Walk Through
The SCALAE-AUTOMATION's features offer a base set of essential features that enable the unit's versatility and ease of use. Based on a reliable, tried, and tested MCU the PLC will serve in many applications reliably.
The walkthrough provides a functional overview of SCALAE-AUTOMATION to assist in planning your system or application.
The power supply to rectify AC to DC is installed on board the PCB. By providing an input voltage of 120 to 220 VAC, a rectified 5VDC is supplied to the onboard electronics.
The rectified power supplies the MCU, USB UART, Optocoupler inputs Transistorised outputs, LM358 Opamp, RTC (Realtime Clock), and an EEPROM.
The 8-BIT PIC Microcontroller has been selected owing to its reliability and ease of use. The 44 PIN TQFP device offers 32 I/O, USART, IO, and analog inputs enabling versatility in automation applications.
The 8 Opto inputs are active, in that they have a 5Vdc potential on the two pins. Closing the two pins closes the conductive path activating the output of the opto actuating the input of the microcontroller.
The transistor-based I/O will switch a 5 Vdc coil relay, or power an LED and resistor.
The outputs are not designed to drive high-power loads. They are capable of switching a relay for example, which in turn can be used to switch a higher load.
Signal conditioning is useful for ensuring a quality signal arrives at the input of the A-to-D converter. This also ensures that a reliable signal with minimal interference or "noise" is present.
An LM358 is available on the PCB. Although a general-purpose opamp, the component is a useful and cost-effective buffer or unity gain opamp that maintains the signal strength without loading the input.
The Real TIme Clock running on an I2C interface enables scheduling or data reporting.
