Hi,
As the title suggests, I have taken on a project to monitor around 30 variables from a recently rebuilt aero engine that will be on a test rig. The plan is to be able to monitor temperatures, pressures, flows and rpm on a "digital dashboard" and also log the data on a excel spreadsheet.
I am new to arduinos and the coding involved with micro controllers. My day job is a control and automation technician working for a water company. I am familiar with PLC's and SCADA, still learning!
The current setup is an old labjack ue9 and a copy of azeotech DAQfactory. This is a complicated system that isn't very user friendly to the operator who has to use it. It doesn't produce particularly great results and producing graphs etc isn't straight forward. Also with a "custom" monitoring rig it would be possible to monitor more parameters to give a better idea of what is going on at certain times.
My initial thoughts were to use a PLC for the application, but due to cost of equipment this isn't really feasible.
After dabbling with a raspberry pi and reading about arduinos, I thought that the arduino would be better suited and make this project feasible.
I have purchased an arduino mega with an Ethernet shield for this project for the initial hardware.
From scouring the Internet over the last week or so I have so far managed to sort out a way of dealing with the 7 (min) to 14 (max) cylinder temps. Using 3 4051 multiplexers. I can get 14 readings coming in through 1 analog input and 8 digital outputs. Using PLX DAQ I can log this temp data to a excel spreadsheet and am quite happy with using PLX DAQ to log the required data into a spread sheet.
My main concern now is how can I create a digital dash board to display all the data?
I have got a copy of monitoriza which seems to be about the only scada package that suits my application. Getting the arduino to talk to monitoriza, apart from their example, seems to be another problem in its self.
Basically I would appreciate any input from anyone that has succeeded and or failed in this kind of project to impart their knowledge to point me in the right direction or to either stop me now before I waste many hours banging my head against a wall.
Any input will be greatly appreciated. If any other information is required for further assistance than let me know.
I am open to suggestions and look forward to your replies.
Cheers
Jimbob