ECE-UMass Theater Collaboration (Update)

For those of you who have not been following us, this project required us to design a control for a 5 HP stepper motor for the UMass Theater Department, as well as make a mechanism to control the hands of an analog clock. These things are being used in UMass' production of "Little Shop of Horrors" which runs until Saturday, April 24.


So far we have finished both the stepper motor and clock controls. The clock is controlled by an Arduino sending serial RS-485 commands (via a MAX485 chip) to a stepper motor controller which moves the hands. The stepper motor is controlled by a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) using digital inputs/outputs. It takes inputs from the control box that we built and sends commands to the DURApulse motor controller. Now that our primary goals have been achieved, the only minor goals left to accomplish are writing documentation and instructions for use, along with transferring the DURApulse and PLC from the older wooden box to the new and more organized metal box.



Love,
UMass Theater Collaboration
\\(~.~)//