Dredge Automation Project

Home   |  Purpose   |  Design  |  Members

Design Hardware We created a block diagram of the hardware layout of how we plan to implement the PLC and wireless controller to control the four different motors located aboard the dredge remotely from shore.  We will be using relays to contol the hoist and hydraulic motors and variable frequency drives (VFDs) to control the pump and traverse motors.  The relays provide an on or off switch to control the hoist and hydraulic motor while the VFD works to adjust for the varying speed signals being sent to the traverse and pump motors. The wireless controller will send a push button signal from the dredge operator to a tranceiver aboard the dredge connected to the PLC.  The selected button will initiate the appropriate automated function programmed into the PLC. The following link provides photos of the PLC, VFD, wireless controller, and screenshot of the RSLogix software we will be using in our design.   Software We are using the RSLogix Micro ladder-logic programming software to program the MIcroLogix 1400 PLC.  This programming package will help maximize performance, saving project development time, and improving productivity. This product has been developed to operate on Windows operating systems.  The following link is a software flowchart describing the automated functions we will be programming for the dredge.