One of the things that has kept me REALLY busy at work for the past…oh… 5ish weeks is getting up to speed on Inductive Automation’s software package called Ignition.
I don’t want to get too hung up on exactly what it all is and why we (Opto) are doing it, but enough to say that it is a suite of software that allows communication with different hardware controllers (like Optos) and it itself has scripting built in (Python), so can do some control and it also has a slew of visual designer software (like groov), alarming, logging, historical and database options.
The learning process is what is keeping me busy.
They have this amazing on-line training program.
Each section is broken down into videos, at the end of the section there is an ‘exam’ or test.
Since my end goal is to become certified in the software, I must get 100% on each sections exam. At the end of all the sections, Opto sends my 100% result in and they then send me the written exam. Once I do that, we send it back, they grade it, and if I pass, I am certified in their software and we are done. If I fail, I have to retest (since the end goal really is to become certified).
There are 22 courses, you can see them here. https://inductiveuniversity.com/courses/all
Lets take a look at one at random and see what its like….
https://inductiveuniversity.com/video/about-transaction-groups?r=/course/transaction-groups
Go ahead and click play. You don’t have to watch the whole thing, just a get a taste.
The guys do an amazing job of breaking down what each function does and how the software glues it all together.
At the bottom of the video list on the lower right is the exam link.
The exam is multi choice…. Here is where I have a few comments…..
I have never been through a process like it…. Benson said it is ‘critical thinking’ testing.
For example…. They will ask if something can not be done in the software, true or false.
This really makes me have to think. True it cant be done, or false, it can be done. The double negative really throws me.
The other question style is each answer is an un-ordered list, so you have to work each answer into the right order, if you even can, and then figure out if it is the right answer for the question.
The other ‘tricky’ thing they do is ask if you can do a function in the software… and you are sitting there going ‘wait.. I watched the video, but I don’t remember them mentioning that….??’ I tended to doubt myself a few times, so you go back and re-watch the video only to come away sure that they did not mention it and so the answer is no, you cant do it… So yeah, they test you on what they did not show you. Phew.
So, yeah, now you know what has been keeping me super busy at work.
I got the written exam this morning, and its pretty intense.
Will let you all know when we get the results. I’m confident I can pass, just need to take my time and be sure I answer it correctly.
