need to control feed of material going into hammer mill when engine is under load and rpm drops ,outputs need to be 12v dc to relay which shuts off hydraulic feed rollers
Arduinos aren't industrial controllers, they're not really appropriate for that type of app.
You can build and code a "proof of concept" device, but the ruggedness just isn't there, for a shop floor app that I would bet my JOB on.
I'd say it depends on your safety requirements. If operator safety is involved, you want a safety rated PLC. You'll also need to monitor gates, E-stops, etc.
If it's just your home shop and you're willing to accept certain risks to your own safety, you'd have to provide some info on how you're getting the tachometer and load information out of the engine.
The Opta and pro line are built for this sort of market so not necessarily.
There is something called the Ruggidurino, but it may not be necessary. It depends on the electrical and physical environment. In an industrial application/environment it's probably more important that it's serviceable and that you have a backup unit that you can plug-in.
The lack of serviceability is the biggest issue with "homemade" industrial controls.
It should be protected from electrical surges, excessive heat, and moisture, etc. Then an Arduino can last a very long time, just like any other solid state electronics.
Otherwise your choice of microcontroller isn't that important. The logic is really simple and it could be done without a programmable microcontroller. You just need a way to measure RPM and trigger a relay.
You'll have to figure-out how to measure RPM in a way that can be read by the Arduino.
And the Arduino can't directly power a relay coil so you'll need a relay driver circuit, or you can buy relay boards with relay drivers, or there are solid state relays that can be directly controlled by the Arduino.
This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.