Custom electronics and automation

Compression moulding for high-performance carbon fibre reinforced composite products needs precise heating and pressure control. The process has to be logged for quality control purposes in the aerospace or car industry.

Any producer of carbon fibre products needs a special temperature controller for multiple heating elements and temperature sensors with PWM control and data logging capabilities. The heating process had multiple temperature stages with predefined ramps. The heating power control has been carried out with solid state switches.

The set which includes a multi-channel temperature controller and data logger is available with pre-programmed HMI, PLC, Ethernet, and control over a smart phone app. The programs and process pictures can easily be changed according to a client’s individual requirements. The set can be ordered as separate cabinet or loose for integration into an existing system.

Applications: production technology processes, plastic industry, air conditioning, cooling, heating, ventilation.

It was necessary to adapt trams and modernise the infrastructure for Helsinki City Transport to enable persons with reduced mobility to travel in safety. The low floor middle sections had to be designed for trams of the NRVII type.

In 2005-2012, as commissioned by Helsinki City Transport (HKL), we modernised electrical drive and brake control systems for various trams. In addition we designed electrical systems for the added low floor section.

We also redesigned and manufactured a complete set of analogue and microprocessor-controlled control cards for the MLNRV electrical systems. The quality requirements have been fulfilled according to the rail vehicle electronic equipment EN 50155 standard.

These control cards are used daily in up to 52 trams, simultaneously carrying as many as up to 10,000 of Helsinki’s residents.

The pickup robot is an innovative product, one which has to be safe, reliable, and fast. Time was short when it came to product design, type testing, and certification.

In determining the applicable health and safety requirements, the risks needed to be analysed in regard to manufacturing, usage, and decommissioning according to pertinent standards. Safety measures needed to be added such as safety barriers or the detection of people, body parts, or objects in order to reduce any perceivable dangers to an acceptable level.

The product needs to adhere to pertinent directives and standards. To ensure that the product is competitive, reliable, and safe it needs to be designed safely and tested carefully in different scenarios and environmental conditions for a sufficient amount of time. The different power supply standards had to be considered as well. To indicate conformity to health, safety, and environmental protection standards the CE marking was needed for the European Union. UL/CSA certification was necessary for the USA and Canada. The product has been very successful.

Beekeepers need special equipment for honey production. The controllers have to be watertight and freely programmable at a very low cost.

Our client – a producer of honey equipment – has ordered special controllers for their honey extractors presses and mixers. We have used our microcontroller boards of the ET-Sp20 type and stricker keyboards.

On the board of the ET-Sp20 is a microcontroller with components that make it possible to control external equipment and which also make it possible to use it as a simple human-machine interface. The waterproof sticker keyboard has four pushbuttons, which are used for setting parameters, choosing user programs, and operating the machine according to special programs.

The analogue-digital I/O extension board and two-channel temperature controller for the Pt100/Pt1000 are also both available.

Our client had trouble with holding solenoids which did not release the object due to residual magnetism. They had to use mechanical pushers for object removal.

The problem has been solved by the development of an electronic solenoid driver which eliminates pushers completely and also reduces the energy consumption of the solenoid. Additionally, a low cost magnetic sensor has been introduced to detect whether or not the object has been attached. The driver has been patented.

A producer of polyurethane gun foams needed special machines for capping aerosol cans. The machine had to cap at least seventy cans a minute.

The machine has been designed and built in cooperation with a machine producer by the name of Eksamo. We have designed and implemented the Siemens PLC-based control system and servo drives for the machine. The machine can handle three different can sizes and can simultaneously cap two bottles. Difficulties involved in the project included an aggressive environment which contained explosive vapours and adjusting the machine to match the production line.

The large starting current of the 90kW motor was interfering with other machinery in the production line which either deactivated or was somehow disturbed by this.

In 2018, commissioned by Linnamäe Lihatööstus AS, we modernised a meat cutter’s electrical system by equipping it with a variable frequency drive (see picture). This mainly resulted in reducing the starting current and load but it also simplified the control system. As installed, the high protection level (IP55) frequency converter does not need a separate cabinet and can be cleaned with a water jet.

The rotary die cutter being used by a packaging producer left some debris which disturbed the gluer and resulted in mistakes being produced.

The fast rotating flexible blades remove cardboard debris both mechanically and by blowing. Problems related to gluer-head clogging and poor gluing quality have been removed almost completely. The number of interruptions decreased which led to higher productivity levels when it comes to printing and the die cutting line. The orientation, speed, and direction of the rotors can be changed to achieve the best result on a given cardboard material.