The Programmable Logic Controller, or PLC, is a computer that controls and runs machines and processes used in manufacturing. It is a digital electronic system for an industrial setting, such as in bottle filling system. PLC has a programmable memory for storing user-specific instructions for tasks like logic, sequencing, timing, counting, and basic arithmetic. It can also control different machines or processes by taking in and sending out digital or analog signals. An industrial control system can easily include both the PC and its parts. So , basically, a PLC is a computer that controls specific tasks.
CPU
An input module’s job is to change signals that come in into signals that the PLC can process and send to the central control module. While the output module does the opposite. This changes the PLC signal into a signal that the actuators can understand. The main control unit uses the program stored in the memory to figure out how to handle the signals.
In the bottle filling system, PLCs can automate a wide range of functions. These are often manufacturing industrial processes where the cost of developing and maintaining the automation system is high. Compared to the total cost of the automation and when system upgrades are expected over the system’s operational life.
PLC Advantages
- Calculating and displaying are computer specialties
- Experts program the computer
- PLC controls and regulates logic functions
- Non-specialists program PLCs
- PLCs are industrial-grade
When manufacturing a large number of products in the bottle filling system, a microcontroller-based design works well. Cost-effective in power supply, input/output hardware, testing, and certification. The operator does not need to modify the control.
Programmable controllers are used for motion, automotive, positioning, and torque control. PLCs may feature a single-variable feedback analog control loop called a “PID controller.” Like a PID loop that may control a manufacturing process’s temperature.
The bottle filling system process uses a PLC primarily with the following hardware parts;
- IR sensors
- Conveyer belt
- Solenoid valve
- Water tank
- DC gear motor
Conveyer belt
A conveyor belt is a loop of material that spins around two or more pulleys. One or both pulleys are motorized, moving the belt and material. The drive pulley is driven, but the idler is not. Belt conveyors handle materials, like moving boxes within a facility, and bulk material handling, such as transporting grain, coal, ores, etc.
Automated distribution and warehousing use conveyors. Belt conveyors are the most flexible and affordable motorized conveyors. Regular and irregular-shaped goods, big or tiny, light and heavy, may be moved straight on the belt.
With a belt conveyor, you can move things in a straight line, up or down a hill, or in any other direction. One end of the belt is wrapped around each roller, and when an electric motor turns one of the rollers, the belt moves the product along the bed’s strong metal frame. Many belts are often pushed over rollers instead of beds when there are many belts to move. Rollers can carry heavy loads because they reduce the friction caused by more weight on the belt.
IR Sensors (Object Sensors)
IR sensors may be used inside when ambient light levels are low. It can measure high-speed industrial items and tachometers. Because the sensor is ‘blind’ between pulses, ambient light ignoring sensors that emit 40 Khz pulse signals is not applicable in such conditions .
The sensor face, which is the front of the sensor, lets infrared light. Sensors are usually part of an integrated circuit. It may have one, two, or four pyroelectric “pixels” of the same size and shape. Some sensor pixels can be wired to send opposite signals into a differential amplifier. In this setup, the PIR measurements cancel each other out, so the electrical signal gets the average temperature of the field of view. An increased IR energy across the whole sensor cancels itself out, so it won’t make the alarm go off. This makes it less likely that the device will show false changes when exposed to light flashes or field-wide illumination. Even if the light was always bright, the sensor could still be filled with light, making it unable to get any more information. Also,this differential arrangement cuts down on common-mode interference. This makes it harder for electric fields near the device to set off. But that setup can’t measure temperature with a differential pair of sensors, so it is only available for motion detectors.
Solenoid valve
A solenoid valve is a liquid or gas valve controlled by an electric current that flows through or stops the flow of a wire coil. It works like a light switch, but instead of controlling electricity, it controls the flow of air or water. Solenoid valves can have two or more ports. A valve with two ports can turn on or off, while a valve with three ports can switch between two outlets.
The most common type of fluidics control is a solenoid valve. It can mix, dose, shut off, and distribute fluids. Solenoids can switch quickly and safely, are very reliable, last a long time, work well with different materials, require little control power, and are small. Solenoid valves have a solenoid and a valve. The solenoid turns the electrical energy into mechanical energy, which opens or closes the valve.
DC Gear motor
An electric motor drives the conveyor belt, changing the energy from electricity into mechanical energy. Most electric motors make force by combining magnetic fields and conductors that carry electricity. Generators like an alternator or dynamos do the opposite, turning mechanical energy into electrical energy. Some electric motors can also be used as generators, like a traction motor on a car, which can do both jobs.
A DC motor is made to work with DC electricity. The brushed and brushless types of DC motors are by far the most common. They use internal and external commutations to change the direction of the current in the windings as the motor turns. There are electric motors everywhere! Almost all of the mechanical motion you see is from an electric motor or an AC (alternating current) or DC (direct current).
Conclusion
A PLC is a unique computer that controls and runs the machines and processes in manufacturing. With the help of PLC, practical problems can be solved in an industrial bottle filling system. The process involves a conveyor belt that constantly moves under normal conditions. On a moving belt, empty bottles are put. When a bottle is right in front of the sensor, the object sensors will pick it up, and the conveyor belt will stop after a few seconds. When the bottle is right under the solenoid valve, after two seconds, the solenoid valve will open, and the bottle will start to fill. The solenoid valve will stop after a set amount of time, and after two seconds, the conveyor belt will start moving again. This ends the one cycle of the process.
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