Usually my work involves designing and building new equipment, or occasionally completely rebuilding and upgrading old machines. Last week I got an emergency call from an existing customer that their production line was down and they couldn’t get help quickly …
Category: Applications
Special machines and custom projects
Fischertechnik and PLC Trainers
Frank
Posted in gauging, Material Handling, PLCs, The Course, Trainers, Vendors and Manufacturers
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Just an update on my PLC Trainer project. These are two of the Allen-Bradley Micrologix 1400 Trainers along with the Fischertechnik models I mentioned in my last post. The program and documentation for the Color Sorter, shown at left, is completed. …
How To Design And Build A Small Controls Project
Frank
Posted in Applications, Consulting, Controls Design, Machine Design, Techniques, Thoughts
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1 Comment ↓
Today’s post is a response to frustration. Some times when dealing with potential customers you waste a lot of time trying to save them money. They may want you to cut corners, spend a lot of your time (for free) …
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Tagged with: Building a small controls project, consulting, design, engineering, systems integration
Hands On Training Equipment
Frank
Posted in Material Handling, My Little Factory, Process, Software & Programming, Trainers, vision
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This post is both an update on the status of “My Little Factory” and an article on some new fun trainers that I am working on. As you can see in the above picture, all of the hardware for the …
Tagged with: Allen-Bradley, Fischertechnik, machine vision, My Little Factory, PLC Trainers, Siemens, training
Application: Sensor Choices 103
Frank
Posted in Applications, Machine Assembly and Fabrication, Photoeyes, Sensing, Sensors
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Today’s post concerns how sensor choices are made in real applications. I have written various posts on sensors in the past, and even participated in a Control Engineering webcast and forum last year on the topic. While I have covered …
Starbucks Roastery
A few weeks ago I made a trip to Seattle to visit my daughter Yuki and her family. She used to work at Starbucks’ corporate headquarters, and among other projects was involved in the design and startup of the Roastery, an …
Are Things too Complicated?
Frank
Posted in Automation Concepts, Conveyors, My Little Factory, Photoeyes, Sensors
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Today’s post is inspired by an ongoing adventure I have been having in the design and fabrication of My Little Factory. For those who haven’t been following my post since the beginning of this year, a great deal of my …
Super Vision!
As some of you may know, especially those of you who have known me since the 1990’s, machine vision used to be a major part of my career. I could conservatively say I was part of at least 40-50 vision …
Sensors 102: Signal Conditioning
Today’s post is about what goes on between an actual detection device and the input of a control system. In many control applications you don’t need to think about what goes on inside of a device. The signal is converted …
My Little Factory – April 2017
Frank
Posted in Applications, Conveyors, Load Cells, Material Handling, My Little Factory, PLCs, Pneumatics, Process, Sensors, The Course, Training, vision
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5 Comments ↓
This post is the first in a series I am writing about a project I am working on, hence the “April 2017” designation. As most of my regular readers know, I have spent much of the past several years teaching …
Make vs. Buy: An Infographic from Dorner Conveyors
Frank
Posted in Consulting, Conveyors, Engineering, Machine Design, Vendors and Manufacturers
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This is a pretty cool article and Infographic from Dorner. I used to use them a lot in the old Automation Consulting Services, Inc. and working with NAS. As they mention in the infographic and in their blog, a lot …
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