A typical control system will include:
- AutoCAD electrical drawings for the control panels for your system
- Inspected control panels made with genuine Opto22, Hoffman, PowerOne, and Weidmuller hardware
- Labels for all field wiring
- Sensors for temperature, pressure, and atmosphere monitoring needs
- Premium wire for field sensors
- Custom made Techni-Systems computer system UPS and color printer
- Alarm Dialer
- PCAnywhere remote-control software
- Think-N-Do control software
- Custom HMI interface
- Operator's logbook
- Custom status reports and status report maker/scheduler
- Remote Network Monitoring
- Maintenance scheduling, recording and reporting
- On-site startup of your control system
- One year of free technical support
AutoCAD Electrical Drawings
Our control panels begin with very easy to follow electrical drawings of all the control panels used in the project. You will receive a copy of all these drawings with the control panels, and a second “as-built” copy if there are any changes made to the control panels during installation. Upon project completion, these drawings can also be viewed in our HMI's built-in drawing viewer. If you would like to see what our drawing files look like, take a look at our helpful information section for a download link to the AutoCAD Whip viewer (it's free) and some sample drawing files.
Control Panels
Our control panels are meticulously built in our own shop by professionals. Our panels begin with a well-built all steel Hoffman enclosure and back panel. We typically use Nema1 rated enclosures, but can use any other Nema level enclosure per your request. The control hardware we use is made by Opto22, which we consider to be the most reliable hardware platform available. This is an extremely modular platform, with each individual analog and digital point configurable and fused. The communication protocol is industrial strength RS422 using inexpensive 2-pair communication wire. This protocol does not have the limitations of Ethernet I/O, with the maximum cable length exceeding 5000' and the ability to utilize 10000' cable runs with only one repeater (in contrast, Ethernet cabling tends to have problems when run over 250' to 500' depending on the cabling used). All wiring in our panels use color-coded wire to distinguish between low-voltage DC and AC power lines. Premium Weidmuller fuse-disconnects and terminals are used for field wire termination, along with a mechanical circuit breaker for the control panel's main power input. PowerOne open-frame linear power supplies are used as the power source to our control hardware, sensors, and solenoid valves. CarlingSwitch three-way auto-off-manual switches are provided for all control outputs enabling you to run your hardware in manual mode if necessary.
Labels for Everything
Every wire in our control panels are labeled at both ends with easy-to-read professionally printed shrink-type labeling. Labels are also provided with the panels for all field wiring that comes into the panels upon their installation. Manual switches in the panels are also labeled with very durable printed metallic labels.
Sensors for Any Monitoring Need
We have sensors available for anything you wish to monitor. Our thermistor temperature sensors when paired with the appropriate conditioning module are extremely accurate, much more so than the ancient technology of RTD and thermocouple temperature sensors that many other system integrators are still using. We use pressure sensors made by NoShock available in a wide variety of ranges. If your facility uses ammonia for refrigeration, our NH3 analyzer of choice is the BWTechnology's PlantRat, a very reliable and easy to maintain gas detector.
Sensor and Communications Wire is Included
We provide Opto22 recommended communications wire and premium shielded sensor wire with our control panels in any lengths necessary.
Techni-Systems Custom Built Computer Systems
The heart of a computer-based control system is, of course, the computer. Techni-Systems builds our own brand of custom computer system for this very purpose. We carefully select only the very best components for our systems and our computer's reliability has stood the test of time over the years. After hundreds of custom-built computers we really know what we're doing. Refer to this section for more information about our computer systems.
Alarm Dialer is Included
We use four-channel ADI alarm dialers for our control systems. This dialer features it's own battery backup, listen-in and two-way communications, four channels, and an 8 number dialing list. Our HMI uses voice synthesis to speak alarm conditions in a human voice that you can hear using the listen-in function of this dialer.
Control Your Facility, Remotely
Our control systems include Symantec's PCAnywhere remote control software. Control your plant remotely with any computer that has a modem. If your facility has constant Internet access, you can also use this software over the Internet saving any toll charges. Techni-Systems can also use this software for program updates and troubleshooting purposes, getting changes you need to you fast.
Think-N-Do Live Control Software
Think-N-Do Live from Entivity is an easy to use flowcharting control software program, used to interface with real-world I/O. This software allows us to talk to a large number of hardware platforms, including:
- Allen-Bradley SLC-500 and Flex
- Animatics Smartmotors (via a serial port connection)
- Automationdirect DL205, DL305, DL405 and WinPLC
- DeviceNet Network
- Douloi Motion Cards
- Galil Motion Cards and Motion Drives
- GE Fanuc 90/30 and Genius
- Honeywell SDS
- Interbus
- Logosol Servo Controllers
- Modbus TCP
- Motion Engineering
- Optimation Optilogic
- Opto22 Optomux and Snap
- Profibus DP
- Schneider Electric Momentum Ethernet, Momentum DeviceNet, Momontum Profibus, Modicon 800
- Seriplex
- Sunx S-Link
- Whedco Motion
Your copy of Think-N-Do Live will have no point limitations and will be a full development package. Live includes specialized blocks for PID loop control, motion control, and serial device interfacing. Sub charts allow you to reuse your logic for faster development. Productivity analysis functions are also included so you can track downtime, cycle time and productivity figures. Com/Dcom, OPC and DDE servers are embedded for enterprise connectivity.
Custom Human/Machine Interface (HMI)
Our custom HMI is built to fit your facility and includes what others charge for or simply can not do. Some of the feature of our HMI include:
- Store an almost unlimited amount of historical information
- Give you comprehensive graphic displays showing any information you wish to see
- Back itself up with only the cost of a second desktop computer
- Let you view electrical diagrams of your system right from control screens
- Call you in case of trouble and let you remotely control your plant via a modem or the web
- Remotely view your plants status through your own network on any Internet-ready computer
- Design unlimited historical and status reports, and schedule them
- Enter your plant equipment data and record/schedule maintenance
- Get technical support via a modem or the Internet
- Back up important data to disk or CD
- Store additional data about your plant and use this information on reports (i.e.: product type stored in zones)
- Alarms that verbally tell you what’s wrong and allow you to assign your own alarm descriptions
Your screens will be arranged in the way that you want them to be, with all of the above included at no additional charge.
Operator's Logbook
Have more than one shift of refrigeration personnel that need to leave notes for one another? Ever have trouble reading each other's hand writing? We have a simple solution to this problem, and it's included for free in all our control systems: the Operator's Logbook. This is a simple tool that allows you to store notes either just for yourself or for others to see. Store thousands of records, and print them if you wish. This is one of our most used tools.
Custom Status Reports
Create your own status reports using any points we monitor or control with our status report maker. Points are simply dragged then dropped on a blank report form during creation. The reports you make can then be scheduled to print at any interval you need.
Remote Network Monitoring
Any status report that's been created can also be viewed over a network or the Internet using any web browser. Our HMI has our own built-in web server tailored to serve up real-time data to remote computers. No software installation is necessary on the remote end, and it works with any computer that can get on the Internet, including Macs and Linux machines.
Maintenance Scheduling and Reporting
Most companies charge extra for this, a LOT extra. We include it for free with all our systems. With this utility, you can:
- Record all your equipment, including model and serial numbers
- Categorize all your equipment, with as many categories you need
- Schedule all your maintenance, with recurring options
- Record scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, along with the cost of repairs
- Keep notes on all your scheduled, unscheduled and completed maintenance
- Compile reports on MTBF rates
- See your cost by category, equipment type or see what an individual piece of equipment is costing you.
- Report on the overall status of your scheduled and completed maintenance
- Export reports, equipment lists and schedules to HTML tables for viewing in Excel or any web browser.
On-Site Startup of your Control System
Unlike many other system integrators that simply mail you the control panels and a set of program disks, we show up at your facility and check out each and every I/O point to make sure all is well. We'll also give you on-site training while we're there and make any changes you request.
One Year of Free Technical Support
Get a year of technical support for free with your control system. Even after the first year has expired, smaller technical support issues will still be free, but at our discretion. Most of our customers rarely need any technical assistance from us, which we owe to the reliability of our control system.
