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Click on a name from the list on the left to read a synopsis or excerpt of the
case study.
To read the PDF of the entire case study, click the link
following the synopsis below.
Waterford Township DPW
Since 1996, the Waterford Township Department of Public Works (DPW) has used Opto 22 mistic- and SNAP PAC Systems in its water treatment plants and sewer pumping stations. The Opto 22 hardware monitors and controls 1900 I/O points and alarms on nearly 1100 events for water and sewer systems that serve a community of 74,000 residents in eastern Michigan.
Integration of these control systems in a platform that also utilizes a Geographic Information System, Computer Maintenance Management System, and broadband wireless and Ethernet networking, has resulted in widespread attention for Waterford and brought representatives from municipalities all over the US and Canada to the township to tour and study its facilities.
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Brunswick Bowling & Billiards México (Spanish)
La compañía Brunswick Bowling & Billiards México tenía la necesidad de automatizar el almacenamiento y suministro de materias primas basado en un sistema que cumpliera con la confiabilidad requerida y la opción de crecimiento en etapas. Esta confiabilidad y modularidad la encontraron en los equipos de automatización Opto 22 basados en PACs (Controlador para Automatización Programable).
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PayWerks
Original equipment manufacturer PayWerks, Inc. builds the Advanced Toll Payment Machine (ATPM), an outdoor payment kiosk for the toll road industry. Changes in the toll road business, including higher toll charges, now demand a more complex payment kiosk.
To build it, PayWerks needed a tough, highly modular control system able to handle unlimited serial connections with ease, plus digital and analog I/O for sensors and control.
The solution was to embed Opto 22 programmable automation controllers and SNAP I/O as the key components in these ATPMs.
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Lumenyte International
Southern California-based Lumenyte International Corporation designs and manufactures fiber-optic lighting solutions for original equipment manufacturers as well as industrial, architectural, and transportation-related applications. Their manufacturing process includes a a 56-foot long stainless steel casting chamber and demands very precise temperature, flow, and pressure measurement and control.
Opto 22's SNAP PAC System and legacy mistic hardware provide the solution for these key elements of Lumenyte's process. Upgrading from the older controllers to new PAC controllers was easier than expected.
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Georgia Pacific Tissue México (Spanish)
La compañía Georgia Pacific Tissue, líder mundial en la producción de papel, se encuentra como objetivo principal el posicionamiento como una de las marcas más importantes en el mercado mexicano de papel higiénico para uso doméstico e industrial. Para lograr este objetivo se ha instalado una planta en la ciudad de Toluca, Estado de México, que cuenta con maquinaria usada traída de Estados Unidos. Una de estas máquinas cuenta con módulos de la primera generación (G1) de Opto 22 para su control. El Ing. Gerardo Ríos, del departamento de proyectos de la planta, ha decidido actualizar el equipo de control. El Ing. Ríos decidió continuar utilizando los productos de Opto 22 porque resultaron muy confiables durante la anterior operación de la máquina.
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Ballarat Health Services
Ballarat Health Services in Victoria, Australia is a major health care organization comprising two hospitals, convalescent homes, psychiatric services, six nursing home hostels, and rehabilitation centers. Ballarat uses Opto 22 SNAP PAC Systems (generations 2 and 3) for equipment automation and building management. This encompasses an incredibly broad set of applications including remote monitoring, alarming, process and discrete control, and data acquisition for performance optimization, energy management, and regulatory compliance reporting.
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Michigan Fish Hatcheries
At fish hatcheries throughout the state of Michigan, Opto 22 SNAP PAC systems interface with flowmeters, float level sensors, variable frequency drives, and the other power-, oxygen-, and water-related equipment to automate, manage, and monitor equipment used during every stage of the fish rearing process. Also monitored and managed are a variety of water conditions such as tank water temperatures, water flow and oxygenation, as well as the on/off status of equipment.
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NASA's Deep Space Network
NASA’s Deep Space Network site in Madrid experienced a crisis when engineers detected cracks in the elevation bearings of a 230-foot parabolic antenna that enables 24/7 monitoring of satellites, space probes, and spacecrafts. These bearings support the 4 million pound weight of the antenna as it tilts up and down.
To determine the precise nature of the problem, the antenna's bearings will be lifted and the existing shim pack removed and replaced with load cell transducers, which will convert the measured pressured into an electrical signal output and deliver it to an Opto 22 SNAP PAC System. Specifically, SNAP-AIMA analog input
modules will connect four sets of load cells (one for each set of bearings) to SNAP-PAC-EB2 brains, which will receive accurate load cell readings as the antenna moves across the bearings. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will then be studying the data, formulating theories, and determining why the antenna’s bearings have been cracking.
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Opto 22 G4 Handler: PAC-Based Motion Control
Since the introduction of G4 input/output modules in the mid-1980s, Opto 22 has sold millions. And 20 years later, these remain some of the company’s best-selling products. Like most Opto 22 modules, G4’s are guaranteed for life. In order to make this guarantee, the company must submit the modules to rigorous testing before they’re shipped to customers.
The G4 Handler is the machine used to perform these tests. When the 20-year-old servos on the G4 Handler needed to be replaced, an economical replacement could not be found. Instead, the G4 Handler’s servo motors were replaced with stepper motors.
This case study describes how the SNAP PAC System Motion Control Subsystem was used with the new stepper motors to control module testing and gather test data.
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Ingenio Plan de Ayala (Spanish)
El Ingenio Plan de Ayala en Ciudad Valles, San Luis Potosí, es uno de los más importantes ingenios de azúcar en la zona norte del país de México. A través del tiempo este ingenio ha estado comprometido con la optimización de su proceso de producción, para esto requerían un equipo de automatización que les permitiera crecer en etapas aprovechando cada temporada de mantenimiento para hacer mejoras a su proceso. Para esto se valieron del equipo de automatización Opto 22 ya que este cuenta con la ventaja de ser modular desde su concepción.
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AZEVAP Evaporative Coolers
Despite the fact that evaporative coolers use as little as 1/8th the power of a traditional cooler or chiller system, adoption of the technology in many industries has been slow due to both real and perceived drawbacks. AZEVAP, LLC, located in Phoenix, Arizona, has developed new methodologies and technologies using Opto 22 Ethernet-based I/O to address these drawbacks.
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Redes de Distribución de Agua en Monterrey, México (Spanish)
La ciudad de Monterrey, NL en México está ubicada en una zona semi-desiértica y tiene que transportar el agua de pozos y presas de distancias cercanas a 200 kilometros. Esto implica grandes redes de distribución que requieren mantenimiento continuo, personal, y equipo móvil para tener acceso y atender diferentes partes del sistema de conducción. Para mantener una red cercana a los 100 pozos y tanques distribuidos en un radio de 200 kilometros, Servicios de Agua y Drenaje de Monterrey (SAYDM) se seleccionó hardware para E/S y software de la familia SNAP de Opto 22.
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Opto 22
Over the last several years, the dramatically rising costs of fuel and power in Southern California, and across the nation, have made energy management a priority for businesses large and small. Opto 22, the maker of automation, remote monitoring, and data acquisition hardware, in efforts to trim its energy bills in the most cost-effective way, recently deployed its own products in its facilities in order to acquire relevant data and more closely monitor and manage its energy consumption.
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Soto la Marina (Spanish)
El municipio de Soto la Marina, Tamaulipas en México se planteó el reto de limpiar la totalidad de sus aguas negras para posteriormente arrojarlas al río Soto la Marina, el cual kilómetros más adelante desemboca en el Golfo de México. La Comisión Municipal de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado (COMAPA) de Soto la Marina encontró en Opto 22 el equipo que cumple sus requerimientos de automatización, así como algunos otros requisitos como lo son una buena relación costo-beneficio y el soporte confiable y a tiempo.
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Henkel Capital México (Spanish)
Empresa líder a nivel mundial Henkel Capital tiene una planta en Salamanca, Guanajuato, México encargada de la manufactura de adhesivos para distintos propósitos que van desde los usados en el hogar hasta de uso industrial. Es propietaria de las marcas RESISTOL, PRITT, LOCTITE, ACRITON y TANGIT. También se producen las distintas variedades de los reconocidos impermeabilizantes FESTER. Todos estos procesos aunque tienen sus diferencias, comparten algo en común…todos están controlados por equipo Opto 22.
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Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications recently undertook an initiative to address its energy
management problems by establishing a prototype "central office of the future"
in Garden City, Long Island. Besides housing all of the critical electronic
switching and backup power equipment for Verizon's wireline communications
operations, this central office is also equipped with new cogeneration
distributed energy systems.
Systems integrator Marine Interface installed a network of Opto 22 SNAP Ultimate
I/O and SNAP Simple IO control and data acquisition systems to gather
information from Verizon's electrical metering systems, circuit breakers,
engine electronics, cogen systems, and other equipment. All data is converted
into Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) form for remote network access
and monitoring.
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Ecopetrol
Ecopetrol, the national oil company of Colombia, is using Opto 22 SNAP PACs to
maximize output and securely monitor and control its pumping locations
throughout the country.
The SNAP PACs communicate via Modbus and Profibus as they regulate valve
positioning, pumpjack motors, variable frequency drives and other devices to
maintain the desired flowrates. Equipment status and other data is communicated
over wireless Ethernet to Ecopetrol headquarters in Bogota.
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Georgia Aquarium
The Georgia Aquarium houses a vast collection of critical systems and equipment
that keep the aquarium operating and the fish thriving. These essential life
support systems include huge mixing tanks; reclamation tanks; injector &
heat pumps; spray, discharge and backwash valves; heat exchangers; flow
monitors; protein skimmers and much more.
Systems integrator RCK Controls used Opto 22 hardware as the key components of
an integrated control system within the aquarium. Ten RCK processors and more
than 3100 Opto 22 mistic and SNAP I/O points control all of the aquarium's
fish-related water processes.
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Brooks Automations
With a mismatch of operating systems, software, and hardware components, testing
processes at Brooks Automation were becoming more and more complex to manage.
In efforts to streamline production and product qualification, Brooks employs a
"universal test stand" used to control airflow, pressure, humidity, and other
variables in its testing areas for semiconductor process control devices. A mix
of Opto 22 hardware, including SNAP Ultimate I/O and B3000 I/O processors, are
the core components for this testing platform that was designed and built by
systems integrator Martindale Associates.
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Knauf Fiberglass
"A large part of the problem Knauf was having with its existing system revolved
around that hardware's proprietary architecture and its resulting inability to
send data readings to SQL.
"The Opto 22 hardware executes precise process control and can perform fast I/O
scanning and acquire accurate measurements. But the SNAP system also has a high
level of enterprise connectivity and can communicate I/O readings directly to
enterprise systems and databases, like Microsoft SQL Server, Access and Excel,
without the time, effort and cost needed to build custom interfaces."
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Delphi-Delco
Under the new system, as the individual automotive components reach the robotic
screwdriver, a barcode reader scans the barcode of the part. The reader sends
an ASCII string identifying the part to the SNAP Ultimate I/O unit via an RS232
serial connection.
Using a preprogrammed lookup table within ioControl, SNAP Ultimate I/O's
flowchart-based control programming software, the SNAP system confirms that
each part is correct and matches it with the corresponding torque. The SNAP
system then communicates with a host, which instructs the Janome robot as to
the amount of torque to be applied.
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ALGOSYSTEMS
ALGOSYSTEMS has completed a comprehensive building automation project for the
Greek Olympic Organizing Committee Complex (GOOCC), involving the automation of
all of the GOOCC'S building management systems, including the air conditioning,
power distribution, and telephone data network.
ALGOSYSTEMS was also enlisted to provide systems to help maintain a number of
major highways in Greece, controlled by a single unified Opto 22-based
automation and supervisory control system located at a centralized traffic
management operations center.
More than 90 Opto 22 controllers are being used to monitor and control the
building and energy management systems at the toll buildings, power equipment
at the substations, and all of the more than 340 irrigation valves and pumps
that deliver water to arid stretches of highway.
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La Pastora Sugar Mill
All recycling and dispersal of condensed water is controlled and regulated by an
Opto 22 SNAP Ultimate I/O system, which consists of a SNAP Ultimate brain and
rack, two analog input modules, one serial module, eight digital input modules,
and eight digital output modules.
This specific configuration gives La Pastora the ability to collect all the data
from its water recovery system's processes so supervisors can be sure that the
water is free of debris and otherwise qualified to be recirculated.
For example, pH and ORP (oxygen reduction potential) sensors connected to analog
input modules provide data on the concentration of undissolved, suspended
particles present in the water. This data is aggregated and evaluated by the
intelligent SNAP Ultimate controller, which begins or delays the delivery of
the water to the de-aerator accordingly.
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Alsum Produce
AEC chose the SNAP Ultimate system, in part, because it has an intelligent
controller that can communicate with, gather data from, and send commands to
distributed I/O racks throughout a facility over a standard Ethernet network.
As deployed by AEC, the SNAP system connects to and communicates with remote I/O
units that, in turn, are connected to the Alsum refrigeration units' various
components (such as evaporators and compressors) via analog and digital
input/output modules on the I/O racks.
The remote SNAP I/O units communicate over an Ethernet connection to the
intelligent SNAP Ultimate brain, which, through this connection, is able to
control all of Alsum Produce's refrigeration systems. More specifically, the
SNAP Ultimate unit controls the cooling processes, whereby refrigerant is
pumped through a set of coiled heat exchanging pipes, compressed, and then
sucked back.
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Jett Electric
"There were specific control features and capabilities I was looking for in the
systems I would consider," says Jett. "But that was more or less just to get
your ticket punched. I needed systems that offered more than that-ones with
higher levels of connectivity.
"Use of open protocols like TCP/IP was very important to me because it created
easier opportunities to link the equipment being controlled back to an
enterprise application or database of some type." Jett, who has over 18 years
experience with industrial electrical systems and controls, found that Opto 22
control hardware, particularly its flagship SNAP line of Ethernet I/O systems,
were well suited for this task.
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McMinville Water & Light
For this self-sufficient, relatively small municipal power and water utility
located in the coastal mountains of Oregon, Opto 22 has proven to be the key to
smooth operations and continued reliability. The big winners, however, are
McMinnville Water & Light customers, who continue to receive excellent
service and quality electricity and water at a very economical price.
"We purchased an Opto 22 SNAP Ethernet I/O control system," says McCallie. "It
uses Ethernet connections and Modbus protocol, so we can connect all our field
control and metering devices at our substations to Opto 22 LCM4 controllers and
SNAP Ethernet I/O systems. We communicate with our electric substations and
Opto 22 devices via Ethernet using our fiber-optic network."
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Alaska Native Medical Center
The Alaska Native Medical center has the ability to monitor all 45 of its
refrigerators right from any desktop PC. At any given moment, authorized
personnel can check temperature status.
The SNAP Ethernet system populates ioDisplay with fresh, accurate temperature
readings which are timestamped and saved for inspectors, regulatory agencies,
administration staff, or anyone else who might need this verified data. Data
can be presented as pure numerical values or graphically in the form of line
graphs.
Perhaps best of all, should temperatures fall out of the designated 35-45 degree
range, ioDisplay sends an immediate email warning automatically.
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TrafficWerks Systems
TrafficWerks has embedded Opto 22 SNAP Ultimate I/O hardware as the key
component of its Advanced Toll Payment Machine (ATPM). The ATPM allows a
cash-paying toll road customer to conveniently pay the cost of the toll-using
paper currency, coin or a combination of both-and receive change from the value
deposited.
SNAP Ultimate I/O provides the intelligence that enables the ATPM to give toll
road drivers their choice of how to pay. The hardware connects to existing lane
controllers, which are used to determine the class of vehicle (single or
double-axle) and how much the corresponding toll is. The lane controller
communicates with the SUIO unit, transmitting the data via a standard Ethernet
connection.
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Amersam Car Park Management
At the Amersam parking facilities, a proximity sensor has been installed in each
parking space, allowing individual monitoring of each one. These sensors
communicate to an Opto 22 Machine-to-Machine remote monitoring and
communications system, indicating if a specific space is occupied or empty,
timestamping the data, and sending it over Amersam's Ethernet network via SNMP
to designated databases.
By connecting facility lighting systems and movement detectors to the M2M
system, Amersam is able to exercise intelligent lighting control, saving
electricity by reducing or shutting down lights in unused areas. In this way,
Amersam has consolidated most of its monitoring equipment into a single device.
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Opto 22 Factory
Opto 22 decided to install the wireless LAN version of its SNAP-IT hardware on
its G4 Handler manufacturing machinery. Opto 22 had no desire to disturb its
manufacturing and testing processes. Instead, the company recognized that
SNAP-IT could non-invasively attach to the production equipment, access useful
data, and deliver it to a desktop PC in real time.
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BioLab Commercial Water
Systems integrator nPhase deployed a wireless M2M communication system based on
technologies from Opto 22 and mobile communications leader, Nokia.
This M2M system, installed at each pool facility, monitors the pool water and
controls chemical dispersion and other equipment. The system also gathers
real-time operational data such as pH balance, oxidation reduction potential
(ORP) values, chlorine and other chemical levels, and water temperatures.
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Drive-Thru Restaurant Monitoring - Checkers
Checkers will soon be tapping into its restaurant refrigerators, freezers,
fryers, and air conditioning systems. For these applications, Opto 22 is up to
the job. The company already has SNAP-IT up and running for similar projects at
Burger King, Taco Bell, and Sonic Burger.
"Knowing that Opto 22 had this experience in the quick-serve industry gave us a
lot of confidence in using their products to build this solution," says Steve
Pazol, CEO of nPhase.
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Brewery Quality Standards - New Belgium Brewery
Valuyev says Jeff Lebesch, New Belgium's founder, was sold on the FactoryFloor
package at first sight. The initial object of his affection was the OptoControl
module, which is the tool that engineers use to design control processes.
"Jeff is not an engineer," Valuyev related. "So he needed a system that he could
jump into immediately and start designing his control processes without having
to learn all about programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and ladder logic."
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Remote Generator Monitoring - Brookstone Equipment Company
Opto 22 immediately took possession of a Brookstone generator and began
developing a prototype remote monitoring and control system for it. Opto 22
engineers worked with Brookstone personnel to determine the specific generator
conditions that needed to be monitored.
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Auto Mall Management - Autostadt
SKN has installed more than two dozen Opto 22 SNAP Ethernet I/O systems in the
Autostadt buildings. Within these buildings, sensor technology, such as
pressure differential flowmeters installed in gas pipes to detect leaks, is
used to monitor facility systems and equipment.
These sensors are connected to and communicate with the Opto 22 Ethernet I/O
system via digital input modules on the I/O rack, thereby allowing the system
to monitor critical conditions in each building.
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Bottling Process Plant Flow - Coca-Cola/ Dasani Water
"We used Opto 22 hardware and software to build this system primarily for the
sake of simplicity," says Barrett Davis, owner of The Automate Company, LLC,
the Pacific, Missouri control systems integrator that designed and installed
the system for Coca-Cola.
"We typically build the panels for our control systems from scratch, and the
Opto 22 hardware and software makes it easy to do that."
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Airport Automation - Minnesota Control Company
Specialists in industrial automation and process control, Minnesota Control
Company is using a collection of Opto 22's popular serial products including
the G4 I/O modules, B100 brain boards, and SNAP-LCM4s (with fiber-optic
repeaters) for automating and monitoring the airport's domestic and retail hot
water supply, which includes all water used in the main terminal and its
various concourses for public restrooms, restaurants, and so on.
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Barcelona Underground Railway - Barcelona Metro
The SNAP Ethernet I/O systems designed for the Barcelona Metro consist of a
collection of up to 16 modules on an industrial rack, with each module offering
two to four inputs.
Contacts or switches are wired to the digital modules, while sensors and
variable controls are wired to analog modules. Serial modules supply two
independent bidirectional data communications ports.
Deployed throughout the railway's many stations and tunnels, these SNAP Ethernet
I/O systems act as standard IP nodes within the Barcelona Metro's existing
network infrastructure. The systems transmit critical operational data from the
connected devices and systems through the Barcelona Metro's Ethernet network to
management consoles in the Metro Control Centre.
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Headliner Assembly Processes - Grupo Antolin
For their headliner assembly operations, Grupo Antolin called on Connect, Inc.
to provide a solution for its data collection and discrete manufacturing
application needs.
Connect specializes in connectivity tools for wired and wireless device control,
data collection applications using radio frequency terminals and Ethernet I/O
devices from Opto 22.
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Golf Ball Manufacturing - Callaway Golf
Compared to most manufacturing plants, Callaway Golf Ball Company of Carlsbad,
California is operating way above par-but in this case, that's a good thing.
By employing SNAP Ethernet I/O technology from Temecula, California-based Opto
22, Callaway has increased its yield of golf balls from 33 to 99 percent,
chipped its way free of the high cost of proprietary control hardware, and can
now adapt more quickly to the changing needs of its factory floor.
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Engine Lab on the Internet - Colorado State University
College students and researchers all over the world are getting tired of
simulations and virtual machines. Everybody, it seems, has one of those.
Instead, students want to work with the real thing.
So the Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory (EECL) at Colorado State
University in Fort Collins, CO, built a real engine test lab, and made it
available for use by people worldwide over the Internet.
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Improving Critical Water Quality with SNAP-IT - Meridian Medical
Technologies
Meridian Medical Technologies requires a high level of water purity in
manufacturing medical products and pharmaceutical systems.
Using SNAP-IT from Opto 22, Meridian replaced a manual monitoring process with
timely, reliable monitoring through their existing Unicenter TNG enterprise
management system.
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Controlling Multiple Pilot-scale Reactors - BASF
Computer control of pilot chemical reactors yields increased safety and better
research data for BASF.
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Plant Steam Boiler Control - Brush Wellman
Automated boiler control and water treatment system keeps mill on line.
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Brick Kiln Control - Cherokee Brick
Brick kiln control: distributed control system uses Windows NT for
enterprise-wide information transfer.
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Water Treatment and Distribution - City of Leipzig
Multi-stage, hierarchical system supports German region's water needs.
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Water Remote Telemetry SCADA - City of Shelby
Reliability and scalability are design requirements for state-of-the-art water
systems from Tetragenics, of Butte, Montana.
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Conner Peripherals Disk Division (Seagate)
Conner's investment in Opto 22 paid for itself while the first machine was still
ramping up.
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Controlled Environment Structures
Seamless integration of hardware and software is major benefit for U.S.
manufacturer.
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Foster-Miller
Remote robotic probe inspects pipes and other hard-to-access gear at electric
power generating stations.
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Industrial Heat Recovery Equipment
San Diego company uses natural gas powered engines for energy-efficient
refrigeration and air conditioning.
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University of Utah
Industrial-quality control system gives students real-world experience in
advanced process control technology.
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Guide to PACs
Case Studies
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