Time for a new addition to the blog, #ThrowbackThursday! This won't be something I do every week but I'll do it as often as I can and/or feel like.
This time I'm going to feature a project I did in Grade 12 Design & Tech class. It's a working lock much like we have here in Niagara as part of the Welland Canal. It was made largely of acrylic and was programmed using a PLC (programmable logic controller) and ladder logic. It was programmed to open and close the valves to raise the water levels in the lock and open the doors at the appropriate times. For a high school project it was really cool and I recall receiving high praise for it.
The doors were opened and closed by using the PLC to activate pneumatic pistons. The arrestor was activated by the PLC and was lowered and raised by a small motor and powered by two nine volt batteries.
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| Arial Shot. |
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| Close-up of the lower doors. |
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| Close-up of the upper doors. |
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| Water was brought into the lock from the upper reservoir and drained out the front into the lower reservoir. |
I hope you enjoyed your time on this site and found it to be time (and bandwidth) well wasted.
