Industrial automation products can also be applied to unique applications, like the advanced control needed for a sophisticated escape room. Escape rooms are immersive adventure games where players solve puzzles to break out from a themed environment within a set time. While seemingly unrelated to industrial automation, a systems integrator (SI) leveraged expertise gained from…
Modern PLCs and HMIs have empowered a big rig customization shop to create increasingly sophisticated automated lighting effects for their customers. Byline: Dustin Dickerson, Dickerson Custom Trucks “Less is more” and “function over form” are phrases often associated with the design of objects—anything from office supplies up to buildings or larger—to promote a concept of…
This electrical contractor relied on AutomationDirect PLC and HMI hardware and software to rapidly rip-and-replace the controls on a failing rock crusher. Equipment used in rock quarrying operations is subjected to extremes of dirt, vibration, heat, and more, pressing mechanical and electrical systems to the limit. When the crushing equipment legacy automation at one site…
Our low-cost products and free support have fostered many innovations over our almost 30 years of business. Below is a small sampling of what a few customers have done with our products. Check them out! Proof of Success: Crafting a Distillation Upgrade These University of Colorado—Colorado Springs students performed their capstone design project by using AutomationDirect products…
Solar thermal installations need advanced control systems to optimize energy harvesting, storage, and distribution at remote mining operations. For certain applications in the right geographic areas, solar thermal can be a cost effective and low carbon way to supply large-scale heat energy. Flemming Jørgensen, of Jorgensen Thermal solutions, supplies these systems, and he needed to…
To improve performance and reliability, this grain blending company knew it needed to upgrade its homebrew controls to a modern control system platform. Many small- and mid-sized manufacturing operations have some degree of automated equipment, but lack the in-house skill to perform upgrades and capital projects. Ethan Taylor founded Taylor Controls to help this market…
By partnering with a local systems integrator and using AutomationDirect products, this machine shop enhanced its capabilities, allowing it to deliver the services required by its customers. Throughout the country, networks of small businesses—including machine shops and systems integrators (SIs)—innovate and integrate to deliver successful projects. One example is a collaboration between Stephens Machine and…
A truck customization shop expanded their capabilities by offering AutomationDirect PLCs and HMIs to control expansive on-vehicle lighting displays. Just as many car owners like to customize their rides, there is a growing convoy of truck operators who like to do the same as a personal and promotional statement. Dickerson Custom Trucks has been catering…
This resort site uses AutomationDirect VFDs to control waterpark systems, in the process adding the capability to manage and upgrade their own equipment. When the Triple R Camping Resort enhanced their facility to include a waterpark with interactive water features, they also needed to upgrade some behind-the-scenes elements, such as pumps, and the VFDs controlling…
A modern PLC automation platform will keep a classic industrial machine running for years to come. Cotton production originated thousands of years ago, but modern machines, like the cotton gin and the cotton baler (or cotton baling press), have made its processing much more efficient over the past 200 years. These machines can be kept…