The National Research Council Canada (NRC) has a requirement to replace seven existing industrial control cubicles, refurbish the associated 21 motors, and replace the associated power and control cabling, for operation at the NRC High-Speed Wind Tunnel Facility.
These custom-built control cubicles are integral components of a larger, critical system and must seamlessly integrate with the facility's interlocks, safety, and control systems. All new control cubicles must match the form factor and functionality of the control cubicle installed and integrated in 2021. The control systems and interfaces are a mixture of PLC, PAC, and NI CompactRIO.
Each control cubicle must house all components required for the manual control of three motors, plus be equipped for future automation. This includes:
- three ABB model ACS880-01-07A4-7 variable frequency drives or equivalent, each with an externally-mounted panel, I/O extension, and PROFINET communications
- power conditioning to motor output
- safety devices for multiple power sources, including circuit breakers, fuses, emergency stops, panel-mounted disconnects, and indicators
- Electrical and mechanical interlocks for three modes; VFD manual and automatic, and Direct-On-Line
- Safe-Torque-Off (STO) inputs
- Inputs for absolute feedback
