An Arduino Opta micro PLC safely controls this huge photo voltaic panel carry

The dividing line between microcontroller growth board and programmable logic controller (PLC) use instances has turn out to be more and more blurred lately, as at present’s Arduino {hardware} may be very sturdy and dependable. However there are nonetheless conditions through which peace of thoughts and regulatory requirements assist the usage of a PLC, which is why we launched the Arduino Opta line of micro PLCs. Rob Broomfield, AKA “Metallic Fab Man,” took benefit of an Opta to construct this huge motorized photo voltaic panel carry.

Broomfield’s undertaking is, primarily, a custom-fabricated metal tube body with a photo voltaic panel mount driving on hardened metal rods and lifted by a winch. With a photo voltaic panel in place, the winch should pull up a load of a number of hundred kilos and so security was Broomfield’s prime precedence. He wanted to make sure that the system would fail secure, wouldn’t malfunction, and could possibly be put right into a safe state when in its prime place with all of that potential power looming.

To attain that, he used an Opta as a type of sensible relay for the winch motor. It controls the mains energy going to the motor and screens a number of inputs because it does. These inputs embrace a management pendant with emergency cease swap and proximity sensors at each ends of journey. Along with the motor, the Opta additionally controls a solenoid that actuates a locking pin. When the carry reaches its prime place and triggers that proximity sensor, the solenoid releases to slip that pin into place. And if the ability fails at any time, that pin will stay in place and maintain the sliding mount safe.

It will have been potential to attain this with any Arduino board and a few relays, however the Opta, by design, doesn’t have the identical potential for code-based malfunctions and meets the next commonplace that’s essential for this sort of work.