Stockroll Stacker Crane System

Project Description
To replace an older system running on obsolete hardware, a system was designed and built to maintain the database of stockrolls stored within a stacker crane system and to interface to the stacker crane itself.  This is a PC-based System with multiple PC's. It was desired to maintain the database on one of the PCs and to run the same system on 3 PCs without a standard LAN. The three PCs are all tied together with RS-232 links at 9600 baud with less than 2 second response times on all transactions.  The interface to the stacker crane is an RS-232 Interface which issues commands to the stacker PLC and reads position and photocell status from the same PLC.  Products arc maintained in several product queues and may be drawn out by queue.

Skills Required
This is a PC based project with a LabWindows graphical user interface. The file system is standard sequential files. The Communications between PCs is RS-232 with a specialized protocol incorporating checksums. Similarly, the communications with the stacker PLC is a proprietary communications protocol. Both were implemented using LabWindows buffered interrupt drivers.
The Software was written in Microsoft "C" version 7.0 using LabWindows as a graphical user interface.

Services Used

Project Size
3 man-months of effort

Customer
A magnetic media manufacturer

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