Control &
Instrumentation
Design of an embedded CPU control board for an industrial application
using Intel's 80C196KC with 16 by 64K of program memory, 8 by 32K of ram, 8 by 512 of E2
and 4 by 64 of NOVRAM. The completed design including PLD firmware and multilayer printed
circuit board layout was finished in seven calendar weeks.
Wireless Entry
Design of a Wireless Keypad Entry System which uses RF to transmit an encoded bit
stream to a garage door operating mechanism. The design is based upon National's extremely
low cost, COP 400 series microcontroller. Product firmware was written in 4 bit assembly
language stored in 1 K of ROM. Functional prototypes were built for the National Home
Centers Show in Chicago.
Sealant
Dispenser
Working with client staff, we assisted in developing the software for a
proportional flow sealant dispenser. The software engineering tasks were accomplished in
"C" for Hitachi's 6801. Cost and delivery constraints for a special customer
required porting the 8 bit software to a Motorola 68010, 16 bit redesign for increased
data storage and interfaces.
Automated
Appliance
Custom hardware and software development to control and interface a commercial gas
grill to a PC on an automated home bus. Grill control is based upon Motorola's 68HC11. The
PC's custom menu driven software, operates the grill from any remote bus location. All
grill software and PC menu applications were written in "C". A fully operational
prototype appeared at the National Association of Home Builders trade show.
Avionics Relay
Design of a "Smart" relay for the Light Helicopter Experimental program
to control and report current flow to the flight computer. The design used discrete
digital and analog circuits and a Hall effect sensor to meet the criteria of the key
MIL-STD's 275, 461, 740, 883, 55110.
Remote
Transceiver
Development of a temperature transceiver that reports an animals deep body
temperature via a 49.8MHz link. Prototypes were designed to be implemented with a Xilinx
FPGA to reduce up front development cost and delivery, and ultimately with a custom Mixed
Mode ASIC for economy of scale.
Voice
Recognition
Design of a low cost speech recognition system using Motorola's DSP56001. Design
features included; a high speed 10 bit A/D converter, expandable memory as well as battery
operation. Application software is written in both assembly and higher level "C"
languages.
Chiller Plant Operational
Upgrade
Implemented an automated start up sequence for a chilled water plant control and
monitoring system. The chilled water plant uses a DCS architecture with three operator PCs
to control a heat exchanger and refrigeration machines. The optimum balance of each
cooling device is essential to plants operational efficiency. The master-slave PLC
structure networks Siemens S7 300 & 400 series of controllers. The system is
instrumented with flow meters, temperature & pressure transmitters and differential
pressure switches. Information is displayed on each of the PCs running a custom Wonderware
Intouch human machine interface application.
Distributed Multi-PLC
Catalytic Converter Processing Line
Designed and developed hardware & software for a series of catalytic converter
processing equipment. The last in the series, uses a distributed control
architecture consisting of 4 Siemens S5 - 115U PLCs networked to a PC running a Wonderware
InTouch Human Machine Interface application. The PLC to PC network is a 1.5 megabaud L2
Profibus link. A redundant hardwire link permits operation in the event of network
problems. HMI scripting realigns the data after Profibus recovery. Each PLC communicates
with its peripheral servo systems, variable frequency drives, solenoid valve banks,
weighing scales, gas heater controllers etc. via the L2-DP link.
Sealant Machine
A major manufacturer of adhesive and sealant equipment was in the midst of developing a
robotic applicator for use on an automotive assembly line. We participated in the software
development effort using "C" for Motorola's 68010 processor running under the
MTOS real time operating system. Our involvement was expanded when customers requirements
demanded increased data storage and interface functionality beyond the capability of the
16-bit processor. Although the added functionality necessitated a hardware redesign using
the 68332 processor, a significant portion of the software was ported to the 32-bit
implementation.
Liter Bottle De-Labeler
Control system development and integration of a liter bottle de-labeler using water-jet
technology. This high speed, one bottle per second, rotary equipment uses a Siemens
S5 - 95U PLC with an OP25 operator interface
