❄️🌨️💻For the past few years, some of our amazing team members at Focal Automation Inc & Phoenix Energy Services Inc. have been volunteering to help Nitehawk’s snowmaking system run smoother and smarter by working with some legacy technology! 🚠❄️ The hill’s snowmaking system uses a combination of vintage equipment that’s both rare and challenging to maintain.
🔧 Our Contributions:
– The system has two PLCs communicating wirelessly over a 900mhz radio — one at the top of the hill and one at the water inlet at the bottom.
The team had to manually label registers and purchase special software to tweak the program since they didn’t have the original one!
– In their first year, they fixed a major issue with the PID loop, getting the pressure control back on track so that snowmaking could happen more efficiently.
– Last year, the team improved the startup/shutdown process to reduce water waste and revamped the HMI for easier operation.
– This year, they tackled some major roadblocks! The PID loop needed further optimizations, and there were communication issues between the two PLCs due to a network change. After troubleshooting with Nitehawk’s IT team, they successfully got it all backed up and running. In addition, they added a remote viewing feature for the maintenance manager, making the system more efficient and hands-off.
It’s been a rewarding challenge for the entire team, and we are proud to be a part of it! 🌨️❄️ The combination of tech and nature makes for an unforgettable experience! 🌟
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