canvas with dark power rails, the rung wire running through the contacts, tag names shown as plain text above each instruction, and simple numbered rungs. The editing controls (the XIC/XIO type selector, delete buttons, and drag handles) now appear only when you hover an instruction or select a rung, so a finished program reads like a live PLC monitor instead of a web form.

In RUN mode, a true instruction now highlights green on the instruction itself — its contact symbol and tag — instead of filling the whole box, and the green no longer bleeds onto the rung wire between devices, matching how an online ladder editor shows power flow.

Replaced the Contactor M1 image used on Levels 3 and 5 with a clearer, fully labeled image of a Schneider Electric TeSys D contactor. The old image's load terminals were printed "L1/L2/L3" even though the wiring logic always treated them as T1/T2/T3 — the new image shows T1/T2/T3 on both the overlay and the terminal block.

The new photo also shows the contactor's incoming power terminals (L1/L2/L3) and its auxiliary contacts (13/14 NO, 21/22 NC) for the first time — all now clickable (they're not part of this lesson's required wiring, same treatment as the guard switch and overload relay's spare contacts) so nothing on the photo looks like a dead zone.

Level 6's PLC Digital Output and PLC Digital Input modules — previously two separate generic terminal cards — now render as a single compact-PLC image, matching every other level's PLC card. The VFD Control Terminals card now shows a VFD control terminal strip image instead of generic circles, with the unused terminals (spare inputs, AI2, AO1, and the extra relay contacts) still clickable so nothing looks like a dead zone.

Added a caption noting that the VFD's COM terminal is the shared digital common for both the RUN/RESET command wiring and the FAULT relay return, since that's not obvious from the photo alone.

Added a mobile "swipe right for more devices" hint, matching every other level's wiring board.

Level 5's wiring board now uses the same photo-realistic device art as Levels 1, 2 & 3 — the 24 VDC supply, pushbuttons, guard switch, overload relay, photoeye, reject sensor, PLC, contactor, motor, and reject solenoid all render as device images with calibrated clickable terminals. The board lays out with the same flowing, wrapping layout as Level 3 so any combination of selected hardware fits cleanly. The Green/Red Pilot Lights and Time Delay Relay keep the original generic terminal card since no matching photo exists for those yet.

The conveyor motor is now required to be wired to the contactor (T1/T2/T3 on both), consistent with the same change already made on Levels 1, 2 & 3 — previously Level 5's motor had no load-side wiring at all.

The PLC input and output modules are separate selectable components in this lesson's hardware list, but they're one physical PLC on the real hardware — they now render as a single combined PLC image showing whichever side(s) you've selected, instead of two duplicate PLC cards.

Added a mobile "swipe right for more devices" hint, matching every other level's wiring board.

Level 3's wiring board now uses the same photo-realistic device art as Levels 1 & 2 — the power supply, pushbuttons, photoeye, home/180° proximity sensors, PLC, contactor, motor, and overload relay all render as device images with calibrated clickable terminals, instead of generic labeled circles. Since Level 3's board only shows the components you actually selected in Step 1, the wiring layout now flows and wraps automatically instead of using a fixed grid, so any combination of selected hardware still lays out cleanly.

Added a photo for the required Guard Switch (guard-locking safety interlock), the one device that didn't already have matching art, along with an NC/NO caption (11-12 = NC safety, 21-22 = NO spare) matching the overload relay's labeling.

The turret motor is now required to be wired to the contactor (T1/T2/T3 on both), consistent with the same change just made on Levels 1 & 2 — previously Level 3's motor had no load-side wiring at all.

Wires drawn across the board could visually cross over a terminal button on another device and intercept the click meant for that button, the same issue already fixed on Levels 1 & 2. Undo/Clear Wires remain the way to remove a wire.

The PLC input and output modules are separate selectable components in this lesson's hardware list, but they're one physical PLC on the real hardware — they now render as a single combined PLC image (matching Levels 1 & 2) showing whichever side(s) you've selected, instead of two duplicate PLC cards.

Added a mobile "swipe right for more devices" hint, matching every other level's wiring board.

The contactor's T1/T2/T3 load terminals and the motor's T1/T2/T3 terminals were previously decorative spares. Wiring the contactor to the motor (T1→T1, T2→T2, T3→T3) is now a required, graded connection, just like the control-circuit wiring.

The simulated motor will no longer show RUNNING from PLC logic alone — the load-side wiring must be complete too, matching how a real motor starter needs both a control circuit and power wiring before the motor actually turns.

Added a wiring caption under the Contactor and Motor cards ("T1–T2–T3 (load) → wire to motor T1–T2–T3") and hover tooltips on each terminal so the new requirement is clear at a glance, plus an updated Wiring Hint entry for Level 1 and a new progressive hint step for Level 2.

The Start PB and Stop PB photos were cropped to slightly different proportions, making the Stop PB card noticeably taller than the Start PB card. Padded the Start PB photo to match, and re-calibrated its terminal positions, so both cards render at the same size.

The overload relay photo prints 95-96 and 97-98 with no visual difference between them, so there was no way to tell which pair is the Normally Closed contact used by the lesson just by looking. Added a "95–96 = NC (wire these) · 97–98 = NO (spare)" caption under the device, plus a hover tooltip on each terminal explaining what it is.

The contactor's load-side T1/T2/T3 terminals and the motor's T1/T2/T3 terminals are now clickable instead of dead zones on the photo. These are decorative (matching the printed terminal dots) and are not part of the graded circuit, same as the other spare terminals already on the board.

Added a small spinning fan badge to the motor card so a running motor has a real motion cue again, in addition to the green running glow — closer to how the old spinning "M" schematic symbol read at a glance.

Removed the floating "M1" label that had started overlapping the contactor's printed T2 terminal once the load-side terminals were added; the card header already reads "Contactor M1", so the badge was redundant.

Replaced the schematic wiring board in Level 2 (Assisted Motor Starter) with the same photo-realistic field device art used in Level 1: 24 VDC power supply, start/stop pushbuttons, overload relay, PLC I/O terminals, contactor, and motor.

Required wiring and ladder-logic grading are unchanged — only the artwork and layout are new.

Fixed a CSS ordering bug that kept the new mobile "swipe right for more devices" hint invisible on Levels 1 and 7 even though the horizontal-scroll behavior itself worked; the hint now displays correctly on phones.

Replaced the schematic wiring board in Level 1 (Motor Starter Lab) with photo-realistic field device art: 24 VDC power supply, start/stop pushbuttons, overload relay, PLC I/O terminals, contactor, and motor.

Required wiring, grading, and the RUN/Start/Stop/overload-trip behavior are unchanged — only the artwork and layout are new.

Restored the site's horizontal-scroll wiring canvas on mobile for Level 1 (and Level 7, which had lost it in the recent photo-realistic redesign): device rows now scroll sideways instead of stacking every card down the page, with a swipe hint shown on phones.

Tightened the PLC card's closely-spaced input/output terminal hit zones so clicking one terminal can no longer register a neighboring one.

Replaced the schematic electrical wiring board in Level 7 with photo-realistic field device art: 24 VDC power supply, PLC I/O terminals, position/part/guard sensors, and valve solenoid coils.

Control wires now render in front of device photos with a light halo for legibility, and route with the same adaptive curve used by the pneumatic circuit board.

Wire coloring (brown/blue/black/red) and every required connection are unchanged — only the artwork and layout are new.

Replaced the schematic pneumatic circuit board in Level 7 with photo-realistic field device art: FRL, 5/2 and 3/2 valves, meter-out flow controls, cylinders, and gripper.

Air tubing now renders in front of device photos with a light halo for legibility, using an adaptive curve that follows whichever axis two ports are most separated on.

Added a version query string to the Level 7 stylesheet so future style updates take effect immediately instead of waiting on a stale cached copy.

Expanded green TRUE-state ladder monitoring across every lesson with a PLC ladder view: Levels 1–5.

Removed RUN-mode dimming that was washing out live PLC monitor colors.

Level 4 troubleshooting now highlights the prebuilt ladder using the actual live machine and I/O state.

Level 5 ladder logic now displays live monitor states for the configured idle machine condition.

Adjusted the wiring hint layout so it remains contained within the beginner wiring board.

Corrected Level 1 RUN-mode monitoring so TRUE ladder contacts and energized coils visibly turn green.

Added stronger green symbols, tag fields, outlines, and power-flow stubs for active ladder instructions.

Added live green instruction highlighting in RUN mode for ladder logic with active PLC tag states.

True contacts and energized coils now display a PLC-style green monitor indication in Levels 1, 2, and 3.

Monitor highlighting automatically clears in PROGRAM mode and when an instruction becomes false.

Replaced the large "Delete rung" button in the shared beginner ladder editor with a compact red X button.

Updated the rung delete control styling for a cleaner, more professional-grade editing experience on mobile and desktop.

Added a dedicated 1200 × 630 social-share image for Controls Trainer links.

Updated Open Graph and Twitter/X metadata so shared links use a properly sized training preview instead of the homepage hero image.

Added a large homepage carousel showcasing real Controls Trainer lesson interfaces.

Added visual previews for motor starter training, inspection conveyor logic, VFD commissioning, and pneumatic automation.

Carousel now advances automatically every five seconds and supports previous/next controls, slide indicators, and mobile swipe.

Added smooth right-to-left slide transitions with a fixed 16:9 showcase frame for more polished motion.

Added the public Updates & Changelog page.

Reconstructed the release history from the actual Controls Trainer development patches.

Levels 3–7 now use dedicated server-side certificate pages.

Certificates automatically use the learner name stored on the signed-in account.

Removed incorrect certificate-level fallback behavior across advanced lessons.

Successful advanced-level completion now leads directly into the correct certificate flow.

Animated the Level 6 conveyor while the VFD is actually running.

Connected Level 6 acceptance testing directly to certificate completion.

Moved Level 6 certificate generation to a dedicated server-side route.

Corrected Level 6 certificates displaying Level 1 information.

Increased Controls Trainer branding size on desktop and mobile.

Repositioned mobile hero copy and strengthened image-overlay readability.

Reduced excess mobile hero height so training content appears sooner.

Added moving belt, packages, and motor feedback to the Level 4 troubleshooting conveyor.

Animation responds to the actual contactor and machine state rather than playing independently.

Corrected Level 5 ladder dropdowns closing immediately after being opened.

Moved Level 5 PLC I/O assignment into the proper workflow between wiring and programming.

I/O rows now begin blank so learners choose both the device and address.

Advanced lessons now require learners to add or select their own OTE outputs instead of receiving fully prebuilt rungs.

Replaced large rung-delete controls with a compact Studio-style red delete X.

Added drag-and-reorder behavior for ladder instructions.

Expanded the ladder programming workspace.

Added instruction conversion between XIC and XIO after placement.

Added manual OTE selection for advanced programming.

Renamed PLC scan display to Last Scan Time for clearer industrial terminology.

Audited Levels 3–7 so stale earlier results cannot incorrectly satisfy final acceptance.

Level 3 now verifies required sensors, physical terminals, I/O assignments, and turret ladder structure.

Level 5 now validates complete sensor wiring, correct I/O mapping, conveyor logic, reject logic, and pilot-light logic.

Level 6 now invalidates previous commissioning proof when configuration values are changed.

Level 7 now rechecks hardware, I/O, pneumatic sequencing, and current acceptance conditions.

Corrected stale PLC outputs after an output instruction is removed from a rung.

Prevented an empty rung with only an OTE from energizing automatically.

Added clearer Level 1 and Level 2 completion messages for wiring, programming, PLC mode, and machine operation.

Blocked incomplete starter logic from operating the training motor.

Corrected seal-in behavior so the output image from the previous PLC scan is available during rung evaluation.

Parallel branches now begin blank so learners choose the proper seal-in contacts themselves.

Added completion certificates as a visible Controls Trainer platform feature.

Updated homepage messaging to explain certificate completion to learners.

Completed the Level 5 automated inspection conveyor hardware set.

Removed fixed-device badges and made the hardware-selection experience more learner-driven.

Standardized Level 5 hardware card sizing and presentation.

Made every required and decoy Level 5 hardware device selectable instead of preselecting infrastructure.

Redesigned My Training to match the main Controls Trainer visual experience.

Improved mobile layout and visibility of completed training levels.

Account pages load faster.

Preserved Full Access status and permanent Passed history.

Introduced standardized lesson artwork and optimized web images.

Reworked homepage image scaling for mobile devices.

Added the integrated industrial automation hero presentation.

Redesigned the homepage into a polished training-platform layout.

Added feature icons and stronger training-platform messaging.

Added smooth hero image blending and improved mobile hero spacing.

Added Level 7 Pneumatic Pick & Place Cell training.

Added hardware selection, PLC I/O, electrical wiring, pneumatic tubing, sequence logic, and acceptance testing.

Corrected wiring and pneumatic path layering so connections remain visually usable.

Converted Level 7 into a hardware-driven build where selected components populate the work area.

Improved mobile wiring hints in early training levels.

Added Level 6 VFD Conveyor Commissioning with motor data, PLC I/O, control wiring, drive parameters, command logic, and acceptance testing.

Polished the Level 6 wiring workspace and added contextual commissioning hints.

Standardized Level 6 wiring presentation with earlier training levels.

Cleaned up Level 5 PLC modules, terminal labels, and device overlap.

Cleaned up the Level 3 wiring layout and PLC input-module alignment.

Established red as +24 V power and blue as 0 V/common across training wiring.

Added industrial three-wire sensor colors: brown supply, blue return, and black signal.

Corrected Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 wire colors to follow the new standard.

Sign-in, membership, checkout and lesson completion are more reliable.

Completed a broad mobile polish pass across the training interface.

Added guided tutorial lightboxes to help learners understand the training workflow.

Added tutorial replay behavior for completed training levels.

Refined tutorial replay controls and removed duplicate homepage/account replay links.

Reworked PLC controls and programming layout.

Introduced a more professional-grade ladder programming interface.

Corrected instruction-palette text and programming controls.

Added permanent Passed indicators for completed lessons.

Updated the Passed treatment to a gold completion ribbon.

Corrected Level 4 and Level 5 mobile layout/overlap issues.

Stabilized the website, sign-in and training pages at launch.

Standardized operator-button colors with green Start and red Stop controls.

Added saved learner progress and permanent Passed status.