Cool Project Need Guidance

[Team Nameless]

Im not much of a hardware guy, but im defintly a programmer,
i run a Car club... and im trying to figure away to interface my computer,
into a few electronical devices i want to put in a car,

objects:

1. Tv systems
2. Pony Keg, with Hydrolic lift
3. PS2/Xbox
4. After Market ECU
5. you get the idea. (theres more) aka Lights so on.


the question is would i use one of these curict boards in order
to control these devices to turn on and off? or im i close but not
exactly where i need to be... i mean if its as simple as its looking
(ladder programming) then i would asume im in the right place..


also i know not everything in my car is going to be 12vlts,
and how would i turn on the conversion would i have to have multipule
power converters for each object and have the power run threw the curcit... little confused on how i need to go around this project...


(linux programmer, (C) sh, perl, 11 years... so i know i can takel the project just need a push in the right direction)..

[EDGAR]

Well as far i'm concern there's not a place where a PLC or a MPU;MCU will fit, think of them as a person that will be doing exacly what you want to do when it has to be done. i have use the PLC's on cars,Home automation System,Fire Alarm System,Industrial application, and even a sound control system for cars. you will have to know exacly what you want to do and see the type of controller Trilogic has to offer they are easy to use and relyable. you can't bit that.

The on an Off part the plc will do that no problem, the other things you want to do is up to you and the plc will defentlly do more than ON/OFF...


I hope that helps...

[Team Nameless]

Basicly what im wanting to acomplish is being able to send a start and stop bit to the plc relay board by using a top of programming logic like...


user interface() ))))

if(uservar == start) { connect(plc) {sendvar(start) elseif(){}


or how ever the data structure would be setup.... i have most of the user interface setup
but im not looking for the relay to be handeled threw the logic relay but threw the interface with the communication port controled by the laptop....

[evanh]

Yes, these units are more than enough for remote powering/monitoring of other systems.

It is advised to add a relay/contactor/solid-state-relay to each of the relavant outputs.  This gives an isolated and easily replacable power switch for each section being switched ON/OFF.

Also, don't forget short circuit protection, circuit breakers are a good solution here.


Evan

[evanh]

If all you are wanting is the remote switch then there are things called Smart Relays that will do what you want and they provide the isolation too.

They provide varying degrees of networking support but if you shop around you'll prolly get what you want.

That said, a Smart Relay won't give you anywhere near the features you get with a T100 series controller.


Evan

[TeamNameless]

i noticed on the site that you guys have some software that emulates
the plc board... i was wondering if by chance i could get the software in order to interface with my idea to make sure this is what im trying to acomplish   thx....

[support]

You can download the TRILOGI software which has built-in simulator. You can then write your program and simulate by trigger the input and see what happens to the output.

If you want to experiment with PC controlling the PLC, then you will need the PLC hardware in order to do so. You can get a T100MD888+ Starter Kit that gives you all the necessary software and hardware to start your experiment. All you need is your own power supply (12 or 24V DC) and a Windows PC to start something. There are Visual Basic sample program that you can download if you wish to write your own VB6 program to interface to the PLC:

http://www.tri-plc.com/applications/VBsample.htm