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Introduction
Automation is one of those fields where YouTube videos can help, but books still matter.
Why? Because when a machine stops, a PLC input is missing, a contactor refuses to pull in, or a VFD throws a fault at the worst possible moment, you need more than random advice. You need solid fundamentals.
Good automation books teach you how circuits work, how PLCs think, how motors are controlled, how sensors are wired, how industrial networks communicate, and how to troubleshoot without guessing.
I searched Amazon listings and review data to find books that are useful for automation engineers, maintenance technicians, electricians, industrial electronics learners, and anyone working around control panels. Ratings and prices can change, so always check the current Amazon listing before buying.
Here are 10 books every automation engineer or technician should consider reading.
1. Programmable Logic Controllers — Frank D. Petruzella
Best for: PLC fundamentals, ladder logic, PLC hardware, and industrial control basics
Recommended for: Beginners, students, technicians, maintenance engineers
Frank D. Petruzella’s Programmable Logic Controllers is one of the classic PLC books. It is often used in technical programs because it explains PLC hardware, inputs, outputs, programming, installation, and maintenance in a structured way. Amazon’s listing for the sixth edition describes it as an introduction to PLC programming, installation, and maintenance for students with no prior PLC experience.
This is a strong first book if you want to understand what a PLC actually does inside a machine. It covers the basics before going into real industrial logic, so it is not only theory.
You should read this book if you want to understand:
- PLC inputs and outputs
- Ladder logic basics
- Timers and counters
- PLC scan cycle
- Troubleshooting PLC-controlled machines
- Basic installation and maintenance practices
Why I recommend it:
If you work with machines, this book gives you the foundation. Before learning Siemens TIA Portal, Allen-Bradley Studio 5000, Omron, Mitsubishi, or Schneider PLCs, you need to understand the common PLC ideas. This book helps with that.
Check price on Amazon: ISE Programmable Logic Controllers
2. Electrical Motor Controls for Integrated Systems — Gary Rockis and Glen A. Mazur
Best for: Motor starters, contactors, overloads, control circuits, and industrial wiring
Recommended for: Maintenance technicians, electricians, panel builders, automation learners
Motor control is everywhere in automation. Conveyors, pumps, fans, compressors, mixers, saws, elevators, and production machines all use some form of motor control.
Electrical Motor Controls for Integrated Systems is one of the strongest books for understanding industrial motor control. Amazon-related listing data shows it has a strong customer review signal, around 4.6 stars with over 600 reviews, which is high for a technical textbook in this niche.
This book is useful because it does not only explain components separately. It connects the ideas together: control devices, starters, sensors, PLCs, troubleshooting, and practical industrial systems.
You should read this book if you want to understand:
- Contactors and motor starters
- Overload relays
- Control transformers
- Push buttons, selector switches, and pilot lights
- Limit switches and sensors
- Motor control diagrams
- Troubleshooting real industrial circuits
Why I recommend it:
If you are a technician, this is one of the most useful books on the list. A lot of faults in factories are still simple control circuit problems: missing 24V, bad auxiliary contact, failed coil, open overload, wrong interlock, or broken wire. This book helps you understand those faults properly.
Check price on Amazon: Electrical Motor Controls for Integrated Systems
3. Ugly’s Electric Motors and Controls, 2020 Edition — Charles R. Miller
Best for: Quick field reference, motor calculations, control wiring, and NEC-related motor information
Recommended for: Electricians, technicians, panel builders, field engineers
This is not a textbook you read from page one to the end. It is more like a pocket reference.
Ugly’s Electric Motors and Controls is useful when you need quick information on motor control, sizing, wiring, formulas, diagrams, and practical electrical data. Amazon listings show the 2020 edition as a highly rated motor/control reference, with around 4.8 stars and hundreds of reviews.
You should keep this book nearby if you often work with:
- Motor starters
- Motor protection
- Control transformers
- Horsepower and current calculations
- Conductor sizing
- Motor wiring diagrams
- Field troubleshooting
Why I recommend it:
Automation engineers and technicians often need quick answers. You may not want to open a 700-page textbook just to check a formula or wiring reference. This is where Ugly’s books are useful.
Check price on Amazon: Ugly’s Electric Motors and Controls, 2020 Edition
4. Variable Frequency Drives: Installation & Troubleshooting — Gary D. Anderson
Best for: VFD wiring, setup, faults, and troubleshooting
Recommended for: Maintenance technicians, electricians, automation engineers
VFDs are common in modern automation, but many technicians still treat them like magic boxes. That is a mistake.
A VFD controls motor speed by changing frequency and voltage. But in the real world, you also need to understand wiring, grounding, motor protection, parameters, analog signals, control terminals, braking, acceleration ramps, and fault codes.
Gary D. Anderson’s Variable Frequency Drives: Installation & Troubleshooting is part of the “Practical Guides for the Industrial Technician” series. Amazon UK listing data shows it with around 4.2 stars and more than 270 ratings.
You should read this book if you want to understand:
- VFD installation basics
- Start/stop control wiring
- Speed reference signals
- VFD fault diagnosis
- Motor and cable issues
- Ground faults
- Overcurrent and overvoltage faults
- Parameter setup mistakes
Why I recommend it:
VFD problems are extremely common in factories. A machine may stop because of a real motor fault, but it may also stop because of a bad ramp time, wrong motor data, poor grounding, damaged cable, or incorrect control signal. This book is practical for those situations.
Check price on Amazon: Variable Frequency Drives: Installation & Troubleshooting (Practical Guides for the Industrial Technician)
5. Industrial Automated Systems: Instrumentation and Motion Control — Terry Bartelt
Best for: Broad industrial automation knowledge
Recommended for: Technicians, maintenance engineers, automation students
This is one of the broader books on the list. Amazon’s description says it covers industrial maintenance and control topics including electrical motors, sensors, variable speed drives, PLCs, servomechanisms, instrumentation, and process control.
That makes it useful if you want one book that connects many areas of automation instead of focusing on only PLCs or only motors.
You should read this book if you want to understand:
- Sensors
- PLCs
- Variable speed drives
- Motion control
- Instrumentation
- Process control
- Calibration basics
- Industrial control circuits
Why I recommend it:
Automation work is rarely one subject. One fault can involve a sensor, a PLC input, a VFD, a motor, an encoder, and an HMI alarm. A broad book like this helps you see the full system.
Check price on Amazon: Industrial Automated Systems: Instrumentation and Motion Control
6. Industrial Automation from Scratch — Olushola Akande
Best for: Modern beginner-friendly automation overview
Recommended for: Beginners, career changers, junior engineers, students
Industrial Automation from Scratch is a newer practical guide that covers sensors, actuators, PLCs, HMIs, SCADA, VFDs, process control, and industrial networking. Amazon’s listing describes it as a hands-on guide for using sensors, actuators, PLCs, HMIs, and SCADA to automate industrial processes.
Another Amazon listing showed it with around 4.4 stars and 87 ratings, which is a good signal for a newer industrial automation book.
You should read this book if you want to understand:
- Basic automation architecture
- Sensors and actuators
- DOL motor starters
- VFD basics
- PLC hardware and wiring
- HMI and SCADA basics
- 4–20 mA signal handling
- Industrial communication protocols
Why I recommend it:
This is a good book if you are starting from zero or trying to connect all the pieces together. It is especially useful if you feel that automation has too many separate topics and you need one clear roadmap.
Check price on Amazon: Industrial Automation from Scratch: A hands-on guide to using sensors, actuators, PLCs, HMIs, and SCADA to automate industrial processes
7. Practical Industrial Data Networks: Design, Installation and Troubleshooting — Steve Mackay, Edwin Wright, Deon Reynders, and John Park
Best for: Industrial communication and network troubleshooting
Recommended for: Automation engineers, PLC technicians, controls engineers
Modern automation is not only wires and relays. Machines now depend heavily on industrial communication networks.
A PLC may communicate with an HMI, VFD, remote I/O rack, servo drive, SCADA system, energy meter, barcode scanner, vision camera, or robot. When communication fails, the whole machine can stop.
Amazon’s listing for Practical Industrial Data Networks describes it as a book about design, installation, and troubleshooting of industrial data networks.
You should read this book if you want to understand:
- Industrial Ethernet basics
- Serial communication basics
- Network design
- Cabling problems
- Shielding and grounding
- Communication troubleshooting
- Industrial data network reliability
Why I recommend it:
PLC communication faults are becoming more common. IP address conflicts, bad cables, noise, wrong subnet settings, duplicate devices, and poor network design can create difficult faults. This book is useful if you want to move beyond basic PLC programming and understand industrial networks better.
Check price on Amazon: Practical Industrial Data Networks: Design, Installation and Troubleshooting
8. Beginner’s Guide to Reading Schematics, Fourth Edition — Stan Gibilisco
Best for: Reading electrical and electronic diagrams
Recommended for: Beginners, technicians, apprentices, self-learners
If you cannot read schematics, automation troubleshooting becomes guesswork.
Beginner’s Guide to Reading Schematics is not only for automation, but it is very useful for anyone working with electrical panels, sensors, relays, power supplies, circuit boards, and industrial electronics. Amazon’s Kindle listing shows it around 4.5 stars with more than 1,900 ratings and also marks it as a best seller in a semiconductors category.
You should read this book if you want to understand:
- Schematic symbols
- Resistors and capacitors
- Switches and relays
- Diodes and transistors
- Logic gates
- Power supplies
- Basic electronics troubleshooting
- How circuit diagrams are structured
Why I recommend it:
Many automation faults are solved by reading the drawing correctly. This book helps with the basics, especially if you are still weak at schematic symbols or electronic circuits.
Check price on Amazon: Beginner’s Guide to Reading Schematics, Fourth Edition
9. Practical Electronics for Inventors, Fourth Edition — Paul Scherz and Simon Monk
Best for: Electronics fundamentals, components, circuits, and testing
Recommended for: Technicians, engineers, hobbyists, advanced learners
This is one of the highest-rated books on this list. Amazon’s listing shows Practical Electronics for Inventors, Fourth Edition at around 4.7 stars with more than 2,300 ratings, and describes it as covering components, schematics, microcontrollers, ICs, power supplies, digital electronics, motors, and more.
This book is not specifically an industrial automation book, but it is extremely useful if you want to understand the electronics behind sensors, power supplies, signals, circuits, and control devices.
You should read this book if you want to understand:
- Resistors, capacitors, inductors, and transformers
- Diodes and transistors
- Op amps and logic gates
- Voltage regulators
- Power supplies
- Digital electronics
- Sensors
- Microcontrollers
- Motors and drivers
Why I recommend it:
Automation technicians often work with 24V DC systems, analog signals, encoders, sensors, relays, and electronics. You do not need to become an electronics design engineer, but understanding components and circuits makes troubleshooting much easier.
Check price on Amazon: Practical Electronics for Inventors, Fourth Edition
10. Practical Troubleshooting of Electrical Equipment and Control Circuits — Mark Brown, Jawahar Rawtani, and Dinesh Patil
Best for: Fault finding and troubleshooting method
Recommended for: Maintenance technicians, electricians, engineers
This book is focused on troubleshooting, which is one of the most important real-world skills in automation.
Amazon’s listing says Practical Troubleshooting of Electrical Equipment and Control Circuits is intended to help engineers and technicians identify, prevent, and fix common electrical equipment and control circuit problems.
You should read this book if you want to improve at:
- Electrical fault finding
- Control circuit troubleshooting
- Preventing repeated faults
- Reading symptoms correctly
- Working logically instead of guessing
- Finding root causes
Why I recommend it:
Many technicians replace parts too quickly. A good troubleshooter measures first, understands the circuit, checks the simple things, and only then replaces components. This book is useful because it focuses on the troubleshooting process, not only theory.
Check price on Amazon: Practical Troubleshooting of Electrical Equipment and Control Circuits
Quick Buying Guide
Best first book for PLCs
Choose Programmable Logic Controllers by Frank D. Petruzella.
It is a strong foundation before learning Siemens, Allen-Bradley, Mitsubishi, Omron, or Schneider software.
Best book for motor control
Choose Electrical Motor Controls for Integrated Systems.
This is one of the most useful books for technicians who work with contactors, overloads, starters, push buttons, relays, and control panels.
Best pocket reference
Choose Ugly’s Electric Motors and Controls.
It is practical when you need quick formulas, diagrams, and motor/control information.
Best book for VFDs
Choose Variable Frequency Drives: Installation & Troubleshooting.
VFD faults are common, and this book focuses on practical installation and fault diagnosis.
Best book for industrial networks
Choose Practical Industrial Data Networks.
This is useful if you deal with PLC-HMI communication, Ethernet, Modbus, Profibus, Profinet, remote I/O, or SCADA networks.
Best electronics foundation book
Choose Practical Electronics for Inventors.
It is not only for automation, but it helps you understand the electronic side of industrial equipment.
Final Recommendation
If you are just starting in automation, I would not buy all 10 books at once.
Start with these three:
- Programmable Logic Controllers — for PLC basics
- Electrical Motor Controls for Integrated Systems — for real industrial control circuits
- Beginner’s Guide to Reading Schematics — for reading drawings and symbols
After that, add books depending on your work.
If you deal with VFDs every week, buy the VFD book.
If you work with PLC communication faults, buy the industrial networks book.
If you want stronger electronics knowledge, buy Practical Electronics for Inventors.
If you do a lot of field work, keep Ugly’s Electric Motors and Controls nearby.
The best automation engineers and technicians are not the ones who memorize everything. They are the ones who understand the system, read the drawings, measure correctly, and troubleshoot step by step.
Good books help you build exactly that skill.