Education Use Case:
Improving PLC Programming Education
In collaboration with technical universities and schools, OTee enables students to program Virtual PLCs using open, industry-standard technologies while giving professors secure, role-based control over classroom environments.
The result: standardized training, improved collaboration, and lower costs through a hardware-independent, cloud-based platform.
This article explains how OTee bridges the gap between education and modern industrial automation, helping institutions prepare students for the technologies shaping the future of Industry 4.0.
Limited Access to Industry-Standard Technologies
Many educational institutions rely on proprietary PLC solutions from specific vendors, such as Siemens, Beckhoff, Schneider, ABB, and Rockwell, which often use their own dialects of programming languages and unique hardware. This vendor-specific approach limits students' exposure to industry-wide standards, potentially narrowing their skill set and making it difficult for them to transition to different platforms in their professional careers.
Fragmented Learning Environments
Educational institutions labs are often equipped with hardware and software from multiple vendors, each requiring specific tools and environments for programming and management. This fragmentation creates logistical challenges for both students and instructors, making it difficult to standardize education across different labs and ensuring that all students receive consistent training.
Lack of Modern IT Workflows in Education
Traditional PLC programming environments typically lack modern IT workflows, such as version control, role-based access management, and collaborative coding features. This absence makes it difficult for students to engage in collaborative learning, receive feedback from peers and instructors, and manage their projects effectively.
High Costs and Maintenance of Vendor-Specific Hardware
Educational institutions often face significant costs in purchasing, upgrading, and maintaining vendor-specific PLCs and associated hardware. This financial burden can limit the ability of the institutions to expand their labs or provide students with the latest technologies.
How OTee contributes
in solving the challenges:
Free Access to Industry-Standard Technology
OTee offers a cloud-based platform that provides students with free access under a student license.
Centralize the education around technologies, not vendors
By facilitating for industrial automation using open technologies, the students learn the basics of the available technologies instead of learning how to use specific products.
Unified Learning Environment Across Labs
OTee can elevate the programming environment across all university labs by consolidating them onto a single cloud platform that is fully compliant with international standards. This approach enables a seamless integration with existing hardware, such as Industrial PCs, servers, Raspberry Pi devices, or even PLCs with a Linux kernel. By transitioning to an open, standardized technology, universities can ensure that all students, regardless of the lab they work in, receive consistent and comprehensive training.
Integration of Modern IT Workflows
OTee introduces a range of advanced features not typically found in traditional OT environments, such as role-based user management, version control, code libraries, fleet management, and AI-supported programming. These features enable students to collaborate more effectively, manage their projects with professional-grade tools, and receive real-time feedback from peers, professors, and even AI. This approach not only enhances the learning experience but also prepares students for the collaborative and dynamic nature of modern industrial environments.
Cost-Effective and Future-Proof Solution
By adopting OTee’s platform, universities can significantly reduce the need to purchase and upgrade vendor-specific PLCs. The platform's flexibility allows institutions to deploy virtual PLCs on standard hardware connected to I/O, ensuring that labs remain current without incurring high costs. Additionally, as the platform supports various industrial protocols, it can easily integrate with existing lab setups, providing a seamless transition to a more modern and versatile educational environment.
Key Benefits
Provide students with access to industry-standard technologies and modern IT workflows, ensuring they are well-prepared for their future careers in industrial automation. Move the focus from vendor specific software, to a technology centric approach.
Enhanced Learning Experience
1
Unify the programming environment across all labs, ensuring consistent training and making it easier for instructors to manage and assess student progress.
Standardized Education Across Labs
2
Increased Collaboration and Feedback
Leverage advanced features like version control, role-based access, and AI support to foster a collaborative learning environment where students can receive timely feedback and improve their programming skills.
3
Reduce the financial burden of purchasing and maintaining vendor-specific hardware by transitioning to a flexible, cloud-based platform that can be deployed on a variety of standard hardware.
Cost Savings and Future-Proofing
4
Moving Forward
Complex systems, fragmented tools, and vendor dependencies have long defined automation. A Virtual PLC changes that foundation: it centralizes logic, keeps control independent of hardware, and creates space for scaling without lock-in.
The result is not only fewer barriers to progress, but also leaner operations, reducing hidden costs tied to duplicate systems, rigid upgrades, and maintenance overhead.
If you want to explore how this works in practice, you can try it directly. If you prefer a conversation first, we’re here to connect and walk through it together