Sunday, May 08, 2011

We're Goin' On The Road?

The Turbo Pup RoadShow Rides Again...


S U R P R I S E...

Did anyone but me know that our Puppy is heading out of town again today?

The good news is that we get to go with her.

She suspects something is up but she's not quite sure yet because I waited until after she went to bed to start dragging out the suitcases and stuff.

After finishing up some details in the documentation and the preliminary version of the owner's manual, I have a date with my customer at the job site over in Simpsonville, South Carolina first thing on Monday morning to begin installing and starting up my latest custom PLC control panel. 

Here...take a peek...



There are 17 input channels and 21 output channels driving everything from warning lights to valves which open and close while holding back ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND GALLONS of waste water.

It's attached to five of these red things (non-contact ultrasonic level sensors), and two of those blue football looking things (float switches) which are supposed to tell it what is going on where.



It also has a whole bunch of other stuff connected to it about which I won't bore you with the details of, but still....

This is the most complex system I've designed and built to date, and unlike my other systems intended to look at things like plastic bottles moving past my sensors really fast, this one works at a snail's pace but if it screws up there is likely to be a story on "Action News at 5 PM" with the Sheriff and Paramedics and pictures of them dragging me off in a straight-jacket kicking and screaming.

So any wayyyy...We're going to make a leisurely stroll across the Appalachian Mountains and the Eastern Continental Divide through Asheville and Hendersonville this afternoon, stopping for a late lunch/dinner at Sidestreeet Pizza in Tryon, North Carolina before landing for the evening at my old Georgia Tech Bud Rusty's "Prince Hotel" palace in the Greenville/Greer/Spartanburg Metropolitian area. 

Then I suspect that hilarity will ensue as I try to explain to my customer how to make this thing work as expected.

Wish me luck...If you will...


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