Marine & Industrial
Our expertise with 12V and 240V systems, control PCB's and System design mean that we often get commissioned to solve problems and design electronics for other sectors. The fundamental skill of electronics and system design is transferable to many industries but two growth areas for Apuljack Electronics are Marine systems and Industrial systems.
We have a number of on-going designs and products that involve both electronics and incorporate other technologies:-
-
Fire sprinkler automated pump maintenance controller - A system to run the pump periodically and monitor performance to ensure the system is safe and reliable.
- Integrated remote temperature sensing for heating systems - a modular, multi input long distance temperature sensing system with optional control outputs.
- Solar PV excess power diverter - Diverts power that would have been exported to an alternative energy store.
- Lighting and motion control system for Professional scale model builders - sequenced lighting and model movements to sound and video for show quality models.
Case Study - Jam
Factory - Lid control and monitoring system
A local premium quality manufacturer of preserves needed a warning system to
detect the lack of lid on jars before they went into the inverter (for obvious
reasons). Their in house technicians had attempted a system using a PLC
controller but it was not reliable or predictable. Apuljack Electronics was
employed to develop a control system to detect the defect. We undertook an on
site discussion and examination of the process line along side the technicians
and process engineers. During this time we took measurements and system
parameters so we could formulate a solution.
Once back at the labs we developed a number of concepts to meet the customers
needs and determined the hardware and software required to implement them. We
also determined that the concept systems also had additional advantages that
the customer had not forseen. The number of jars processed was currently a hit
and miss affair with run times being unpredicatable and waste levels high. We
suggested an enhancement to the hardware and software that allowed parameters
such as jar count, batch run quantity, filling rate per hour and batch finish
time to also be calculated. This allowed the customer to avoid over production
and hence reduce waste, predict the batch end times to better utilise staff and
examine production rates to ensure efficiency and allow continuous improvement.
The system was designed and implemented in a short timescale, packaged in an
IP56 enclosure (to allow pressure wash down) and installed and tested on site
at the customers premesis. A number of system tests were performed using real
life scenarios including extreme performance tests to give the customer
confidence in the design and construction. The customer signed the system off
the same day and it has been running almost continuously for several years to
date.
Case Study - Government Accomodation block, Gibraltar - Electric entry/exit
gates
We were commisioned via the government-appointed Chartered Architects to
appraise the performance, safety and possible repair of a series of 6 pairs of
roller shutter gates for a residential parking level in an apartment block. The
building owners (Gibraltan Government) had been experiencing a number of
functional failures and small accidents over a number of years and needed to
determine the best course of action.
Apuljack Electronics flew to Gibraltar to meet with the Architects and
physically examine the gates. The initial assessment was paper based examining
the orignal drawings, operation manual, maintenance schedule, fault logs and
reports of visiting engineering companies. Then a full assessment of the gates
was undertaken including operational tests, diagnostic dissassembly and testing
of the safety systems, including a vast quantity of photographs being taken.
These assessments took 1 day for the paper excercise and 2 days of site visits.
On return the the UK, we examined and collated the documentation, photographs
and notes taken. Explanations, findings, conclusions and recomendations were
formed and documented in a professional 56 page visit report. This also
included a proposal to both rectify the faults on site using our own engineers
and to provide written testing and safety manuals for in house or contract
staff to follow when working on these gates.
The customer was highly satisfied by the prefessional nature of our staff,
level of competence and timleyness of the output deliverables.