Case Study - Machine Controls for portable decontamination & sterilization system

Case Number: 600-564

Description:

Electrical Control Panel, Control System Design & Engineering and Machine Controls for a portable room and vehicle sterilization system.

Industry:

• Medical equipment
• Biohazard remediation
• Healthcare facilities
• Fire & Emergency medical services
• Law enforcement & corrections
• Public transportation
• Food processing plants
• Hotels
• Gym and fitness facilities
• Offices
• Anthrax remediation

Services Provided by AMPS:

• Appropriate automation components selected
• Control system design & engineering
• Construction of electrical control panels
• PLC/HMI programming
• Ongoing assistance with product development
• Help through the UL and CE certification processes
• General assistance with electrical/electronic issues which keeps them from needing an electrical engineer on staff

Volume:

Varies between dozens and hundreds per year

Customer Requirements:

• Design a compact, cost-effective control system to run the entire machine.
• All automation control components must be mounted to a metal plate which will be installed in the machine
• Must be designed so that the entire machine can be UL listed and CE certified
• Control all pumps and motors automatically
• Program PLC and HMI to be user-friendly and serve as an intuitive GUI
• Utilize data tables for storing detailed room and vehicle treatment information to SD card
• Wireless keyfob remote control of start, stop and pause functions
• Incorporate a reliable sensor for tank level monitoring
• Monitor the currents on certain loads to ensure proper operation is taking place
• All displays on the touch-screen must be available to the user in multiple languages
• Must be able to communicate with a proprietary handheld device that can configure treatments remotely

Solution:

• AMPS designed a compact electrical control system with programmable touch-screen and integrated PLC from Unitronics as the backbone.
• We designed the electrical control panel so that everything would fit on a single small plate.
• We utilized quick disconnects and plugs wherever possible to make the system easy to install for our customer.
• We worked closely with the customer's design team to make sure the GUI was intuitive and easy to use.
• AMPS stocks all the major components on these panels so that we can build them quickly in groups of 5 or 10 pieces.
• We utilized a strings library so that all screens could be displayed in English, Spanish, French and Russian with the touch of a button. The strings library is expandable, too, so that more languages can be added in the future.
• Appropriate screens are password protected so that settings and valuable data cannot be tampered with

Key Products Used:

• V290 and V570 from Unitronics
• Analog current sensor from Veris Industries
• Compact motor contactors and power supplies from Lovato Electric
• Circuit breakers from Altech

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