Need some ideas....

Hello everyone, i'm new here, and I have a problem..

I'm in my last quater of college, at ITT Tech in Arnold, MO.
As a Final Project in my Control Systems Class, Me and my partner must design a PLC Ladder Logic Program with at least 50 lines of Logic. We need a few project ideas, IE: a group last quater did a vending machine.
I'm not asking anyone to do my project for me, but i'm really stumped on where to begin, i can't think of one simple thing to do.

Anything you could post here would probably help, thank you all so much.

-wiz

Links

Here are some links to previous posts on the subject:

http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?s=&threadid=662
http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5784

How about a program that registers you and causes your user name to show up?

I always liked dreaming up diverting conveyor lines. A small one would take around fifty rungs.

Seriously, you ought to register.

50 rungs isn't a lot of logic. Even a very basic project (like that vending machine) can take more than 50 rungs.

How about getting a keypad and using that to simulate an alarm system or password-entry doorway? Once you're done writing logic for the keypad, you should already have a pretty good student-level program.

Think about some other things you might use in daily life that have controllers on them: gas pumps, cash registers, t*****c lights, coffee pot, washing machine, alarm clock.

Do you remember that old toy, "Simon?" That's four inputs and four outputs. You could expand it, too.

Your teacher is looking for you to identify real-world inputs & outputs. He/she is also looking at your problem solving ability. You're probably expected to use a few timers and some math functions, to demonstrate your knowledge of the material. Whether or not your code does EXACTLY the right thing probably isn't as important as whether you understand why it doesn't do what you were trying to do.

Even in the "real world" you sometimes have to tell people WHY something doesn't perform as advertised (and how much it will cost to fix).

AK

How about a basic traffic light control system for, say three lanes of traffic in each direction? Include lane sensors and a time of day clock to account for differing traffic volumes.

(Now donning asbestos underwear)

I was just thinking, on my way in to work today:

Wouldn't it be nice if someone invented a traffic metering system, that made some kind of sense, for our freeways. I swear, there are times when the freeway is wide open and the metering system is on... What's the deal?

My intern's fraternity did a beer cooler system. It included temperature control on the refrigerator, weighing of the keg with the ability to tare out the empty keg, low supply alarms, counters for number of draughts, keg pressure monitoring, and so on. A truly useful application of technology, in my opinion.

Tom Jenkins said:

My intern's fraternity did a beer cooler system.

Click to expand...

That sounds great! Did they put a modem on it to dial the beer delivery guy? And just think how much fun the testing phase of the project must have been.

Or a 3 or 4 step heating control cycle for a brewery!

You could even use a PID in it...

It always comes back to beer...

I was just going to suggest an automatic coffee making machine, but the beer one was a lot better.
Pity I can't drink at work, I think my code would be a lot better.

Doug

"Pity I can't drink at work, I think my code would be a lot better.

Doug"

Well, it would LOOK a lot better to you, anyway!

Hey Tom, is that an actual picture of you?

Matt

Yes - I'll let you decide if it was before or after the stop at Rhino's bar!

Matthias von Zorn said:

Hey Tom, is that an actual picture of you?

Click to expand...

Actually it's... Oh wait! He knows where I live!

Yeah, Aaron, and I still out weigh you too!