The National Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute” (NTU “KhPI”) has received 21 training kits from U.S.-based Horner Automation Group through the Horner Academic Program. The equipment will support students and doctoral candidates in the G7 field of study, “Automation, Computer-Integrated Technologies, and Robotics.”
As part of this initiative, the university’s Department of Automation of Technological Systems and Environmental Monitoring (ATSEM) received 11 kits and used them to establish a dedicated teaching lab for industrial automation.
The Horner Academic Program provides equipment and software at no cost to qualifying educational institutions. The program supports hands-on instruction in controller programming, human-machine interface development, discrete and analog I/O, and industrial networking.
The department’s kits include MicroOCS X7 series industrial controllers with integrated touchscreen operator interfaces, Horner I/O Simulators, power supplies, and connection cables. Students will use Cscape software to program the controllers and develop human-machine interfaces. The hardware simulators allow them to generate input signals and monitor controller outputs, testing control programs without connecting to an actual industrial process.
The lab will give students and doctoral candidates practical experience in developing and debugging control programs, designing operator screens, working with discrete and analog signals, and configuring communication between controllers. The equipment will support lab sessions, course projects, capstone and thesis projects, and academic research.
The new facility expands the department’s capacity to teach with industrial equipment and connect classroom instruction with practical automation tasks.
The ATSEM Department thanks Horner Automation Group for supporting the university and helping educate the next generation of automation engineers.