PLC Training

I have purchased an online PLC training course including 24 hours of video that I am working hard on completing.To aid in my training, I wanted to create a trainer that would give me the basics needs while physically having some hardware to wire up.

A trainer of any type should have basic input components such as NC (normally closed) NO (normally open) variation of toggle/push button switches and maybe a inductive proximity to start. These can normally be easily accessible and don't break the bank.

Output possibilities for me at this time include pneumatic actuators, streppers and a variation of relays. However, for the most part, desktop training will include mostly indicators.

While I originally went bigger with the
I/O, I ended up with this;


Located in the top right corner of my rack, you can see my arduino rail mounted. Communicating between the arduino and PLC is something I have pondered about since my introduction to the industrial PLC and programmable relays.


Looking at it stripped, I basically made a simple H frame using 1.5 x 1/4 angel, drilled and tapped, added some DIN for rail mounting, and drilled a total of six holes for grounds.

No measurement was really set in stone, I just went with what fit around the plc I'm already own.

The Photobooth

A photo booth holds this nostalgia even in a world where everyone has a high resolution camera in their pocket capable of 16MP photos, people are still amused by a photobooth. It's just, awesome!

We wanted to capture that feeling at our wedding and provide guests with a cool and fun way to leave memories and take something home with them at the end of the night. We looked around but everything was costly and bland looking, so I set off with the plan to make one and this a is blog post on how it started.

The build

I took an older HP Pavilion laptop with a touch screen that was donated to me and completely stripped it apart. This was a great machine to its owner and it is a perfect machine for this build with quad core processor and 8 GB of DDR3.



I was given an old brief case from my sister who has an eye for old unique pieces and it just so happens it will fit the screen!



To mount the screen I made a rough frame out of wood glued inside the case. I then used a double side adhesive and later secured it with aluminum duct tape as well.

I had a few comments about "taping" the screen into place and although I wasn't very keen on it either, it really is how cellphones and tablets are held together and hasn't been an issue yet.



Once the screen was in place and the laptop apart, I made a frame out of as scrap wood and aluminum with standouts to mount the motherboard to a frame. I then made use of the 2.5 inch drive tray that was in the laptop and fastened it the side with some wood screws.



The 2x6 wood I had was helpful in giving support for the brief case while providing beefy material to attach the mount for the tripod stand.



I searched for software that would provide the functionality I was looking for while providing the best user experience and found that in a very affordable application called Instant Photobooth.

Instant Photobooth was very simple to setup with a ton of cool features. I ended up using it with a feature in Windows with call Kiosk mode. Basically, when the photobooth is fired up it boots straight into a user account that is restricted to launching anything but Instant Photobooth.

At this point it looked great, had character but needed a camera and some finishing touches.

I hummed and hawed about what camera to install. There are a lot of great cameras with a very nice Sony lense supported by the software, however budget was still a concern. I ended up settling with the quality and autobalancing features of a Logitech web cam and mounted it the same way as the screen.

The face of it still needed a special touch, so I cut a picture frame I found at a local crafts store to frame it off with drapes on the side the same colour as the original software background.

To throw off where the lense was, I added two rubbies from the dollar as a final touch.



Once we started playing with it, we decided it needed a printer. I purchased a Cannon Selphy cp1200 for 119 bucks, made a mount and cut hole in the side of the case. I was very impressed by the quality and print time accomplished with this printer, approximately 45 - 60 seconds in total.







I have been very pleased with the outcome of project and it has received very positive feed back everywhere it's been so far. While at this point has full functionality, I have a few ideas to make improvements in the near future.

Mini Desktop Conveyor

Mini Desktop Conveyor

One of the projects I developed to demonstrate my rapid prototyping capabilities was this desktop conveyor system. Rather than focusing on a single manufacturing process, the objective was to showcase how design, fabrication, electronics, and automation can be combined into a functional prototype in a relatively short development cycle.

The conveyor was designed  in SolidWorks, with many of the structural components produced through additive manufacturing. Other mechanical components were fabricated and assembled to create a compact, fully functional conveyor capable of supporting small automation demonstrations.

To introduce an element of industrial automation, the conveyor was equipped with an inductive proximity sensor to detect workpieces and stage an automated process. This allowed the system to simulate how sensors are commonly integrated into manufacturing equipment for part detection, sequencing, and process control.

Projects like this are an excellent example of how modern prototyping extends beyond simply creating a mechanical assembly. They require an understanding of CAD design, fabrication methods, electronics, sensors, and automation, bringing together multiple disciplines to rapidly develop and validate functional concepts before moving toward production.

Swing bike build

We started with a bike my dad have gave me for the project, a women's super cycle that we cut to find that it was very thin wall tubing and casted frame joints. A little while later I had found a folding bike on kijiji for 10 bucks which ended up being the main frame which the bike was built off of.

We used the forks off the super cycle giving a 26" tire clearance and a set of rims. The frame used tire size was approximately 16", so the back had to be modified using a spacer and some light persuasion in order to fit the 26ers.

In order to use the forks and have the neck assembly to hold them in we cut 1/2 inch piece of the top of the neck and welded it back together. Taking it from the top helped keep strength in the neck.

We took the length of the parts bike neck and cut that out our frame. When welding the neck piece in to make the swivel, we used some round tube from a parts bike and welded it on the ends of the swivel piece so it inserts into the frame giving better support and strength than butt welding alone.

A bracing for the brake back stop had to be made because we put in the 26" tires.

Next I wanted to take the chrome dipped fenders from the super cycle however they were to big, so I cut one up making them smaller and chop rod looking.

I also wanted the bike to have something rustic looking on it so off came the super cycle chain guard. It's this faded blue, rust and clarity of the brand name that make it an awesome focal point.
In order to put it on I made a little mounting point.

At this point the bike was good to go. I took her for a ride and what a blast!
My fiancée took the chrome pieces that weren't looking so good and buffed them out with an SOS pad and rag.
Here's a before and after

The results are great, I was very surprised and impressed with how much they cleaned up.
I wanted to add a personal touch for his birthday so I added some dice with 64 representing his year of birth on the tube stem.


Pleased with the results.



This is how you park your swing bike: