Using a PLC to Generate Pass/Fail

Hello community,


I'm helping a coworker with a project that he was tasked with. The overview is this: We want to automate a system of steps currently being done manually.

The Item is a generator for a device that will weld plastic items together. When we get these generators in, my coworker has to test a few things to make sure that they were calibrated correctly. these 4 items are:
1. Check the Frequency (30 kHz - 45 kHz)
2. Check the Rail Voltage (~220V)
3. Check what the Overload Wattage is (the last known wattage before the generator trips, and has to be reset with a push button)
4. Monitor the Regular Wattage, in real-time, before a trip may happen.

Also, this "Contraption" will also probably, "likely", display all of this information to a small HMI


My question here is, how would you guys recommend we go about it? There are certain "points" on the board that he would normally go to, to check regular wattage, rail voltage, frequency, with a multi-meter. What we are trying to do here is make a "contraption" that he would hook up to (using those points) to simplify the process of steps that he must go through. Basically, hook up all the points to the PLC (probably though the Analog Card) and bounce those values against programmed points to determine a Pass/Fail of the generator. Are we going to need more than just an anolog card? Or what devices do you recommend using? Eventually, this system is going to also output to an Excel File, and an OPC.

I see a poka yoke test stand that holds the DUT. Then test probes that are mechanically actuated (pneumatic) to test points on the DUT in appropriate sequence determined by your test needs. If you had a meter with a RS-232 or similar interface you could avoid using an analog card. I will let someone else chime in on controller selection as my go to due to my experience is CompactLogix but this would be rather overkill for this simple application.

First of all, I bet you want to isolate the signals before sending them to the analog input of your PLC. There are plenty of suppliers out there, like Action Instruments and Automation Direct