Fiber Optic along 500kms - networking

For a uni project I have to find a way to run a fiber optic cable along very long distances, like 500-100 kms.
I dont know so much about fiber optic cables but I found out they can go for like 100kms and then they need repeaters, the thing is that every 2kms I also need a modem to transform the fiber optic into an RJ45 and also, I have to run 2 cables for emergency situations in which one of the cables can broke.
I can use either repeaters with 2 inputs 2 outputs which can be "scanned" remotely, either basic repeaters (which idk where to find) and then a RJ45 switch with 2 inputs (which also idk where to find), who can be "scanned" remotely.
So, 2 fiber optic cables along 500kms, a modem every 2km, what would be the way to do it?

Related

matching network BLE antenna

Hi I'm using a BLE module connected to a chip antenna, the antenna manufacture establish the path width is .4mm, if I need to match the network to 50ohm how can I do it? the system has a pi-match C1=0.8pF L=3.9nH and C2 is 0.8pF how can I make sure it match to 50 ohm?
Your network contain 2 parts:
Antenna + pi-match
BLE module
You need to make sure both 2 part meet the requirement 50 ohm itself so you have to isolate 2 part.
(You can use the knife to remove a small path in the transmission line)
After isolation, use a 50ohm cable, solder one side of cable to each part, other side to the Vector network analyzer.
If the S-parameter you got is <-8dB in your frequency range => You got 50 ohm matching.
(Try change value of your pi to got value close to 50ohm)

synchronise many microcontrollers

In my project i'll use modbus protocol for serial communication. There are more than 320 slaves which seperated equally in 2 groups(see image). Every 16 slaves are powered from the same supply and isolated from others galvanically(Master'll be isolated from all the slaves).
My first question is if there is a problem in this design?
Secondly I want to synchronise all the slaves via 10ms period pulses that are derived from master microcontroller. How can i achieve a robust synchronisation(what type of bus, single or differential signal, where to isolate)?
Here is an alternative one:
see picture
Many things can go wrong here. For starters, it will take a looooooong time for you to poll each and every one of your slaves. And your isolators will easily introduce delays beyond 2us to your sync signal.
Can you briefly tell us what are you trying to do specifically, eg. synchronized motion control? There are other alternatives used in industrial solutions.
Most of the synchronized motion control used in industrial systems are used to replace mechanical cams and eccentric gears, and thus usually called "electronic camming" in this field. Here's a list of techniques I had come across in my last job
A PLC which outputs multiple pulse trains, each commands an individual servo/stepper motor driver. The PLC will have to store all the motion profiles and do all the interpolations, so relatively simple drives can be used. But each actuator will need it's own pulse train lines, and there's just too much in your system.
Motor drives stores motion profile & does interpolation, and the motion is advanced/reversed by an external pulse train. This is a technique used in Delta Automation ASDA and Schneider Electric Lexium 23 model industrial servo drives. The motion profiles are either burnt into the drive's EEPROM beforehand, or written in through MODBUS. This is very close to what you are trying to do, but the difference here is the external sync pulse train is on a separate wire.
Real Time Ethernet. The target positions are periodically written to each drives at a specific interval. This can be done very rapidly at 100Mbps. As for the latency that occurs when writing to different drives, there is a built in mechanism that measures the latency of each drives, and this is then compensated accordingly later. Cool eh? The one that I had saw, but never really used is EtherCAT by Beckhoff.
I worked mostly with method 2 in the past, and from those experience you needs might not need to be so stringent. Here are my recommendations.
It will be perfectly fine if your sync signal is delayed a little if your mechanism has no risk of collision if the timing is off by a little. But lost pulses cannot be tolerated as one of the actuators will be out of phase. Don't scrimp on your sync & communication cable quality, shielded twisted pair if possble, and connect them properly.
If the communication line is not too long, isolators are not needed. I had worked with lines up to 8 meters without the need for isolators or repeaters. Instead I am more worried about the number of spur (branch) connection on your RS485 bus. If possible, connect everything to your 2 main buses directly.
If this is a production system, there might be a problem. When the system is running in sync motion mode, there is no way to monitor the actuators as the communication lines are now occupied. This will not be acceptable on a real world application, but if this is just a proof of concept design, go for it.

Arduino replace old relays

I have some old relays that controlls an hydraulic motor.
I want to control it with my Arduino. Is this possible?
The relays used are:
DIL 00 52 from klockner moeller.
this is the situation:
I have experience with the arduino but not that much about electrical schemas?
Is there someone that can help me?
Is this equipment functional now?
The part you have pictured looks like it is for an engine lathe, not a pump.
The amount of rust in the box and corrosion on the overloads and relay would make me think that it has run either outdoors, or in a corrosive environment for quite a while with the door open. Why would you run it with the door open?
Because you have to continually reset the overload and or adjust the timer, or tap on the contacts to get them to engage. Either way, this thing is a mess.
The relays you have shown will interface easily with your arduino, but I WOULD NOT replace what's in the cabinet with these.
The set up in this cabinet is for three phase power. The one on top is the main contactor, and the two side by side units are for reversing the motor. Something you don't want to do with a pump.
My advice to you is to find an electrician before going any further with the power end of this project.
it is possible but probably that relay won't fit the load.
You have to be sure to use relay that can sustain at least the same load and spike current (and voltage), or you many bad thing may happen, like melting togheder the relay contact or burn your house down.
i can't see the code on the relay in the second picture, neiter you had given the load information, so i can't help you more.

Zigbee mesh networking

I'm making an application for a running competition on a fixed track. I'm investigating what systems could be used and tough of using a stick containing a GPS/DGPS module and a Zigbee enabled chip to communicate the location to a server.
I've researched the subject (on the internet) but I was wondering if anyone has some practical advice/experience with using a Zigbee mesh/star topology in a dynamic environment wich could apply to this use case. I'm also very interested in using a mesh topology where the data is transmitted (hopping) trough the different Zigbee modules to the server.
Runners are holding a stick; run around the track and than pass the stick on to the next team member.
I am not particularly clear about your goal. But I'd like to say a few things.
First, using GPS/DGPS to measure which team reaches the finish line is inaccurate. Raw GPS data is horrible in accuracy (varying in 1 - 10 meters, well, around that), also the sampling rate of a GPS module is low (say once a second?) How do you determine exactly which team reaches the finish line first?
Second, to use a mobile ZigBee chip to communicate in real-time is hard. I assume your stick has a ZigBee end device. When it is moving (which in your case is pretty fast), it must dynamically find and associate with new parent routers, which takes time and depending on the wireless environment, it might involve several retries. So you will imagine a packet is only successfully delivered to the other end after 100ms or even a second. This might not be a problem if your stick records the exact time when a team reaches the finish line. Since you have a GPS module in the stick so there is no problem in getting very accurate time.

Receiving data from multiple devices using parallel wired RS232

I'm currently developing a small application for monitoring the power / current our solar collector is generating.
The array is connected to 3 inverters. Every inverter has a RS232 interface, transmitting one Line of information(its current status) every 10 seconds.
Since I want to do the monitoring using a device only having one serial port, I need to come up with a way to be able to read the data from all of the inverters in parallel.
I don't need to send anything to one of the inverters!
Is it possible to just connect 3 RS232 wires in parallel to one serial port? Collisions will be pretty unlikely since every inverter is transmitting only 64Byte / 10seconds ending with a newline, so I could check for variable line lengths to detect collisions.
I'm sort of chuckling at doomsday and wacky answers that so often pop up on stackoverflow...
But anyway, in years gone buy I have used paralleled RS-232 transmit lines using diodes and it can work fine for situations where collisions are unlikely. In one particular application I used this technique there were two input terminals where a user could key in simple commands to control the system (a specialized security system) and it was very unlikely that two people would be trying to control it at the same time from the two different terminals. Amazingly enough there are no problems with voltage levels with most RS-232A receivers I tested at the time and they tolerated the signal characteristics (no negative voltage) that result from the simple use of the diodes in series with the TXD signals. However, if I had to do this again I would likely add a simple pull-down resister and capacitor to ground with a diode between RXD and the cap in a sort of charge pump configuration or a pull-down to negative going handshake signal to ensure the "OR'd" input signal goes truly negative since the RS-232 spec defines +3 to -3v as invalid.
In any case, I would recommend not using this technique except in very specific, limited, and non-mission critical cases and would not use it in the case where you have multiple devices sending information at a programmed interval as in the case of the OP or where there is a software handshake.
In can be a simple solution to the problem of not enough serial input ports but only in a very limited set of environments.
No, you should NOT connect 3 serial output port in parallel. If you do that you are probably going to broke the RS232 output circuitry of your inverters.
You have 3 RS232 outputs, so you need 3 RS232 input, then you can manage these 3 input the way you like: maybe you can buffer the data from each input, and reoutput the data on a single RS232 output, to be connected to your monitoring device.... but you should add some code in the data flow to differentiate the data coming from the 3 inverters.
Maybe you can use some kind of IC that do the job for you, I'm not sure, but maybe that some IC that multiplex multiple RS232 input on a single RS232 output already exist.
Try this search: rs232 port input multiplexer on Google
Or, if the monitoring device is a Window computer, you can use 3 serial-to-usb converter: that will create 3 virtual COM port on your computer and you can read data from them with any software.
Update
About the hypothesis of securing the output circuitry using diods to block reentering current, I don't think it's going to work...
Many year have passed by since last time I've used an RS232 link at low level (so maybe I'm wrong) but I think that there is some kind of handshake going on between RS232 input and output port (speed to use, parity, stop bit...).
Each RS232 port have inputs and outputs signal, both for data and for transmission control, so your multiple RS232 outputs does have some input signals, and your single RS232 input does have some outputs.
This mean that your input monitoring RS323 port is going to try to make a handshake with 3 RS323 ports at the same time... and the 3 RS232 ports are probably going to respond at the same time... so I think it's not going to work.
Other than that if you place diodes on your output, you are going to loose 0.7v, I don't remember the tolerance on signal level of RS232, but maybe that 0.7v can be relevant.

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