Using industrial standards on PLC programming learning

In this paper, we review aspects relevant to industrial standards related to PLC programming: IEC 61131, IEC 61499 and a work about safety developed by the PLC Open organization based on IEC 61508. We propose to use these standards in PLC learning to fix a common know-how that allows one to reduce the gap between industry and education, and between different professionals. We show the application scope of these standards by analyzing the IEC 61131 limits. The IEC 61499 can be introduced in distributed control systems and in complex centralized systems with multiple operating modes. In critical applications, like safety functions, where functional safety is required, the IEC 61508 is a reference model.