Demonstration Machine

Hi yall, I know people will take the **** out of me for this post, but I thought I would post anyways.

I am thinking about building a PLC/Hydraulic demonstation machine for trade show exihibits. I want to build something that I can power hydraulically with PLC control. I am thinking something fairly small, 5hp motor. I want to demonstrate bang-bang valves, proportional pressure control, proportional speed control, and possibly position control.

My PLC had digital inputs and outputs, analog inputs, analog outputs, PWM outputs, high speed pulse inputs, and is capable of PID control loops.

Whatever I build doesnt have to be a practical use machine, its function is more for people to see the level of control that can be achieved with mid to low cost PLC's. I want it to be hydraulically powered because that is where my customer base is. I have valves, motors, pressure transducers, and position sensors already.

So lets get some ideas flowing, my first thought would be to make a small automated filter crusher. But that is fairly low tech.
Maybe some sort of small spindle lathe that I can make small wooden bats to give to attendies. This would be neat because I can use speed control to set the speed of the spindle, postion and pressure control to guide the knives against the spindle.

I can weld, and have a machine shop to work with. I also want it to be fairly cheap, keep in mind that I have most of the hydraulic stuff and PLC already.

Any thoughts you have for neat automated machines to build, let me know. However far-out they may be.

Thanks,

Will

Hello!
Why don´t you make a machine that will bring beer bottles to the people that orders them from a panel.
Use a portalrobot to pick the bottles up from the case and deliver them on a transporter (belt) to the opener, then the beer will come out from the machine to the "consumer". this will demonstrate positioning, warehouse, automation also if you serve beer you will get more people to the stand !!!!!

Or use beercans then when they return to the machine the machine could crush them...

The most popular displays at automation fairs are those where some souvenir or snack is made by the machinery while you look. The spectators then get to take the souvenirs/snacks with them.
You should consider how you could manufacture something inexpensive (printed or pressed) where your logo is part of the design.

JesperMP said:

The most popular displays at automation fairs are those where some souvenir or snack is made by the machinery while you look. The spectators then get to take the souvenirs/snacks with them.
You should consider how you could manufacture something inexpensive (printed or pressed) where your logo is part of the design.

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Agree entirely. A small press that would make coins with your companies logo mabey....

nif said:

Or use beercans then when they return to the machine the machine could crush them...

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You could press them into lapel buttons with your logo on them!!...or coasters...
David

A small press that would make coins with your companies logo mabey....

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and if you want to demonstrate more "complexity", you could have the machinery drill these and then "link" them to a keychain ...

Oh, in addition to your logo, add the name of the spectator to the souvenir - or some freely selectable phrase.

Great ideas folks, keep them coming.

Willpower

personally I’ve always wanted to try this one ...

build a maze ... something about two feet square and one inch deep ... drop a ball bearing in at the “start” position at one corner ... the maze is mounted on four pneumatic (or in your case, hydraulic) cylinders ... one cylinder at each corner ... by moving the cylinders up or down in the correctly programmed order, the machine could automatically roll the ball from “start” to “finish” ... for variety, there could be several “finish” points ... select the one you want from an HMI, etc. ...

for more complexity, use more than one maze ... the “finish” of one drops the ball into the “start” of another ...

one more and then I've GOT to get back to work ...

if your machine could take on something like a “robot” design (a jointed arm with a gripper, etc.) then this one is definitely fun ... I built one of these years ago to take to “science fair” demos for middle and high schools kids ... even the grown ups loved it ...

build a tic-tac-toe grid about six inches square ... use metal blocks engraved with “X” or “O” for the markers ... the grid has slightly raised walls to accept the blocks ... the robot is started by inserting the cardboard stick of a cellophane-wrapped sucker into a hole next to the tic-tac-toe board ... this closes a switch contact and tells the PLC that it’s time to play ... the robot grabs one of the “X” blocks from a “waiting” grid and places it into his favorite spot ... the humanoid places an “O” block on the board ... this closes a switch and tells the PLC which spot the player selected ... the robot makes his next move ... and so on until the game is over ...

“professional” rules: the human must WIN the game in order to get the sucker ... since the robot moves first, then the human can never win ... so as soon as the robot makes his final move, he (the robot) reaches over and retrieves the sucker (gripping the corner of the cellophane wrapper) ... and drops it back into his little bucket of spare suckers next to the game board ...

“amateur” rules: the human only needs to TIE the game in order to get the sucker ... since the robot moves first, then it IS possible for the human to play to a tie – if he plays correctly ...

so ... if the game turns out to be a tie, as soon as the robot makes his final move, he reaches over and retrieves the sucker again ... but this time he graciously drops it at the human’s side of the game board ...

of course, if the robot wins, the sucker goes back into the bucket ...

naturally you’ll need an extra PLC input to select between the “professional” and “amateur” rules ... and trust me, a bucket of suckers doesn’t last very long in the “amateur” mode ...

helpful advice: when people ask “why does the robot always get to move first” the best answer is “because it’s his sucker” ...

more ideas: some of my students decorated the robot arm by gluing on a set of big googly eyes ... naturally I changed the program to have the robot run an “idle” routine while waiting for the next game ... he’d move slowly back and forth over the board titling his “head” up and down ... just as if he was watching the people walk by while waiting on the next player to step up ...

something to think about: I used an electrical robot arm with a very low “interference-shut-down” setting for safety reasons ... even so, I kept a close watch over the proceedings and had a “kill” switch close at hand ... since you’re planning on using hydraulics, you’ve got a lot more issues to think about before you put this thing together ... maybe a light curtain which would “pause” the robot’s movement would be a good idea ... and quite possibly this obvious “safety feature” could serve as another important “demonstration” item ...

Ron Beaufort said:

personally I’ve always wanted to try this one ...

build a maze ... something about two feet square and one inch deep ... drop a ball bearing in at the “start” position at one corner ... the maze is mounted on four pneumatic (or in your case, hydraulic) cylinders ... one cylinder at each corner ... by moving the cylinders up or down in the correctly programmed order, the machine could automatically roll the ball from “start” to “finish” ... for variety, there could be several “finish” points ... select the one you want from an HMI, etc. ...

for more complexity, use more than one maze ... the “finish” of one drops the ball into the “start” of another ...

Click to expand...

Ron,

This has already been done by Parker Hannifin. It sits in the Great lakes science center in cleveland ohio. It uses a flat aluminum table with 100 air cylinders mounted underneath the table. When you hit go the cylinders pop up disks that form different puzzles. It uses a rubber ball however, and 2 servo linear actuators mounted on a center axis. The center axis is basically like an automotive universal joint, these are also mounted on the tops of both actuators. There are different levels of difficulty and there is also an automatic sequence where it runs a preprogrammed set of instructions to show the user how fast the computer can complete the puzzle. This is all controlled by Parker motion controllers and an AB plc. It is amazing to watch, if you are ever in cleveland stop by and check it out!

thanks, John ...

if anyone has a link to a picture (I'll certainly do some searching later myself) I'd sure like to see it ... things like this have always fascinated me ever since my first Erector set ...