AB keypad

[gmferg]

Sorry for going off topic but, I'm jealous. It sounds much more interesting than controlling conveyors, pumps, valves, etc.

You get the wow factor also. You can tell family/friends: "My program makes that ride go."

I'm sure there are a lot of folks on this forum that sneek peaks of control hardware while at theme parks. I know I've caught myself saying: "Hey, that's a panelview 1000, I wonder what they're using for the brains on this ride."

 

[Jason Valenzuela]

Heh, I live in Orlando and both the major theme parks here have pretty large investments in AB. It's 'different' than conveyors, pumps, valves, but there is a lot in common between a ride moving people along a track and a conveyor moving boxes. Many times the boxes are smarter...

What is REALLY impressive is the control systems they had from the pre-PLC days.

 

[rootboy]

No offense but this wouldn't be allowed in my plant. You are the only one in the world that knows how that system works. Your customer is now required to come to you for any support or upgrades and if you get hit by a bus they'll have to start over.

Again no offense.

In my plant we use any number of "one off" controllers and devices that comes from various suppliers, etc.

We don't get the source code, support is limited to what the supplier feels that they can get away with, and because it's a "one off" solution, the prices are always higher than a cat's back.

And I can name at *least* a dozen machines that never ran properly because the companies that supplied them refused to work with us on the problems we had with them (and I can name two companies that are now out of business largely because of this behavior).

Thankfully, these machines were scrapped when we gutted the plant to make way for our new product. Good riddance to bad trash.

I just wish I had been allowed to give them the "Office Space" treatment before they were junked.

And guess what? Some of these companies get "run over" (figuratively that is) and disappear too.

So tell me, how is a "store bought" solution any better?